Oldiesmann Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Reading up on the accident on Wikipedia (haven't heard anything in a while and was seeing if I'd missed anything), I came across this article... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/alton-towers-victim-furious-as-ceo-tells-her-they-are-reopening-the-smiler-because-they-are-losing-a-a6669286.html That is not the way to handle that question. Also, I highly doubt reopening the ride will help their financial and attendance issues... The reason behind the closure is what's keeping people away. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joncars05 Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Unfortunately it looks like the investigation has determined that 'human error' was the cause of this accident. It appears that the manual override of the ride safety control system was used without following the proper safety protocol. I know that this was the main thought by the majority of people here. It is so unfortunate that a simple human error has caused so much damage not only for the injured individuals but the company as well. It will be interesting to see the fallout of what they have concluded. It seems that this may be put on the mechanic team servicing the ride at the time of the incident and not the ride ops. I just feel awful for those permanently injured due to what has now been concluded as someone making a mistake. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/nov/24/alton-towers-rollercoaster-crash-caused-by-human-error-theme-park-says 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Alton Towers To Open During Christmas Season First Time Ever In Attempt to Boost Profits After Disastrous 2015: http://m.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Alton-Towers-open-time-Christmas/story-28318676-detail/story.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faeriewench Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 It would not sadden me at all to see Smiler meet the wrecking ball. Still so sad what happened to those kids. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 ...even though it was found employee error was the cause. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroKinesis Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Alton Towers has opened on Christmas for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoF96" Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 went to look back at this topic for updates and using a quick search, The Smiler has reopened to the public as of March 19. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfanatic83 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Does Alton Towers release ridership numbers? That would be an interesting stat to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoF96" Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I can't think of any park that releases ridership numbers for any individual ride other than for a milestone such as "Banshee's 1,000,000th rider!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 ^ Kings Island has. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD-120-420 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I remember Cedar Point also releasing numbers in a blog post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoF96" Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Despite the accident if one does a YouTube search along the lines of "The Smiler reopened" it appears that the lines are still multiple hours long. A change that stood out to me is that all references with the word "corrected" have been removed. In the spot where it pauses before the second lift and it said "half way corrected" now just says halfway. The audio has also been changed to omit halfway corrected. I hear there are now more operators and more cameras around the ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBEW_Sparky Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Breaking update, Owners plead guilty to Health and Safety Law violations: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/22/alton-towers-owner-pleads-guilty-over-smiler-rollercoaster-crash 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcwizard13 Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Merlin has been fined 5 million pounds (6.6 million USD): http://www.marketwatch.com/story/merlin-fined-5-million-over-roller-coaster-crash-2016-09-27 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofBaconator Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Its been a while since these incidents have happened so I thought I'd ask the question- would you guys ride it if you had the chance? This ride has seen its fair share of issues but that always doesn't sway people's opinions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 I'd ride it as long as the idiot that overrode the blocking system no longer works there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver2005 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 Also, Gerstlauer is still building plenty of rides and are doing all the right things. Heck, Knott's new ride, HangTime, is the same make and model as Smiler. I have no problems with Smiler or Gerstlauer. Hopefully, Gerstlauer has stopped making wooden coaster trains. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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