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  • Humans are selfish creatures. Whilst the world continues to shrink it is only when something that affects your little sphere of existence that you become moved. I saw the boat capsize this lunch time

  • I totally get what you are saying Ian, and it's not unreasonable at all.    Just watched the BBC news (because why are people ever watching sky 'news'?!) which had a report on the Smiler, still in t

  • Merry-go-girl
    Merry-go-girl

    Look I feel very bad for those people and if there was some way to help them I would...But I don't know them. I'm not going to act like this is somehow a source of real concern for me, we are not part

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comment_210127

Not sure I'd get straight back on it... personally think they'll have a struggle reopening. Its a shame because its a great ride, but its really hit the press.

 

Although, I suppose that's mainly the times we live in - all the twitter feeds and live updates do build the story more than it would have in the past.

 

Such a sad day, do hope these people have a quick recovery - last thing you expect on a pleasant day out.

  • Author
comment_210132

If what 'Thomas' has just said on the BBC is even 50% right, this is one major **** up of epic proportions, or a massive system failure. Also for a 14 year old, he seemed much more composed and coherent than anybody else interviewed so far.

Basically what he said was the empty car stalled out and was sitting in the dip, the second (loaded) car was being held at the top of the first lift hill, another guy said 15 minutes but 'Thomas' didn't quote a time but said it was a long time and they were expecting the second carriage to be evac'd when suddenly it was dispatched.

comment_210140

Turns out that some how they failed to inform Gerstlauer.


 


 Our correspondent Justin Huggler has spoken to Smiler manufacturer Gerstlauer's head office in Münsterhausen, Germany.


Surprising as it may seem, they told him they had not heard anything about the accident and didn't even know it had happened, his call was the first they'd had.


http://www.telegraph...ride-crash.html


comment_210143

This is really bad news. I know that Towers have had a collision in the past on the Runaway Mine Train...but this has got to be their worst. Hopefully they'll recover from it well in the end. :(

You mean hopefully the people who were injured recover

 

703f2b47a9adbde84fe825fb2f1594524bea541d

Live on sky

Was just about to post this - the rescue and recovery of the people on the ride is important, not the reputation of AT.

  • Author
comment_210144

Turns out that some how they failed to inform Gerstlauer.

 

 Our correspondent [/size]Justin Huggler has spoken to Smiler manufacturer Gerstlauer's head office in Münsterhausen, Germany.[/size]

Surprising as it may seem, they told him they had not heard anything about the accident and didn't even know it had happened, his call was the first they'd had.

http://www.telegraph...ride-crash.html

Not a go at you cos you're just the messenger but I'd have thought getting the people off the ride is the priority rather than calling the after sales warranty support hotline...

comment_210149

It ususally stops at the bottom of the first lift hill and waits for the second one to be off the track and then hopefully they go up the hill similar time and duel... But should never have gone on to the lift hill before the other one is at the next lift hill!? Plus that would have given time for staff to notice if the ride did malfunction? And I read somewhere that it emergency stopped on the lift hill due to the one in front stalling and then was sent back on again, like this whole situation seems so weird!!

comment_210151

Oh Gerstlauer... :roll:

This really is a horrible incident, for the victims and the park.

Imagine the impact this will have though. If one girl being injured at Chessington resulted in a law suit, a H&S investigation of the entire park, and massive panic surrounding anything that could be a potential threat to safety, resulting in mass theming demotions and slow operations on certain attractions. (Vampire for example.)

The fact that the ride system itself failed to stop the carriage twice (remember there is not only the lift hill, but the emergency trims under The Flasher also) then I fear that this might just be the end of The Smiler. Especially seeing as the public's and no doubt the HSE's view of the ride has been low from the start.

It's a shame, I really liked The Smiler. [emoji20]

  • Author
comment_210152

It ususally stops at the bottom of the first lift hill and waits for the second one to be off the track and then hopefully they go up the hill similar time and duel... But should never have gone on to the lift hill before the other one is at the next lift hill!? Plus that would have given time for staff to notice if the ride did malfunction? And I read somewhere that it emergency stopped on the lift hill due to the one in front stalling and then was sent back on again, like this whole situation seems so weird!!

Just thinking aloud here but I wonder if the stationary car was in a blind spot and someone thought the computer was being an arse and over-rode the e-stop manually, I don't even know if that's possible but something majorly went wrong somewhere in the system.

comment_210154

Wishing everyone injured a good recovery. Terrible thing to happen. Was at the park both Saturday's over the past two weeks and empty & early morning trains were certainly travelling slowly through that part of the circuit. Maintenance quite often had to come along and manually advance trains through the circuit's blocks after breakdowns. It is a major concern that the ride's computer would allow this to happen.

comment_210156

The batwing/cobra roll is the main element of the ride. It's unlikely that'll be a blind spot, especially seeing as proximity sensors are littered about the ride to alert the operator of the trains status on the layout.

 

If it was something on gerstlauers side, then they'd have known almost immediately. I assume computers are set up so that they can be alerted of a major malfunction, it's likely to be a human error to do something as tragically terrible as this.

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