Wonder if the paper realises that technically everyone gets released at the end of the year if they're on a seasonal contract (I.e. most ride ops)...
If the ride was broken down (it was), and in manual mode (arguable), then the ride op would not be in control, it would be the engineer...
Smiler probably has at least 24 hours worth of training before an operator is let loose on the controls by themselves (based off the old Vampire/Fury hours, it could be different at Towers), dunno what else you can do in 24 hours odd of training and operating...
Some rides have easier to access manual modes than others, I doubt any coaster does though due to the nature of things...