Accident on the world most looping coaster

[Mouse_Trap]

Quite a nasty accident this afternoon at Alton Tower in the UK. It seems 4 people have serious leg injuries.

An eyewitness has reported that the ride had been down for maintenance beforehand, the accident involves the first car dispatched with riders afterwards. Elsewhere it has been speculated that it may have been down to bring out extra trains.

'The Smiler' is a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster and holds the world record for the roller coaster with the most inversions (14).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...er-rollercoaster-collide-16-people-board.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...er-rollercoaster-collide-16-people-board.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...er-rollercoaster-collide-16-people-board.html
Worrying, if this can happen in the UK on what is a very new coaster.

 

[NYwdwfan]

That sounds like an absolutely horrific situation. The article makes several reference to people saying there was a stationary test vehicle stuck on the track when a vehicle with passengers was deployed. I know nothing about these things but wouldn't there be safety mechanisms in place to prevent that from happening?

Hoping and praying for all involved to be OK.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

I know nothing about these things but wouldn't there be safety mechanisms in place to prevent that from happening?

Yes there will be. For something like this to happen it would suggest either human error (computer override) or its something which allows more cars be run if the ride is in test mode

 

[NYwdwfan]

Yes there will be. For something like this to happen it would suggest either human error (computer override) or its something which allows more cars be run if the ride is in test mode

Wow. I wonder what happened . What a crazy situation.

Sidebar - did they ever figure out why that lady flew out of the roller coaster in (I think) Texas?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Crazy situation.

Unfortunately (for those poor injured people) yes.
Hopefully the Health And Safety Executive will conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident. Alton Towers could find themselves being fined ££ thousands in the way of compensation

 

[NYwdwfan]

Unfortunately (for those poor injured people) yes.
Hopefully the Health And Safety Executive will conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident. Alton Towers could find themselves being fined ££ thousands in the way of compensation

Oops - I edited my post after you grabbed the quote!

 

[Bairstow]

That sounds like an absolutely horrific situation. The article makes several reference to people saying there was a stationary test vehicle stuck on the track when a vehicle with passengers was deployed. I know nothing about these things but wouldn't there be safety mechanisms in place to prevent that from happening?

Hoping and praying for all involved to be OK.

Should have been.

Gerstlauer's coasters are a little unique in that they typically use very small trains, and sometimes single cars, rather than long trains of guests to go through the tracks. In this way, a high-speed, looping roller coaster might have several different cars moving all at the same time, like on, say, Test Track, but computer controls and multiple brake blocks, lifts, and launches keep them separated at all times.

Clearly, the system failed here, and at first blush it doesn't look like operator error.
The vehicle control protocols should have made a collision like this impossible.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Should have been.

Gerstlauer's coasters are a little unique in that they typically use very small trains, and sometimes single cars, rather than long trains of guests to go through the tracks. In this way, a high-speed, looping roller coaster might have several different cars moving all at the same time, like on, say, Test Track, but computer controls and multiple brake blocks, lifts, and launches keep them separated at all times.

Clearly, the system failed here, and at first blush it doesn't look like operator error.
The vehicle control protocols should have made a collision like this impossible.

Thanks for the info. Scary stuff.

 

[Tom Morrow]

from Reddit:

Absorbed a lot of news on this and a few interviews with guests, here is what I think happened (mostly guess work):

• Ride had been experiencing problems all day
• Ride is fixed and staff send round a few test cars
• Cars aren't counted back in, one car doesn't make it round a loop and comes to rest at the bottom of a piece of track
• Staff assume all is well and sends a car full of people
• The automated safety system doesn't allow the car to proceed because it knows a car is still somewhere on the track between brake points (in an interview someone said the car that crashed was waiting at the top of the big drop for 5-10 minutes)
• Staff assume it's an error on the safety system and somehow override it
• Safety system is reset and assumes no cars are on the track, it sends the car waiting on the big drop

http://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/387unb/reports_of_crash_on_alton_towers_smiler_ride/

Now, before everyone blames the ride-ops, something to consider is standard ride operators do not have the ability to override safety systems, this usually has to be done by engineering (for instance, it might require keys that only maintenance/engineering has).

