Min menu

Pages

HOW DID 'HUMAN ERROR' CAUSE HORROR ROLLERCOASTER CRASH?

HOW DID 'HUMAN ERROR' CAUSE HORROR ROLLERCOASTER CRASH?

The most fundamental safeguard on the German-built £18million Smiler ride at Alton Towers is that two carriages should never be able to travel on the same section of track at the same time. 
Special sensors trigger a braking device to prevent this happening but this safety mechanism was 'overrode' manually on the day of the crash.

It is understood the ride was suffering 'technical difficulties' on the day of the crash, June 2, and an empty 'test' carriage was sent round the ride to check it was in working order.
At the same time, 16 passengers were loaded into a separate carriage and the ride got underway.
But the full carriage was soon halted at the top of the first upward section of the rollercoaster as the automatic brakes kicked in.

It meant the computerised safety system was working perfectly as the sensors were being told there was another carriage - the empty 'test' carriage' - on the same section of track, even if operating staff were inexplicably unaware of it.

It is understood an engineer engaged a 'manual override' of the safety system at this point, allowing the carriage with passengers on board to continue once the ride operator had restarted the system. 
However, as the ride restarted, the empty 'test' carriage remained on the track following the earlier tests.
It meant the carriage full of passengers plummeted at around 50mph into the stationary carriage on the track, leaving the victims stranded in mid-air for up to four-and-a-half hours while rescuers desperately tried to reach them.
Reactions

Comments