The Smiler @ Alton Towers

[freez99313]

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

Per the article:

History of problems
A group of 16 journalists were left dangling on it at a steep angle as they tried out the rollercoaster before it opened to the public.
The ride shut for four days in July 2013 after a piece fell off the track, and 48 people had to be rescued.
It closed again in August 2013 for five days due to a "technical issue".
In November 2013 it closed for five days after wheels fell off and hit four people in the front carriage. The injured people were looked after by park staff and did not need treatment by the ambulance service, a spokeswoman said at the time.
Riders were also left stranded in the air when the ride ground to a halt at the top of a near vertical section 14 months ago.

Hmm? I'd say it's time to dismantle.

You would have thought that after 3 major breakdowns that they would dismantle the coaster and be done with it. I mean seriously? A part of the track fell off, I guess they don't have very good safety measures... I thought I heard one of the females in the front lost her right leg! Not only that, I am not sure what coaster, but the harnesses were coming undone at the buckle and they could then move around... I mean wow... They could prevent many injuries, but I guess that's not important... lol Hopefully the survivors are ok...

[Ireeb]

I don't know when you last were there but when I was there this spring they checked it on the rides where you could actually fall out. Anyway, there were no huge disasters in Europapark because they have a really good maintenance.

[Ireeb]

You would have thought that after 3 major breakdowns that they would dismantle the coaster and be done with it. I mean seriously? A part of the track fell off, I guess they don't have very good safety measures... I thought I heard one of the females in the front lost her right leg! Not only that, I am not sure what coaster, but the harnesses were coming undone at the buckle and they could then move around... I mean wow... They could prevent many injuries, but I guess that's not important... lol Hopefully the survivors are ok...

I can only explain these problems with parts falling of the cars and stuff with bad maintenance. I know this rollercoaster manufacturer, Gerstlauer, I never heard about problems with their rides here in Germany.
I also don't think the crash is connected to the previous incidents. I have the feeling that the people who maintained and operated it just were not well educated about it.
In the crash two people from the front row had their legs amputated, otherwise they are okay. Luckily no one died in the crash.

[CreamyBeef]

I can only explain these problems with parts falling of the cars and stuff with bad maintenance. I know this rollercoaster manufacturer, Gerstlauer, I never heard about problems with their rides here in Germany.
I also don't think the crash is connected to the previous incidents. I have the feeling that the people who maintained and operated it just were not well educated about it.
In the crash two people from the front row had their legs amputated, otherwise they are okay. Luckily no one died in the crash.

It's not. Alton maintenence is very good. Gerstlauer usually build smaller, Eurofighter and family coasters. A huge behemoth of twisted steel and 14 inversions is not something that should have been given to them. It would have worked with an Intamin I think, B&M most likely not. But I don't think they were the right manufacturer. Also, there are remote brakes on a few coasters, I think Corkscrew had them when it was still operating, that the Ride op can stop it even if it is not on a block or lift hill. The Smiler could use them I think. But, as I said, it will most likely turn out to be a fault on Gerstlauer's and Alton's part, a Ride Op can't put two cars onto the same block, and lift hills don't randomly restart if the coaster is being held at a block.

But it is hugely lucky that no one was killed. Leah Washington almost died 3 times due to blood loss, and if it were a colder day she wouldn't have survived. Scary stuff.

[Ireeb]

It's not. Alton maintenence is very good. Gerstlauer usually build smaller, Eurofighter and family coasters. A huge behemoth of twisted steel and 14 inversions is not something that should have been given to them. It would have worked with an Intamin I think, B&M most likely not. But I don't think they were the right manufacturer. Also, there are remote brakes on a few coasters, I think Corkscrew had them when it was still operating, that the Ride op can stop it even if it is not on a block or lift hill. The Smiler could use them I think. But, as I said, it will most likely turn out to be a fault on Gerstlauer's and Alton's part, a Ride Op can't put two cars onto the same block, and lift hills don't randomly restart if the coaster is being held at a block.

