ROLLERCOASTER CRASH AT ALTON TOWERS! PPL SERIOUSLY INJURED

Kardan · 03-06-2015, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by lawrawrrr

Every rollercoaster out there has had some kind of problem in the past! None of the issues have been from the same thing. From what I can see about this one it was stopped on a loop and then they released after, too early?

There was like *just* a technical fault though and there should have been more tests before people were allowed on it though...I still don't really get why there was an empty carriage on the track anyway???

That's not true.

The reason why people were on the ride is because the rollercoaster operates two cars at once to try and make the queues go down quicker. Tons of other rides do this, and it's totally fine. They sent an empty one as they were restarting the ride for the day as it had been shut down earlier in the day (this is also a fairly common occurance), now as this empty one was released from the station, the second one would have been already starting to fill. As the first one went, they released the second one and it went up the hill climb. Now, the first one never returned to the station, it stalled (meaning it didn't have enough momentum to make a loop, so it got stuck at the bottom of a loop), this of course means that if a second one is released, it will collide into the stalled one - this is what happened. Now, to stop this from happening, the rollercoaster is supposed to detect that the first one didn't complete the course - and it did detect that. So, it kept the train with people on at the top of the hill climb for 10 minutes. This is what it's supposed to do, and I myself have been kept on a hill climb for a few minutes at Alton Towers waiting for the track to be clear.

The problem is, the second train was eventually released after 10 minutes when the track was not clear. The question is, was it a mechanical fault, or did someone manually override it so it was released? Once it was released from the top of the hill climb, their fate was sealed pretty much.

To the people saying 'the rollercoaster should've been closed down way before this because of the issues', no. First of all, many rollercoasters have teething issues in the past, which this rollercoaster has, but rather importantly, none of the issues in the past have caused the crash. The worst incident in the past is that the rollercoaster stopped going up a climb if i remember correctly - heck, if that issue happened yesterday the people on the train would've been better off. Rollercoasters are meant to stop if they are issues, it's a design feature. (Except, it stopped working yesterday).

**Stephen** · 03-06-2015, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by lemons

from twitter, looks like the boy on right has blood on his face

i wonder if the bloodied face could be the result of his leg being crushed at such a force that blood splattered upwards

bit like hitting a tomato with a hammer eww +o(

lemons · 03-06-2015, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by Stephen

i wonder if the bloodied face could be the result of his leg being crushed at such a force that blood splattered upwards

bit like hitting a tomato with a hammer eww +o(

someone else said it was nose bleed

**GommeInc** · 03-06-2015, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by Kardan

That's not true.

The reason why people were on the ride is because the rollercoaster operates two cars at once to try and make the queues go down quicker. Tons of other rides do this, and it's totally fine. They sent an empty one as they were restarting the ride for the day as it had been shut down earlier in the day (this is also a fairly common occurance), now as this empty one was released from the station, the second one would have been already starting to fill. As the first one went, they released the second one and it went up the hill climb. Now, the first one never returned to the station, it stalled (meaning it didn't have enough momentum to make a loop, so it got stuck at the bottom of a loop), this of course means that if a second one is released, it will collide into the stalled one - this is what happened. Now, to stop this from happening, the rollercoaster is supposed to detect that the first one didn't complete the course - and it did detect that. So, it kept the train with people on at the top of the hill climb for 10 minutes. This is what it's supposed to do, and I myself have been kept on a hill climb for a few minutes at Alton Towers waiting for the track to be clear.

The problem is, the second train was eventually released after 10 minutes when the track was not clear. The question is, was it a mechanical fault, or did someone manually override it so it was released? Once it was released from the top of the hill climb, their fate was sealed pretty much.

To the people saying 'the rollercoaster should've been closed down way before this because of the issues', no. First of all, many rollercoasters have teething issues in the past, which this rollercoaster has, but rather importantly, none of the issues in the past have caused the crash. The worst incident in the past is that the rollercoaster stopped going up a climb if i remember correctly - heck, if that issue happened yesterday the people on the train would've been better off. Rollercoasters are meant to stop if they are issues, it's a design feature. (Except, it stopped working yesterday).

General knowledge or Rollercoaster Tycoon?

It's the one time that game is good describe what happens - albeit what the mechanics used to do when called to a broken down ride.

It is a bit alarming how many issues this particular ride has had, especially the type of coaster (mangled mess that goes up and over itself) and risk involved (speeds etc). Air has only really left people in super-man poses in the past. No wheels or anything falling off, but then again it isn't mangled up like The Smiler, which makes me wonder why pieces are falling off - surely safety designs should have it so minimal removable parts fall off it?

RyRy · 03-06-2015, 06:11 PM

Bloody terrible that it's happened, I love rollercoasters and it's not like it's going to stop me going on them... but it's a proper terrible day for those kids, I really hope nobody else has to have their legs amputated or anything like that. I also hope that Alton Towers compensate them fairly for what's happened, as I'm sure they will.