lewis97 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Following on from the above; two trains on The Smiler have collided at the bottom of the batwing element. The situation is still ongoing with ambulances and an air ambulance on site, and with X Sector and the surrounding area shut down. It seems an empty train was first sent out which stalled, before a full train of passengers was dispatched, getting stuck at the top of the first lift hill before somehow being allowed to continue through the circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Another picture Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Oh, crap. The computer should've never let that train go from the lift... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norwegian coasterfan Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 How is this even possible Something must be seriously wrong with the computer system or could it somehow be human error? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDG Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Some "aftermath" footage, showing the two trains stuck together and rolling back and forth in the batwing element... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flaffstar99 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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":: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJeXeL Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ape Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PVA62 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Wow, this is awful. I hope everyone will be okay. Like everyone else, I'm interested to see what the issue here was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis97 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imiha Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Towers Street on Facebook posted that Merlin entertainments CEO Nick Varney just arrived at Alton Towers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norwegian coasterfan Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rctneil Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJeXeL Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now