The Smiler Rollercoaster Crash | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- "At around 1:51pm on the 2nd of June 2015 at the Alton Towers theme park in the UK, a combination of factors lead to a fully-loaded car on the Smiler rollercoaster crashing..."
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Credit to the park for actually taking full responsibility. I know plenty of parks that would rather fight in court than admit wrongdoing.
Agreed - Alton Towers handled this about the best they possibly could have. It's a terrible thing to have happened, but at least they didn't make it worse by fighting the victims.
*cough* Action Park *cough*
It's good they took responsibility, I am interested in seeing how the engineers who made that choice to override the safety, without taking a track walk to verify what they thought the issue was. I know I make several mistakes a day/week/month with noncritical tasks because the penalty for failure is being slower at completing something. But when I used to operate cranes I was hyper-vigilant about everything cause the penalty for failure was maiming/killing myself / others. I'm always interested in knowing how the people who made these calls hold up afterward.
Alton Towers is possibly the most popular theme park in the UK. I suspect it would have caused them irreparable reputational damage if they'd acted any differently. But I agree, full credit to them for doing the right thing. I remember this, it was all over the news here for quite a while.
@Robert Gardea
-Disney World
-Action Park
“Boy, this washing machine is broken, lemme put in another load while I call the repairman which is the most logical and helpful thing to do.”
A little fire just means it can dry once done. It's fine :)
I've actually done this, although my washing machines broken part was merely a filter clogged with calcium, so it just spewed water everywhere over my bathroom floor, like shit going out of the ass of a hippopotamus.
_and then everything turned _*_pink_*
Especially if your getting paid to do it right?
A neighbour of mine (student house with studios) did this with the shared dryer. The day before I had texted the groupchat that the dryer made a horrible noise and that it was better to not use it. The next day she texted the groupchat that she got spooked by the noise the dryer made, but she didn't take her washing out. I had to turn it off for her because she was away.
Can you imagine being one of the people in line who didn’t make it onto that car and then finding out what you narrowly avoided?
Final Destination...
sounds like one of the final destination sequels lol
some of those people were interviewed on the news.
My grandma did just that, she got ready to get onto the car and changed her mind, it saved her life the car flew off the track people died so did her friend.
We went to lightwater valley in the UK the day before they had a death on a rollercoaster. The rollercoaster was like a waltzer car on a track. We got on and I asked about the car lap belt that was there. They said it was upto you but you didn't need any restraint as it was gentle. The next day a car went backwards into another one, the poor girl slipped forward off the seat and broke her neck. They found that the attraction needed safety belts as one of the recommendations.
Some of the people in that car had to have seen that empty car sitting on the track well before they got to it. I don't want to know what it feels like to have several seconds to think about an accident you *know* is going to happen, but can't do anything to avoid it.
Omg that's a terrifying thought!
I've had similar thoughts about plane crashes. Knowing that you're about to crash at hundreds of miles per hour, and nothing you can do but just sit and wait for it. Ughhhh 😦
In one of the cctv stills, you can see one guy in about the 4th row pointing at something to his left. So, as sad as it is, I'd say a few of them had realised this.
I haven't been in that specific situation, but... I've been in ones like it. For me, it was "awwwwww fuck."
especially being in the front... knowing your legs are about to be brutally shredded from that impact and you might not even pass out. luckily they are on a roller coaster so the adrenaline probably is what helped them get through!
not only that, but they could've possibly gone from thinking about it happening and then once it halted they probably felt relieved, just to be sent crashing anyways a few moments later. it would've been a hell lot of emotions in a few seconds. absolutely chilling.
Imagine bring the engineers who designed and built all those safety devices that were just bypassed or ignored
Because it is possible an auto failsafe can report something by mistake and you may need to override it. Not sure how these work, but you need all sorts of things to ensure like redundancy.
@@91Indrek they have blinkers?
@@tinymetaltrees blinkers which automatically turn themselves off after a second or two, no joke
@@KrikZ32 Just in case a BMW driver accidentally turns them on, which is every time they turn them on.
@@tinymetaltrees Hey now, BMW blinkers are very useful (to confirm when you lock the car).
I don’t know about you guys but that girl in the promo image makes me want to run away
triggers my flight or fight, I have to look away while it’s on screen lol
Megalodon65 😂
Kinda looks like Cameron Diaz😂
@Md AHS lol 😂
It's like the music video for Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" lol
I feel sorry for one of the girls who had to have an amputation. In an article she said that all of her friends went off to University and abandoned her to cope with her life in the aftermath feeling left behind.
Would you have cancelled your university education?
Being a millionaire probably took the ege of a little bit though
That is truly awful.