 

[lazyboy97o]

from Reddit:


http://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/387unb/reports_of_crash_on_alton_towers_smiler_ride/

Now, before everyone blames the ride-ops, something to consider is standard ride operators do not have the ability to override safety systems, this usually has to be done by engineering (for instance, it might require keys that only maintenance/engineering has).

If that is anywhere near true it is a HUGE issue.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

from Reddit:


http://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/387unb/reports_of_crash_on_alton_towers_smiler_ride/

Now, before everyone blames the ride-ops, something to consider is standard ride operators do not have the ability to override safety systems, this usually has to be done by engineering (for instance, it might require keys that only maintenance/engineering has).

Yup, this is true. I used to work at Six Flags, other than the ability to start and stop the ride, operators are not able to override the system without a engineer or supervisor key. At Six Flags, we actually required 2 keys, one from an engineer & one from our ride supervisor, if we needed to recall trains backwards or move or load vehicles on & off the tracks.

However, I know that the two rides I worked at... 1 had "brake points" but in between those points, was nothing. If somehow, a vehicle didn't stop at a brake point, there was nothing to stop it from continuing on to the next brake point. However, it was an older ride, that was a smaller coaster similar to the barnstormer & 7dmt.
The other coaster was a much larger one, that if somehow a vehicle surpassed the brake points, the individual cars were equipped with a system that would not allow the vehicles to come within a certain number of feet on the track. It would instantly disable the car & require a system override to release the vehicle.

 

[RobUK]

One day heading towards our number one national theme park... A few hours later a crash and a leg in need of amputation. Utterly terrible.

That is why Disney close rides at even the merest hint of a problem.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Yup, this is true. I used to work at Six Flags, other than the ability to start and stop the ride, operators are not able to override the system without a engineer or supervisor key. At Six Flags, we actually required 2 keys, one from an engineer & one from our ride supervisor, if we needed to recall trains backwards or move or load vehicles on & off the tracks.

However, I know that the two rides I worked at... 1 had "brake points" but in between those points, was nothing. If somehow, a vehicle didn't stop at a brake point, there was nothing to stop it from continuing on to the next brake point. However, it was an older ride, that was a smaller coaster similar to the barnstormer & 7dmt.
The other coaster was a much larger one, that if somehow a vehicle surpassed the brake points, the individual cars were equipped with a system that would not allow the vehicles to come within a certain number of feet on the track. It would instantly disable the car & require a system override to release the vehicle.

I just can't wrap my head around how terrifying that something like this could happen. Do you know if these types of rides typically have a system in place that if there is a car stationery ANYWHERE on the track a new ride vehicle would not be able to be deployed?

Being from the area - just curious which rides you worked on (I used to spend a lot of time there!)

 

[Andy Whitfield]

It's a terrible accident and hope everyone involved the best. There's unconfirmed reports of one of the victims having to have a below the knee leg amputation. Alton Towers will remained closed Thursday (4th June). Can a "blocked" section of a rollercoaster be override in "Maintenance " mode. If so then why does this even exist? and how do you put a coaster into maintainance mode with riders on it?

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I just can't wrap my head around how terrifying that something like this could happen. Do you know if these types of rides typically have a system in place that if there is a car stationery ANYWHERE on the track a new ride vehicle would not be able to be deployed?

Being from the area - just curious which rides you worked on (I used to spend a lot of time there!)

I worked at Skull Mountain, Nitro, and trained on Kingda Ka but never worked there.
At least not any of those 3 have systems that will sense a car is disabled on the track and automatically stop any other cars.
Nitro had cars equipped with the system I mentioned before that won't allow cars to come with in a certain number of feet of each other, The car would stop at the next brake point and come to a complete stop & be held automatically until the first car cleared a certain point. I believe Bizarro did too.

