Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[Norwegian coasterfan]

How is this even possible Something must be seriously wrong with the computer system or could it somehow be human error?

[KarlaKoaster]

This is so odd, things like this should never happen nowadays. Fingers crossed nobody has any life changing injuries. The fact one train was empty is a bit weird, do they often run with empty trains?

Edited June 2, 2015 by KarlaKoaster

[Garet]

More details as the page has updated with the picture I posted above:

 

Four people have been seriously injured in a crash between two carriages on a ride at Alton Towers in Staffordshire.

 

Sixteen people were on one carriage of the Smiler ride, the other was empty.

 

The resort said their first aid staff were on the scene and emergency crews were building a platform to help reach those on the ride.

 

The air ambulance is also in attendance following the collision that happened at 14:09 BST.

 

Eyewitness Ben Richardson said: "When the second carriage crashed people were screaming and shouting - even after it stopped. Everyone around the park ran over.

 

"The people looked significantly distressed. It was almost like a car crash, very full on."

 

Merlin Entertainment, which runs the resort, said in a statement: "There has been an incident on the Smiler this afternoon involving two carriages coming together on a low section of the track. One of the carriages was empty and the other had 16 guests in.

 

"The Resort's fully qualified First Responders were on the scene immediately to assist with the evacuation which is ongoing, and the area has been closed to allow for access to emergency services vehicles. To ensure the safe and timely evacuation of guests a platform is being constructed. This will take a few minutes but will enable us to proceed more quickly.

 

"There will be a full investigation once we have recovered the guests who are our priority."

 

The Smiler opened in May 2013 and is billed as the world's first 14-loop rollercoaster.

 

It holds the official Guinness World Record for most loops in a rollercoaster, according to the Alton Towers website.

 

The resort claims that it features "a series of twisted psychological effects including optical illusions, blinding lights and near misses designed to mess

 

with your mind"

Source

 

 

Taken from someones facebook comment on towertimes haven't found a original source yet, the floor has buckled.

Edited June 2, 2015 by Garet

[robbalvey]

Four seriously injured in Alton Towers crash

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32980354

 

Four people have been seriously injured in a crash between two carriages on a ride at Alton Towers in Staffordshire.

 

Sixteen people were on one carriage of the Smiler ride, the other was empty.

 

The resort said their first aid staff were on the scene and emergency crews were building a platform to help reach those on the ride.

 

The air ambulance is also in attendance following the collision that happened at 14:09 BST.

 

Eyewitness Ben Richardson said: "When the second carriage crashed people were screaming and shouting - even after it stopped. Everyone around the park ran over.

"The people looked significantly distressed. It was almost like a car crash, very full on."

 

Merlin Entertainment, which runs the resort, said in a statement: "There has been an incident on the Smiler this afternoon involving two carriages coming together on a low section of the track. One of the carriages was empty and the other had 16 guests in.

 

"The Resort's fully qualified First Responders were on the scene immediately to assist with the evacuation which is ongoing, and the area has been closed to allow for access to emergency services vehicles. To ensure the safe and timely evacuation of guests a platform is being constructed. This will take a few minutes but will enable us to proceed more quickly.

 

"There will be a full investigation once we have recovered the guests who are our priority."

 

The Smiler opened in May 2013 and is billed as the world's first 14-loop rollercoaster.

 

It holds the official Guinness World Record for most loops in a rollercoaster, according to the Alton Towers website.

 

The resort claims that it features "a series of twisted psychological effects including optical illusions, blinding lights and near misses designed to mess

with your mind".

Edited June 2, 2015 by robbalvey

[gerstlaueringvar]

Such a shocking news! Hope the injured riders will recover from this tragic accident.

 

While it looks like an error on the control system, let's wait till a full investigation points out where the problem is.

[BDG]

Some "aftermath" footage, showing the two trains stuck together and rolling back and forth in the batwing element...

 

[flaffstar99]

before somehow being allowed to continue through the circuit.

I heared that gerstlauer uses just movement-sensors or so. There just needs to be a bird that flys over it and the block is "free"::

[DJeXeL]

I heared that gerstlauer uses just movement-sensors or so. There just needs to be a bird that flys over it and the block is "free"::

 

Hard to believe. We will have to wait and see once investigation is complete which can take months (Or Longer). Lucky this coaster isn't in Japan otherwise it wouldn't see riders again until 2023.

[Swede]

Oh, crap. The computer should've never let that train go from the lift...

 

...or oh, crap, if you have trouble with a ride you should perhaps not load a new train until the empty one you just sent out to check it comes back.

[Ape]

This was horrible news to come across today. I hope for a quick recovery for all of those involved.

 

Like most i am interested to know how exactly this was able to happen with how blocking systems are set up.

[Swede]

On BBCs homepage there is a video where you can see a third train, I assume valleyed, on another section because this ride don't have banked breakruns right?

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32980354

 

EDIT: It seems to be a cut and the filmmaker simply moved position before starting again. Not a third train.

Edited June 2, 2015 by Swede

[PVA62]

Wow, this is awful. I hope everyone will be okay. Like everyone else, I'm interested to see what the issue here was.

[lewis97]

On BBCs homepage there is a video where you can see a third train, I assume valleyed, on another section because this ride don't have breaks banked breakruns right?

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32980354

 

That video first shows footage just after the collision, before cutting to some footage taken of the valleyed train before the collision. Only two trains were involved in the incident.