But it is hugely lucky that no one was killed. Leah Washington almost died 3 times due to blood loss, and if it were a colder day she wouldn't have survived. Scary stuff.

Well, Gerstlauer didn't build that big rollercoasters before (even though I think they built some pretty big Eurofighters as well) but also Intamin didn't just appear with experience for such coasters, they also had to face a challenge like that for the first time at some point. Also, Gerstlauer built more Infinity Coasters, like the 4 Inversion Launched Karacho, the 73 meter high Schwur des Kärnan and the 3 Inversion Launched Junker, and I didn't hear about any problems with them.

[CreamyBeef]

Well, Gerstlauer didn't build that big rollercoasters before (even though I think they built some pretty big Eurofighters as well) but also Intamin didn't just appear with experience for such coasters, they also had to face a challenge like that for the first time at some point. Also, Gerstlauer built more Infinity Coasters, like the 4 Inversion Launched Karacho, the 73 meter high Schwur des Kärnan and the 3 Inversion Launched Junker, and I didn't hear about any problems with them.

Schwur des Kärnan is brand new, it's too early to judge it yet I think. All the other coasters don't really compare to the Smiler in terms of a ride experience and how its run.

[Ireeb]

Schwur des Kärnan is brand new, it's too early to judge it yet I think. All the other coasters don't really compare to the Smiler in terms of a ride experience and how its run.

I think Karacho is not a simple rollercoaster it may be short, but it is intense with the LIM launch, and I just love the part where it turns you upside down and then you drop into a tunnel. Yes it has no lift hill, but the lifthill was not the problem on the smkler (It worked, but when it was supposed not to, it must have gotten the signal from the computer, questionable why. I don't this it would start for no reason) The Karacho is as high as the smiler, it is faster, it has inversions just not as many as the smiler, but I don't think this is a big difference as they use the same computers and very similar trains. It is a fact that the smiler ride failed when the cars stopped, that's not supposed to happen, but it's a big machine, they are never perfect and that's why the ride operators are there to ensure that in a case of a technical issue the damages are minimal. And here they failed. They should have waited until the test train returned and watched the CCTV cam. Anyway I would just wait until the investigations are finished, maybe they just throw over everything I said and confirm what you said, maybe they confirm my theories.

[Ireeb]

It looks like there has been progress to the investigations. Just as I assumed, they did not realize there was a train on the tracks, wondered why the second train was held on the top of the lift, so they manually overwrote the safety system. The article questions how this can be possible, I'd say for an engineer it should be possible to overwrite everything if necessary, because in a different scenario this might be necessary (maybe the sensors fail and the computer didn't get the information that the next section is clear, so the train is stuck up there for no reason, here the manual overwrite would be needed, but if you do that you should evacuate the train before releasing it). Such a feature must be used carefully though, but obviously they did not pay enough attention. They also spoke about a possible reason for the first train stopping on the tracks. In the beginning they always talked about the brakes were slowing down the train too much, but it could also be an influence from outside: strong wind.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-carriage.html

[Deuce]

Some actual 'news' about this at last.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...heme-park-says

So the park has concluded it was definitely human error, and that the ride was faultless. Gerstlauer make superb coasters and I'm glad they at least are not being held to blame in any way.

Throughout this story I have felt that Alton Towers is, in fact, extremely safe and very conscientiously operated. It's a great park and I can't wait to go back there, which I will do as soon as the Smiler re-opens

[JMR]

Some actual 'news' about this at last.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...heme-park-says

So the park has concluded it was definitely human error, and that the ride was faultless. Gerstlauer make superb coasters and I'm glad they at least are not being held to blame in any way.

Throughout this story I have felt that Alton Towers is, in fact, extremely safe and very conscientiously operated. It's a great park and I can't wait to go back there, which I will do as soon as the Smiler re-opens

I was also very pleased to hear the it wasn't Gerstlauer's fault. When it came on the news, I just felt a relief for Alton Towers.

Now Alton Towers security is probably better than the majority of parks out there with their new training improvements and new override authentication system.