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Accident at Alton Towers

Screaming Coasters said:
gavin said:
Ride ops are barely above burger flippers in the grand scheme of theme park operations.

Sure, they'll pick things up along the way, but the idea that they're in any way experts with regards to the ride tech is crap.

Those jobs are all seasonal, minimum wage and by their very nature designed as summer jobs, ie students who have no interest in the industry.

Feel free to get offended if you're a ride op, but them's the facts.
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Actually, back in the Tussauds Group days, this couldn't be more far away from the truth. Back then, we were pretty much engineers. We had to understand the ride, the different parts of the rides and what each thing did to pass a test. We were able to strip rides at the time, do things engineers could and tell an engineer exactly what was wrong with the ride and what part needs checking during a breakdown. When I went back when Merlin took over, the training was completely different. It was dumbed right down and ride ops were simply oblivious ride ops with all the responsibility stripped away. Taking care of a breakdown back in the Tussauds days was super efficient. Nowadays, the engineers go to a ride blindly.

You're right and you're wrong. Sort of thingy..
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Was the demographic of people different between the two? Just thinking of that blog post when I say this- did the retention of staff differ?
I'd personally be happier knowing more but I can understand that the more fingers in the pie approach could complicate things and perhaps it is harder to find the right people to hire for a more complicated role.
 
nealbie said:
Speaking of other accidents, I'm surprised none of the media have brought up the Lightwater Valley accident. Where two cars on their spinning wild mouse crashed into eachother and a young woman died.

I've linked the concluding HSE report on it.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2006/e06114.htm

Interesting to note that even though it seemed to be a manufacturer fault (short circuit allowing two cars in the same block), the HSE decided to fine the operator heavily too because of the "high safety standards expected". Wonder if a similar verdict will be found for Alton Towers regardless of what the cause was.
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"Eric Butters used the maintenance hand controls to return cars to the station but his actions, combined with the effect of a ride wiring fault, resulted in the two cars colliding."

I really don't understand why the manufacturer was found at fault?

It doesn't explain clearly enough to be sure, but it totally sounds like a ride stalled, he didn't see the stalled car, and so manually moved the car stopped on the block breaks up top? Why else would you manually move a car in block breaks if there's a car stuck in the next section?
 
Reads to me as if his actions were only possibly because of the fault, if there wasn't the fault the ride would have over ridden him?

That ride is a death trap anyway, final brakes are farcically abrupt.
 
Naughty Ian, lying to the press and forgetting about the Big Dipper derailment during the Blackpool 2010 live. Great article though. Yay the Guardian.
 
Neal, that was a malfunction, not an accident. But yes, I did genuinely forget about that.

Thanks for the comments. I don't class myself as a spokesman or anything but if I can use my CF position to convince at least one doubtful person that coasters are safe then job done.
 
Good article, I shared it :).

So yet another press article has emerged with the usual muddle of same old info with possible added new info.

Is this "whistleblower" that is talking the ex-staff member who made a comment on the crash a while back? They only said that "apparently" a member of staff saw the car so we don't know where this has come from or even if this is any new information at all. Maybe just a rephrasing of the other information in previous articles to produce another story for today.

So tl;dr= not really any new info at all.

I like these quotes though:

"Weathergirl Laura Tobin, who was the first person to ride on the Smiler, told of her horror at the accident."

"“As a scientist I don’t know how it physically can happen. I’ve seen how roller coasters work.”
But Laura said at a Pink Ribbon charity lunch at Champneys health spa in Tring, Herts: “I’d go on it again tomorrow.”"

49k signatures on that petition now. Amusing to see how much momentum it has gained.
 
Lols Daily Mail main story (not sure if they're leading with it in the paper but it's likely) is an interview with that young lad who was in the front row. I loathe to link it but it's an utterly laughable piece of journalism.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -them.html

He, Leah and the other passengers were allowed to board the ride when there were clearly safety doubts.
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Would love to know what these safety doubts are.

Gawping park visitors stood filming the injured passengers on their smartphones as they screamed for help – but not one thought to use their phone to summon the emergency services
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Because they were all concerned about selling their footage to, oh I don't know, the likes of the Daily Mail? ****, they've even included pictures and videos from immediately after the incident, what a way to discourage people from doing so in future.

Possibly interesting quotes about having to send round test trains on multiple occasions though. Then a long bit about his injuries (bit gruesome) and then quotes from lawyers expecting several million pounds.
 
I think we're all being a bit touchy, wasn't a bad article at all. It had elements of story-telling, obviously, but there was nothing sensationalist in it. Nay bad for the Mail.
 
The entire premise of it is laughable, to complain about people taking pictures when they not only publish them but ambulance chase their way to exclusive in-hospital interviews is ridiculous.
 
The Daily Mail are very hypocritical...

But like Neal said, its not bad from them... Claiming safety concerns isnt completely wrong given getting them off the train in the station twice, though it is a broad comment to make...

The moaning about filming I think comes from the guy's perspective of being stuck and surrounding guests filming rather than being helpful... It's not the Mail's opinion at all...
 
Even worse, he soon realised that passers-by were videoing him on their mobile phones as he, Leah and the other casualties sat helpless in the twisted steel wreckage.
‘There was one girl who was filming me and I just shouted at her. I swore at her and told her to go and get some help instead of videoing, and she just looked a bit surprised and walked off,’ said Joe.
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That is very depressing.
The 'even worse' bit suggests it is the Mail's opinion. Like Smithy I don't see how the Mail seems to think it has the the moral high-ground on that sort of thing.

Seems like the firemen and paramedics were great and helped keep spirits up which is good:
‘I can remember the firemen were chatting to us and having a laugh which kept our spirits up,’ said Joe. ‘At one point, when they were prising away the metal, I said, “Don’t cut my leg, will you?” and one of them said, “It won’t matter, that leg’s got a cut on it already.”
‘It’s dark humour, but it does help you cope.’
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I don't think the article was too bad as it was mainly quoting Joe Pugh, although some parts did seem to be dramatized by the Mail slightly.
 
nealbie said:
I think we're all being a bit touchy, wasn't a bad article at all. It had elements of story-telling, obviously, but there was nothing sensationalist in it. Nay bad for the Mail.
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I agree to be honest.

Dude is right though - why the **** did not a single person in that queue or surrounding area run to tell staff/call emergency services themselves?

IF YOU EVER WITNESS AN EMERGENCY AT A THEME PARK, YOU MUST FIND STAFF MEMBERS AND TELL THEM THERE IS AN EMERGENCY, WHERE IT IS AND BRIEFLY WHAT IT IS. TELL THEM TO GET HELP. THEN MOVE ON TO FIND MORE STAFF TO TELL.

The quicker they contact their emergency handling departments, the quicker help will be on it's way. Some staff will stare gormlessly and not know what to do, which is why it's essential you tell as many as possible.

If it is an emergency that will DEFINITELY require the emergency services external to the park - if someone is seriously injured, there is a fire, etc. - contact them yourself!

Standing around by an emergency causes more harm than good - you're in the way when people need to get through to help. Move away. Find appropriate help. Do it quickly. NEVER ASSUME SOMEONE ELSE HAS DONE IT ALREADY. DO IT YOURSELF.
 
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