Altitude Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 How did the train full of people even leave the first lift hill without the block system kicking in and stopping it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 ^ That's the problem, we're assuming the system failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 The Smiler has just an absolute disaster for the park since it first opened It's worth remembering that between the beginning of the 2014 season and now, Smiler has been a reliable and popular ride, with only one day closed. Mysterio Ka 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam_sparks1 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 I know that the smiler will most likely be down for a long time now but if it was open tomorrow I wouldn't have any problem going on it straight away. So rare but feel for the people on the rode at the time as it's so strange that it was dispatched with rides on board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altitude Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Do you think Saw will be down for a bit too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeksy Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Apparently the first train stalled, and this stopped the next train, which was held on the lift. It remained this way for 10 mins, however somehow the lift started again, sending the train into the stationary train. Where did you hear this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weeksy Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 All sounding a bit more complex than a simple failure then... very odd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paige Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Here's another couple tweets. Based on what I've heard from actual news sources, this is quite a lie. I find it quite... Disgusting that people are exploiting this in such a way but what can you do. EDIT: it's getting worse. This will not be good for the park at all. Mysterio Ka 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 The occupants are still trapped, BBC have gone to Kennedy but Sky are still running with live helicopter shots, looks like the two carriages are fused or jammed together, earlier it did look like they were setting up jaws of life to cut the two carriages apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 The occupants are still trapped, BBC have gone to Kennedy but Sky are still running with live helicopter shots, looks like the two carriages are fused or jammed together, earlier it did look like they were setting up jaws of life to cut the two carriages apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 You mean hopefully the people who were injured recover Live on sky Was just about to post this. The rescue and recovery of the people on the ride is important right now, not the reputation of AT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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... OldFarmerDean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 If its a fault with the block system then Gerst need to know. After all their rides main focus is multiple trains/cars at a time with multiple blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celia Mae Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 The ride history on the BBC website is exactly the same as the one on Sky news, so exaggerated and untrue but people will think it's so much more credible coming from the BBC... Where in reality it's just going to make the situation worse for people's hysteria and the park Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 I don't think they realised what the cause was at first, and according to people interviewed, they (Alton) seemed more interested in clearing the area than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldFarmerDean Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HermanTheGerman Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragon2000 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mysterio Ka Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celia Mae Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 ^ Especially seeing as it supposedly e-stopped for quite some time and then was released. Why didn't they have a look around to check in the time that the ride was stopped? What were they doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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