jcgoble3 Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-smiler-probe-investigate-5878299 From that: An ex-employee at Alton Towers said: “They need to investigate if the accident was down to human error rather than mechanical failure. There was the operator and five technical service guys in that control cabin. “Apparently another member of staff called the cabin to warn of the stranded carriage. They have phones, known as A-phones, all around the ride with a button direct to the operator’s cabin. “I believe someone saw that carriage and rang the operator but, for whatever reason, they appear to have dismissed the information.” Disclaimer: The following is purely speculation, based on the above quote. According to this, there were 5 "technical service" people in the control booth. Now, I don't know what kind of lingo Alton Towers uses among its employees, but "technical service" sounds like what we would call "maintenance". If there were that many maintenance people in the control booth, then that brings a few thoughts to mind. One, that as discussed earlier, the ride may very well have been in maintenance mode, which in turn may have been the cause of the block system not working properly. Two, that I think the blame for this accident is more likely to fall on the shoulders of someone (or two) in "technical services", rather than on the normal ride operator. Three, that they obviously knew something was wrong with the coaster, yet apparently sent a loaded train anyway with safety systems quite possibly still disabled (see point #1), and thus I would not be surprised to see criminal charges against the person(s) responsible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Tragically, a second victim has lost a leg. http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/alton-towers-crash-vicky-balch-has-right-leg-amputated-weeks-after-smiler-disaster-that-badly-injured-five-10349697.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperial79 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 That is very sad to hear! Praying for healing and peace for those effected. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanna Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I'm sorry to hear that. On POVs of the Smiler ride, I've noticed the bumper on the back of the carriage is a relatively small round disc. This perhaps is what V buckled the front of the loaded carriage and cost these poor girls their limbs. Leah Washington lost her left leg, Vicky Balch her right. Look where they were sitting. The carts' bumpers didn't seem meant for crash potential, just the polite bump action that occurred with Les Taxis. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlentless Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Alton Towers rollercoaster crash causes Merlin profit warning http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33672357 another story http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/27/alton-towers-roller-coaster-crash-set-to-cost-merlin-entertainments-up-to-47m.html 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsus Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Who could've guessed that one? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldiesmann Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3207431/Two-workers-quizzed-human-error-Alton-Towers-horror-Engineer-turned-automatic-safety-lock-operator-let-truck-slam-stalled-carriage.html Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekidd33 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Pretty much seems to echo what everyone was saying before about the cause. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stashua123 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 And the saga continues..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindingSon Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 A coaster should NEVER EVER run with people on it while in manual mode. NEVER. NEVER EVER. If it has to be run in manual mode, SOMETHING IS WRONG. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Theme Park A Ghost Town, Two Hour Usual Lines 5 Minutes, Fast Track Booths Closed: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-theme-park-ghost-6175760 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stashua123 Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Uh oh. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback96 Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I assume that even Geauga Lake was more packed than that on any given day in 2007... Has this happened before? A park goes from being packed all the time to having barely any customers in just one summer? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calakapepe Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Didn't even hear of this when a certain lone Six Flags star park had an incident with a coaster.. Or with another certain Six Flags midwest park with a Drop Tower ride..This is a little strange only because of how drastic of a change in attendance this is. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Italian Job 2005 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Does anyone know the theme of The Smiler? From pictures, it seems like they themed it to a machine-like construction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroKinesis Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Psychosis? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph88 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Whenever I see the logo I think of, oddly enough, the Cheshire Cat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joncars05 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Theme Park A Ghost Town, Two Hour Usual Lines 5 Minutes, Fast Track Booths Closed:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-theme-park-ghost-6175760Terp Read the comment section of this article. The people commenting have mentioned that the park is as packed as usual. If you notice the photos almost everything (trees, Buildings, etc) has long shadows in them which to me means they were taken in the early morning. I can take some photos at Cedar Point during the ERT session that would make it look like a ghost town in the middle of summer if that was my intention. Now do I think attendance has dropped off a little bit yes. But this seems to be a story that is highly sensationalized for clicks and comments.Edit: it appears the comment section was removed from the article (at least on the mobile version). I was linked to this article when it first came out at the beginning of the month by a friend. The comments were saying that there wasn't a noticeable difference in attendance or wait times and that this was a slander piece. That might be why the comment section is not available anymore. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium13 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 ^ There doesn't appear to be a comment section on the desktop version of the story either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joncars05 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 I guess it was a copy and paste article with the same photos from another website. Here is the link to it and check the comment section under 'best rated' and there are plenty of people talking about how the park was packed and high ticket prices haha. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3180987/Heading-Oblivion-Alton-Towers-quiet-thrillseekers-barely-queue-popular-rollercoasters-park-shuts-early-hardly-s-there.html#article-3180987 I knew I wasn't going crazy about seeing a comment section on this article. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroKinesis Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Article writers hate it when you correct them. I remember a few years ago I went to an Indians game and the attendance was low. The next day Yahoo had an article up saying that not even John Adams (the dude who beats the drum out in the bleachers) showed up. I posted a comment saying that he was in fact there, and the next day the comments section was gone, and the article still said he wasn't there. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanna Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Does anyone know the theme of The Smiler? From pictures, it seems like they themed it to a machine-like construction.From reading and looking at videos, it was a "Marmalizer"; a 'machine' that was invented to disorient and confuse it's victims that they were happy and not complaining and would accept things as they were. I suspect the designer wanted it to be like a government plot.The roller coaster was built around something that looked like a spider, that had effects on each arm to make it more frightening, barrels of toxic 'smile' gas, and signs. Then there was a creepy laughing Willy Wonka-sequel theme song. I got this from the net- there's and actual architectural out there about what spider arm went where and what it did. To be blunt: I wouldn't enjoy being the ride operator. As to the article about the empty park and the suspicious photos, I've been noticing that many modern reporters write what they wish to have happen, not the facts as they happen. I conspiratorially think they are part of the Marmelization process. Edit: after posting this, I realized my avatar doesn't seem immune to the process. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrill_Biscuit Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 ^I must say that, somehow your avatar really looks happy and content with the status quo! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlentless Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Owner says attendance down due mainly to the accident. http://www.businessinsider.com/merlin-q3-theme-park-revenue-tanks-03-2015-9 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Sounds like some previous posters who poo-poohed an article about lower attendance jumped to their own conclusions.... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joncars05 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Never said that attendance wasn't down or going to be lower due to the accident. I just said it wasn't as dramatic as the article mentioned. It wasn't a "ghost town" as the article tried to present it as. The news article and their author used hyperbole to try and sensationalize a tragedy and generate clicks. A reasonable person would assume that attendance would drop after an accident of this magnitude. But one would also suspect that the park being closed for close to a week during peak visiting season while shutting down its marquee ride for the time being would also affect the bottom line. If KI closed Banshee or Diamondback for the year for mechanical issues would attendance drop? Or if KI or CP was shut down for just one weekend (Alton Towers was shut down for 5 days after the accident) during the summer would profit numbers for the park take a hit? I would assume yes for both of those questions. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroKinesis Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I'm sure the Halloween events will bring in the people like they usually do, especially if they have a fireworks show. Their shows are always great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 As attendance plummets, 190 jobs axed: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3310643/Alton-Towers-axe-190-jobs-visitor-numbers-plummet-difficult-year-Smiler-crash-seriously-injured-five-people.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 I wonder if this is the beginning of the end for Alton Towers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calakapepe Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 I hope they can fix this, personally. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.