I know El Toro has the ability to stop anywhere on the track but I guess that's easier to do with wooden coasters than steel coasters.

 

[NYwdwfan]

I worked at Skull Mountain, Nitro, and trained on Kingda Ka but never worked there.
At least not any of those 3 have systems that will sense a car is disabled on the track and automatically stop any other cars.
Nitro had cars equipped with the system I mentioned before that won't allow cars to come with in a certain number of feet of each other, The car would stop at the next brake point and come to a complete stop & be held automatically until the first car cleared a certain point. I believe Bizarro did too.

I know El Toro has the ability to stop anywhere on the track but I guess that's easier to do with wooden coasters than steel coasters.

Cool info. Thanks. I never worked in the industry (and quite frankly am a bit of a baby when it comes to riding coasters!) but this sort of information (how coasters work, etc.) fascinates me.

 

[Dead2009]

http://screamscape.com/html/alton_towers.htm

Alton Towers theme park remains closed today and says they will stay closed until they determine the cause of the accident on The Smiler on Tuesday. While the latest batch of news articles do not say why the accident happened, a few more details have been uncovered.

According to the report on The Telegraph, the park’s management is said to be considering “scrapping” the troubled coaster following the incident.

The Smiler has been suffering from some severe issues on both the day of the crash as well as the day before. The coaster had been reported as opening and closing several times throughout the day before the crash took place shortly after 2pm, and was in the process of reopening from one of these shut-downs at the time of the incident, which is why the empty test train was sent out onto the tracks.

According to an interview with one of the riders (Vanisha Singh) who was on the second row of the train at the time of the accident, the ill-fated car did indeed get stopped near the top of the first lift hill before the lift was restarted, sending the train down the hill and into the stalled empty train. “We finally went up and were kept at the top for ten or fifteen minutes chatting, joking that we were the guinea pigs. Then we plummeted down and smashed into the test car after doing a couple of loops.”

She also described the scene on board the train following the impact as something out of a horror movie, with “blood all over the floor because it was pouring out of their legs in the carriage and dropping down”.

The names of two of the four seriously injured passengers were released, a Joe Pugh who is thought to have broken both legs, who was riding next to his new girlfriend, Leah Washington who is said to have far more serious injuries. The other two unnamed passengers were described as an 18 year old girl and a 27 year old man. Unfortunately, the article in The Telegraph also reports that one of the injured is thought to have “lost a leg” due to the accident as well.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Another article just released stating they confirmed there was an 11 minute delay before emergency services was called. Full article here:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-33011347

Emergency services were not called until 11 minutes after the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash, it has emerged.

Theme park bosses were informed of the accident on Tuesday at 13:57 BST but ambulance crews said the 999 call was not made until 14:08.

Alton Towers said one of its first responders was soon on the scene and security staff would have called 999 as soon as an assessment had been made.

Sixteen people were hurt, four seriously, when the Smiler crashed.

Crews from the West Midlands Ambulance Service arrived on the scene at 14:35 and they called the fire service at 14:41.

 

[mergatroid]

Living in England we've seen and heard a bit more about this on the news over here. It seems from radio reports today that no amputations have been necessary though four people were seriously injured, so that's a tiny glimpse of something positive if indeed true.

The two men and two women seriously hurt in the crash all suffered significant leg injuries.

Vicky Balch, from Leyland in Lancashire, has undergone surgery but is not in a life-threatening condition, as was previously thought, lawyers representing her said on Saturday.

It is thought Daniel Thorpe, 27, from Buxton, underwent surgery on Thursday.

Joe Pugh, 18, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and his girlfriend, Leah Washington, 17, are understood to have been receiving treatment at University Hospital Coventry.

Apparently tomorrow checks on the two carriages involved will be conducted. Link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33040221

 

[TheJonesys]

It's been confirmed that Leah the 17 year old has had her leg amputated and fifth person who was in the second row was admitted to hospital later with serious internal injuries