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Accident at Alton Towers

Saturday gone or Saturday coming up? I hope she's alright for sure.

I haven't seen any photos of the cars after the accident but you're definitely right about the girls getting the brunt of it. I bet the guys wish they'd taken the middle seats now :(
 
CoastinBear said:
There was one aerial shot shown on Wednesday of the empty train. The rails at the front of the footplate were almost touching the seats in the very centre of the row. I really wish I hadn't seen that...
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Wow..... I think I'd like to see that pic.
 
It was helicopter footage from, I think, the BBC. Not a still picture, so you might have to look on their news website.

Edit: Might have been on Friday, when they were preparing to remove the trains.
 
Thanks for the info CoastinBear - you've turned up brand new and brought a lot to this topic. Welcome! hope you stick around.
 
Thanks Joey! I've been trying to bat away the misleading reporting on Twitter, but once it is out there, that's pretty much it. At least on here we can have a knowledgeable discussion.

This incident is pretty much my worst nightmare come true. Yes, I used to ride The Big One after the first accident (and the second, which I hadn't heard about), but I always find myself looking over my shoulder on the lift hill to check that the other train has made it back to the station. The thought of seeing that the other train has valleyed, but with my train still going over the top of the lift hill - ugh!
 
As part of this 'testing' they should really try and deliberately stall the train at the same point and simulate exactly what SHOULD have happened to HSE.

Whether that would be wise to do in public is another thing as it could lead to mass hysteria.

Edit: Welcome Coastinbear
 
Wow, I can't believe it's testing, especially in public.....

And with the kind of money she'll hopefully be receiving, she could get a bionic leg/knee and I hope she does.
 
Interesting that they're testing the ride during opening hours, you'd have thought they'd have deliberately tested it later after the park had closed. That being said they're doing a good job at keeping people informed and I commend them for that. They've put up posters around park explaining why the ride is testing, and also used their facebook page to respond to enquiries. One thing I find interesting is what will happen to The Sanctuary now? ScareTOUR announced that they'd heard Terror of the Towers and The Sanctuary would be coming back this year, could we see a Sanctuary will all reference to The Smiler removed?

Most importantly though, I really hope both of the girls are recovering as best as they can, it's horrific the accident has lead to this. Here's hoping Merlin do provide the best care and more importantly aftercare for all the victims.
 
This is the quote from the poster seen in park:

“As part of the ongoing investigation into The Smiler incident, the Health and Safety Executive may be running ride cars around the ride today."

I should probably credit Towers Street who have the poster on their facebook page.
 
Thanks for that info CoastinBear and welcome. I'm glad that Alton have specified what's happening so people don't get the wrong end of the stick.
 
Just hearing about this now. Damn, that's crazy. None of the US major news sites reported this as far as I know, and I go through them every day. On the somewhat bright side, at least nobody was killed. I couldn't imagine if something like this happened on say a giga. It would be game over. Feel sorry for those involved.
 
If you want to see the plea for Olly Murs to visit Vicky, which has made public further information on poor Vicky's injuries, search for the #GETOlly2vicky hash tag on Twitter. Of course, if Olly doesn't go and see her now, he's in the public eye, loads of Olly fans know about this "campaign" and - well! I'd have thought it would have been better to contact the powers that be privately and try to get a surprise visit to be made. Still - it's the era of social media...
 
Shocker of an article in the Guardian where they basically copy and paste the Smiler article they've used for a week then at the top focus on a breakdown on Octonauts yesterday wbere a rider panicked and they had to evacuate. All sorts of vague implications this is unsafe, then citing a guest who said as soon as he saw them being taken down in harnesses and staff doing nothing to stop parents and children from entering the area he left the park immediately. Via guest services who asked him to fill in a questionnaire.

People.

Lol.
 
CoastinBear said:
If you want to see the plea for Olly Murs to visit Vicky, which has made public further information on poor Vicky's injuries, search for the #GETOlly2vicky hash tag on Twitter. Of course, if Olly doesn't go and see her now, he's in the public eye, loads of Olly fans know about this "campaign" and - well! I'd have thought it would have been better to contact the powers that be privately and try to get a surprise visit to be made. Still - it's the era of social media...
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Yea this really bugs me, putting pressure on celebrities to go and visit a fan in hospital. Yes it is a terrible accident that has happened and the injuries are life changing (not life threatening) but why is it now Olly's responsibility to drop what he is doing and go and visit one of his tens of thousands of fans in hospital.

It may sound rude of me to think like this, but putting myself in the celebs shoes, i wouldn't want to be forced to do something because of a hashtag trend started by someone that could be sat on there arse all day with nothing better to do.

As CoastinBear said, definitely a private message to Olly (or any other celeb) would be better in my view.
 
Rankle07 said:
CoastinBear said:
If you want to see the plea for Olly Murs to visit Vicky, which has made public further information on poor Vicky's injuries, search for the #GETOlly2vicky hash tag on Twitter. Of course, if Olly doesn't go and see her now, he's in the public eye, loads of Olly fans know about this "campaign" and - well! I'd have thought it would have been better to contact the powers that be privately and try to get a surprise visit to be made. Still - it's the era of social media...
Click to expand...

Yea this really bugs me, putting pressure on celebrities to go and visit a fan in hospital. Yes it is a terrible accident that has happened and the injuries are life changing (not life threatening) but why is it now Olly's responsibility to drop what he is doing and go and visit one of his tens of thousands of fans in hospital.
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I agree.

Smithy said:
Shocker of an article in the Guardian where they basically copy and paste the Smiler article they've used for a week then at the top focus on a breakdown on Octonauts yesterday wbere a rider panicked and they had to evacuate. All sorts of vague implications this is unsafe, then citing a guest who said as soon as he saw them being taken down in harnesses and staff doing nothing to stop parents and children from entering the area he left the park immediately. Via guest services who asked him to fill in a questionnaire.
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Went to read this after you mentioned it. So frustrating. Probably going to be the case for the next few days/week really - every minor (normal) breakdown is going to be a "near death experience". So silly.
 
CoastinBear said:
...the forces on collision must have been concentrated in the very centre of the front of the train due to the "bumper" that sits in the middle of the back of each train.
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I hadn't considered that before, it's an interesting idea. Although the bumper is below foot level, it's only intended to handle light impacts so it could have misbehaved under heavy impact and forced material upwards. Possibly another thing that may need sorting out before it re-opens.

On the post-crash video (which we've probably all seen) of the two trains rocking back and forth, you can see the chap on the front-right (Joe Pugh) actually grabbing hold of the rear of the empty train as they're moving, which makes me shudder.
 
#GETOlly2Vicky update: Apparently, Olly Murs sent a Tweet to Vicky last night. Yay!

Today, the campaign says "I am however asking for a tiny bit more now, he's noticed her, maybe we can get him to pay her a bit more attention, she deserves it. Let's try and get a video call or a visit..."
 
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