Alton Towers: Serious Rollercoaster Accident

Discussion in 'Entertainment Lounge' started by BigDougy, Jun 3, 2015.

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  1. BigDougy DG Dafter

    There has been a really bad accident at Alton Towers Theme Park today involving The Smiler Rollercoaster.

    An empty carriage has collided with a full carriage (16 people) and 4 people have been seriously injured and have had to be airlifted to local hospitals.

    Early reports are suggesting at least one fatality and possibly more to come.

    Mostly young teens were on the ride at the time.

    Not the the sort of thing you expect to see from Britains premier theme park and the live pictures and firsthand reports were pretty sickening.

    Hoping there eyre aren't many fatalities, but the reports are getting worse.
     
    BigDougy, Jun 3, 2015
    #1

  2. BoyBlunder BOY Blunder

    Apparently it was staff error, with them letting the carriage containing people go after the public told them there was an empty carriage on the track.

    I'm heading there next Weds as well. Not what you want to hear a week before you go
     
    BoyBlunder, Jun 3, 2015
    #2

  3. loganb JEM Logan

    There's been problems with this ride since opening. Even on opening day. Great ride though, really enjoyed it when it worked. Think I'll be heading up to Alton Towers on the 13th, but I'd be surprised if the smiler has been reopened by then.
     
    loganb, Jun 3, 2015
    #3

  4. loganb JEM Logan

    Really poor though. And yeah, partly it's good that it wasn't exactly a technical fault, it was human error. Which obviously is bad, but means someone will lose a job, rather than necessarily the ride being the problem. Not sure I've worded that very well, but meh.
     
    loganb, Jun 3, 2015
    #4

  5. cpr CP Raftery

    Whenever I've been its been closed for technical issues too. Managed to queue for it for an hour once before it was closed, because there was a carriage stuck on the track........
     
    cpr, Jun 3, 2015
    #5

  6. AVA T Delonge

    No idea what the ride is or where this place is, but I'd be surprised if they re-open the ride at all. Particularly if someone dies.
     
    AVA, Jun 3, 2015
    #6

  7. loganb JEM Logan

    They won't, not yet. It won't have paid itself off yet (cost £18mill) and it was an operator fault rather than a technical fault with the machinery. Having said that, there would surely be something that says that a cart has stopped. I'd be very surprised if it didn't re-open tbh. It's been a focal point of Alton Towers, arguably the biggest resort in the UK, since 2013.
     
    loganb, Jun 3, 2015
    #7

  8. loganb JEM Logan

    Plus, as I said, it won't have paid itself off yet, I don't think. Plus every single time I've been since it's opened, the queue has been more than 2 hours, even on weekdays, and even at closing time, so clearly it still pulls lots of people to the park. Though you'd surely expect that to go down now.
     
    loganb, Jun 3, 2015
    #8

  9. Escath LE Schaw

    Beyond the fact that I find the "thrill" really uncomfortable, it amazes me something like this could happen. I would have thought that the operators would have indicators telling them where exactly all the carriages are at all times.
     
    Escath, Jun 3, 2015
    #9

  10. loganb JEM Logan

    Yeah, absolutely amazed that they don't. Either that or they let really, really, really stupid people operate rides. Which is definitely a more scary thought.
     
    loganb, Jun 3, 2015
    #10

  11. Rego RS Hutchinson

    Human error? Probably. More methods needed to alleviate such problems? More than likely
     
    Rego, Jun 3, 2015
    #11

  12. MightyPies DA Alessi

    The exact reason I hate roller coasters.

    I went to Six Flags in America and only went on one. Some of the rides there are ridiculous!
     
    MightyPies, Jun 3, 2015
    #12

  13. Rego RS Hutchinson

    Love them personally.
     
    Rego, Jun 3, 2015
    #13

  14. BoyBlunder BOY Blunder

    Apparently there was a break failure as well. There's a system that stops/slows one carriage if another is on the same section of track that didn't work.

    The whole park is shut today
     
    BoyBlunder, Jun 3, 2015
    #14

  15. Riddy JH Ridd

    must have been fucking horrible for the guys at the front hurtling towards a stationery carriage
     
    Riddy, Jun 3, 2015
    #15

  16. Frizzed WC Welker

    BigDougy bit sick posting this in entertainment section.
     
    Frizzed, Jun 3, 2015
    #16

  17. Frizzed WC Welker

    Did Alton Towers claim this themselves ?
     
    Frizzed, Jun 3, 2015
    #17

  18. BoyBlunder BOY Blunder

    BoyBlunder, Jun 3, 2015
    #18

  19. BoyBlunder BOY Blunder

    The park still hasn't reopened and won't open until Monday at the earliest. Apparently they've had 30 incidents in 3 years... that's pretty damn poor
     
    BoyBlunder, Jun 7, 2015
    #19

  20. cpr CP Raftery

    Staffs police have finally got the photographic evidence of the accident to analyse.

    Cost them £8 a shot, but the keyrings were too small to see anything
     
    cpr, Jun 7, 2015
    #20
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