Merlin found at fault for Smiler accident

[Coasterkidmwm]

CP tried to force visual scans for a couple weeks. All it did was take your eyes off the train, which resulted in more fat people unbuckling the seatbelt during dispatch while making everyone look stupid. Hopefully the Alton Towers employees won't have to endure that.

[mkingy]

tiepilot35 wrote:

I really feel like the operation won't be so severely affected. I imagine that all operators will have to do a visual scan of the layout before dispatching any train so the public sees that. And they likely retrofitted the manual override system so that they have to have five workers climb down into the concrete gully and each push a tiny button embedded in the concrete using bent paperclips simultaneously and then climb back up into the station and press the big red flashing ARE YOU SURE???????? button.

I feel like I read that the latter had indeed been installed. Could easily have been speculation however.

The Smiler did indeed reopen today. It is running 3 trains, unsurprisingly, and has a 90 minute queue. COASTERGUY246, who is currently there, says that the news people are swarming it, there are helicopters and people are being asked to be interviewed. Expect another minor sh*tstorm tomorrow and Monday morning on the news, I reckon.

[Dirk_Ermen]

The media is running out of news to they go create their own news in the frickin' park. Can't wait to see how this turns out...

[gouldy]

Rode Smiler today. Running really nice a smooth.

Massive queue first thing in the morning, but I didn't to the park until 14:30, and it was only a 25 minute queue by then.

[Coasterkidmwm]

The only "bad" spot on that ride is the second half of the cobra roll right? I never understood that snap from POVs unless it's a spatial thing.

[gouldy]

Just a Gerstlauer thing. Every Gerstlauer has to have one big track jerk. Smiler's isn't quite as bad a Saw's. It's just tradition...

[Coasterkidmwm]

I am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was forced because of clearances. Apparently not lol

EDIT: added "am"

[mkingy]

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

I trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was forced because of clearances. Apparently not lol

The section of track where it occurs is much shorter than the other sections - this might be a contributing factor.

gouldy wrote:

Every Gerstlauer has to have one big track jerk. Smiler's isn't quite as bad a Saw's. It's just tradition...

Wow I didn't know their own rule!

[Dirk_Ermen]

Every Gerstlauer has to have one big track jerk.[/quote]
There is one exception to that: Takabisha @ Fuji Q.

Well, Unless you would count the slow loading or that lame complete stop at the 45?? angle as a jerk(y move).

[Paradox]

Dirk_Ermen wrote:

Every Gerstlauer has to have one big track jerk.

There is one exception to that: Takabisha @ Fuji Q.

Well, Unless you would count the slow loading or that lame complete stop at the 45?? angle as a jerk(y move).

What about Junker and Karacho?

[Coasterkidmwm]

I don't think the ones with lapbars matter in that regard.

Karacho is well-known among NL1 and 2 users as a Newtony design.

[Oscar]

As expected:

HSE statement: Alton Towers owners' plead guilty to safety failings
Date:22 April 2016

Neil Craig, head of operations for HSE in the Midlands said:

???We welcome the guilty plea entered by Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd. Merlin has acknowledged that it failed in its legal duty to protect people on the Smiler ride.

Those injured on 2 June last year had every right to expect a carefree and fun day out.

The incident was profoundly distressing for everyone involved, both physically and mentally. It left some with life changing injuries.

We hope this first milestone will help those affected to continue their recovery from this tragic incident."

Pics and footage provided by the HSE:

those images explain why the front-row riders sustained serious leg injuries.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Wow, some serious damage to the cars. Gives a better look at what actually happened.
I do wonder how the train bumper got bent upwards so much. It doesn't make sense to me when it's been hit frontal.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Dirk_Ermen wrote:

Wow, some serious damage to the cars. Gives a better look at what actually happened.
I do wonder how the train bumper got bent upwards so much. It doesn't make sense to me when it's been hit frontal.

I'm not an engineer but....

Think about hitting an object obliquely at a an angle, like the bottom of that inversion, not a flat surface like a road.

in the first photo (under the video), it looks like a seat's been removed, not sure why that is.

[Mikey]

They probably removed it to see how bad the deflection is in the floor, sub frame, and if it damaged the swivel and bogie assembly. There is also an electrical connection there, it's possible the train as equipped with telemetrics and they were trying to pull some data off or. (I doubt it because industry is piss slow to install these.) While the accident in itself is tragic there are lessons to be learned all around from this.

[Turbo]

Holy crap.........

Feels like a "tragic" car accident...

[mkingy]

I find it incredible they actually got the guests out without having to amputate on site from that.

[mkingy]

To pretty much put a final cap on this story - Merlin have been found responsible for the Smiler accident today in a sentencing that was perhaps to be expected given the HSE's tendency to find fault with management of people rather than individual actions.

BBC News wrote:

Alton Towers sentencing: 'Operator Merlin at fault'

Alton Towers operator Merlin was at fault for the Smiler rollercoaster crash, a court has heard.
Two teenagers were left needing leg amputations and several other victims suffered serious injuries in the accident in June 2015.
An investigation found human error caused the crash, which saw a carriage smash into an empty car.
Operator Merlin Attractions has been warned to expect a "very large fine" for health and safety breaches.

Opening the sentencing hearing at Stafford Crown Court, barrister Bernard Thorogood, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said the crash equated to "a family car of 1.5 tons having collided at about 90mph".
???The ??18m Smiler was the world's first 14 multi-loop rollercoaster with up to five trains running at any one time
???On 2 June four trains were operating on the ride; a fifth was stored away
???At 13:00 BST there was a problem with one of the trains; technical staff were called
???One of the engineers thought it was a good opportunity to add the fifth train because the park was busy
???An empty test train was sent but failed
???Engineers pushed the train until it engaged with the system and off it went
???Another empty train was sent out. It got stuck, too, but in a different place
???Engineers were unaware of this, thought everything was working fine and handed it back to operators
???The train with 16 passengers on was sent out and stopped
???The engineers looked but could not see the stalled car, thought the computer was wrong, and over-rode the stop. This set the 16-passenger train in motion and into the empty carriage
He said a test carriage had been sent around the 14-loop ride but had failed.

'Fault with employers'
Engineers re-set the ride and overrode a computer system "block-stop" which they believed had halted the ride in error, sending a full 16-seater rollercoaster car around the track and into the empty carriage.
Mr Thorogood said that the "fault here is with the employers", not individuals.
He said the engineers were "without guidance from above", and had not been given a system to follow to safely deal with the problem on the track.
"The fault is with the defendant for not devising a scheme, for not guiding the work of the engineers," he said.
Among those who attended the first day were Victoria Balch and Leah Washington, who had legs amputated after the crash.
Wind speeds
The court heard how there were estimated winds on the day of 45mph. But the manufacturer's manual said the ride should not be operated at speeds above 34 mph.
Mr Thorogood said the victims were left for a "significant period of time" at least 20ft (6m) above ground, waiting for medical attention because of the inaccessibility of the ride.

He said engineers on the day had not read or seen the operating instructions for the ride.
The Recorder of Stafford, Judge Michael Chambers QC, is set to hear mitigation from Merlin, based in Poole, Dorset, before passing sentence.
In April the operator admitted charges of breaching the Health and Safety Act. An investigation by the park found staff misunderstood a shutdown message and wrongly restarted the ride.
Since the crash, a number of safety changes have been made including improved access and a policy of closing the ride when winds exceed 35mph.

source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-st ... e-37471624

[gouldy]