[Imiha]

Towers Street on Facebook posted that Merlin entertainments CEO Nick Varney just arrived at Alton Towers

[Swede]

On BBCs homepage there is a video where you can see a third train, I assume valleyed, on another section because this ride don't have breaks banked breakruns right?

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32980354

 

That video first shows footage just after the collision, before cutting to some footage taken of the valleyed train before the collision. Only two trains were involved in the incident.

 

Yes, I edited my post after seeing that there was a cut in the kids video.

[Norwegian coasterfan]

In this case i think it is positive that the smiler have otsr`s think of how bad the injuries could have been with lapbars

[gisco]

My guess is that this ride will be closed a while.

 

If they had problems with the ride, why wouldn't you let the empty trains complete the course before sending a full train? Of course maybe they already did and that was the empty trains second or third time through.

 

What went wrong with the system to allow two trains into the same block? This will have to be resolved before the ride ever opens again.

[rctneil]

My thoughts are with all those who were on the crashed train. I hope they all make a good recovery.

 

In terms of what happened, my thoughts are that it was either operator error OR system error dependent on what allowed the passenger filled train to disengage the top of the lift.

 

Either the system restarted the lift automatically due to an error or the operator somehow overrode the block system and restarted the lift.

 

This is all my own speculation though.

 

Anyway, it's the passengers safety and health that should be forefront for the time being.

[coasterfreak101]

Oh, crap. The computer should've never let that train go from the lift...

 

...or oh, crap, if you have trouble with a ride you should perhaps not load a new train until the empty one you just sent out to check it comes back.

 

No, parks have to load a train at some point - otherwise they'd be sending empties through all day. They very well may have sent each one through empty before this one was loaded, and it just so happened that the last one to cycle had stalled. This wouldn't be the first time one got caught in the batwing, so that part isn't really surprising.

 

With that in mind, no modern roller coaster should ever let a train operate within one block of the one ahead of or behind it. Again, there's a serious flaw here in that the train was allegedly stopped at the top of the first lift and then allowed to move forward before the previous one had cleared the mid-course and was climbing the second lift. That should never be possible, period.

 

If the block system was working perfectly and your average teenage ride operator is allowed to make the decision to (and even has the power to, in the first place) override the system...that's just insane.

Edited June 2, 2015 by coasterfreak101

[KarlaKoaster]

Whether it is a system error or a procedural error, I feel sorry for the person who pressed the button as well as the injured riders.

[DJeXeL]

No, parks have to load a train at some point - otherwise they'd be sending empties through all day. They very well may have sent each one through empty before this one was loaded, and it just so happened that the last one to cycle had stalled. This wouldn't be the first time one got caught in the batwing, so that part isn't really surprising.

 

With that in mind, no modern roller coaster should ever let a train operate within one block of the one ahead of or behind it. Again, there's a serious flaw here in that the train was allegedly stopped at the top of the first lift and then allowed to move forward before the previous one had cleared the mid-course and was climbing the second lift. That should never be possible, period.

 

If the block system was working perfectly and your average teenage ride operator is allowed to make the decision to (and even has the power to, in the first place) override the system...that's just insane.

 

Agreed. X2 had 2 trains collide in the station. No casualties obviously but goes to show that even with these advanced PLCs these types of freak accidents are still possible. Gerstlauer's engineers & lawyers are in route to the park I'm sure.

[KarlaKoaster]

Agreed. X2 had 2 trains collide in the station. No casualties obviously but goes to show that even with these advanced PLCs these types of freak accidents are still possible. Gerstlauer's engineers & lawyers are in route to the park I'm sure.

I think Euromir had something similar happen where the ride stopped and engineers moved trains manually before two collided. http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/forums/europe-roller-coasters-parks/21318

[window]

There is a longer video on the BBC Radio Stoke Facebook page -

 

You can see 4 ambulances and what looks like a fire engine. The emergency services seem to have built a scaffolding tower to help people down.

[boardwalkbullet91507]

First off, prayers for those affected as I'm sure this won't be easy for them. Secondly, as stated above, this should not have happened. There's two things that need to be determined, 1) Why the first train stalled (very much possible it was just high winds), and 2) Why the second train was able to enter that block even though it was occupied. I feel almost certain that it is an issue with the ride's operation system but time will tell following a thorough investigation. I'm hoping this doesn't cause a mass closure of Gerstlauer coaters but if the same system is used on all the rides it is very much possible we could see some temporary closures. Crazy stuff, there are so many measures that prevent such a thing from happening and unfortunately, today, one of them failed.

[Swede]

Oh, crap. The computer should've never let that train go from the lift...

 

...or oh, crap, if you have trouble with a ride you should perhaps not load a new train until the empty one you just sent out to check it comes back.

 

No, parks have to load a train at some point - otherwise they'd be sending empties through all day. They very well may have sent each one through empty before this one was loaded, and it just so happened that the last one to cycle had stalled. This wouldn't be the first time one got caught in the batwing, so that part isn't really surprising.

 

With that in mind, no modern roller coaster should ever let a train operate within one block of the one ahead of or behind it. Again, there's a serious flaw here in that the train was allegedly stopped at the top of the first lift and then allowed to move forward before the previous one had cleared the mid-course and was climbing the second lift. That should never be possible, period.

 

If the block system was working perfectly and your average teenage ride operator is allowed to make the decision to (and even has the power to, in the first place) override the system...that's just insane.

 

 

They could have stacked them in the station, but I'm with you 100% No train should be able to enter a block while it has another train on it.