@@hearmenow909 Is that really what you got out of that comment? that they should have canceled their uni and they were in the wrong? pls read again.
@@KrikZ32 I think you're missing the point of the comment, but okay.
I am a ride operator and this story is making me lose my damn mind! How do you not even LOOK at the track of the coaster? if your ride is telling you something is wrong, NEVER send another car omfg.
They were not aware of the 5th car on the track, and had assumed it had cleared the block section. Also they cannot just abandon their duties and run outside to have a look.
@@joshuahicks4574 That's fair, I run smaller rides and coasters so I forget you can't always see the entire track just from your station on many bigger rides.
@@tyrap6949 Yea, plus the Smiler station and operator booth is inside, meaning its even more difficult.
@@joshuahicks4574 If your computer says there's a car on the fucking track and you think it's wrong you should at least find out on the radio how many cars there are supposed to be if for whatever retarded reason you are unable to look at the fucking track.
@@joshuahicks4574 they can't? I disagree. They could easily have put the ride on hold to take the couple of minutes to send ANYONE of the operators or engineers to do a visual confirmation. A few minutes literally cost two women their legs and future.
Those adverts are pure nightmare fuel.
Coming from someone with whatever the hell your profile pic is
It's funny - I haven't seen those adverts for like 8 years and instantly had memories of when I first saw them and how uncomfortable I felt
When queuing up for the ride there are loads of the pictures and there’s this annoying repetitive music. Also it’s a really popular ride (even after this happened) so I was queuing for over an hour and it’s awful, but it’s a really good ride
Thats the whole point I think they're meant to be nightmare fuel especially for younger people, the smile inducing story aspect behind the ride is mostly bs, but for some people it may indue a twisted smile :)
Yes! I love it.
Fact: I was at Alton Towers at the day this happened, I wasn't near the ride, I was eating at a restaurant (in the park) and I remember the sudden rush, the emergency services and the worry in everyone's face. It was truly scary. I don't ever want to see that again.
@Corey It was scary as hell. It's been over 5 years and it's still a regular occurrence in my mind. It was just the faces of the people when they realised something was happening and it was obviously serious. Then seeing the influx of emergency services rushing into the scene - absolutely horrendous. I haven't been to a theme park since.
Did it mean that there were less queues for the other rides?
@@Harcix I couldn't tell you, my family and me went home shortly after.
I was in my school nearby. And I know the doctors who operated on the victims. Nothing ever happens in Staffordshire so it was really traumatising. I’m just so happy nobody died
Sounds fun 😕
Just being alive is enough of a thrill for me.
honestly
Just waking up in the morning is good for me, especially considering what I do the night before !
That is the most relatable comment I've ever read.
Why did it take 20 minutes?! Why didnt the employee just realize the car was missing?! That's insane
Sheer incompetence and negligence.
Right??
@@Transilvanian90
ABSOLUTELY.
It wasn't because they didn't know there had been a crash, it was because until someone actually made it out onto the site they believed it would be minor enough for them to handle themselves with park resources. At least that is what a longer video I watched on the topic implied.
Its terrifying how there is actual footage of the accident
Which makes it all even more infuriating, tbh! There were cameras in place!! If the ride operators had access to the footage/they were surveillance cameras they could have clicked through and *seen* the car. What was the point of the camera???
Yeah. And everything was in plain view of the people standing around the rollercoaster. That must have been a hell of a thing to witness from only a few feet away.
@@hippopajamas The ride operators do not have access to the footage, only security has access to footage. You're literally assuming there was a screen the ride operator could actually look at... which is absurd. Those literally just meant to record what happens in case of accidents.
@@SimonWoodburyForget Ride operators have access to cameras along the track layout.
And thanks to this comment went back and found it @3:50 mark
The so called "smile" on the blonde woman in the ad looks demented and would make me absolutely not want to ride this ride.
Rea Long it’s meant to look demented... that’s the theming of the ride. It’s meant to “brainwash” you into smiling.
@@CTH9821 Yea it's annoying me how people aren't understanding what the actual theme of the rollercoaster is. Almost all of the main Alton Towers rides have a creepy theme, it's kinda just how they roll and I personally love it.
Moo it still looks terrifying
I hated this advert, it creeped me out from the get go. I'd change the channel. Oblivion looked much better.
I'd see that smile on the back of cereal boxes. Creeped me right out. Never want to go to the Smiler.
Despite how menacing the Smiler appears to be, the ride itself did everything it could to avoid disaster...
The ride was trying to tell them something was wrong
This video is a year old now, but for what its worth I can add to the story:
I wasn't there, but I did see it all over the news, it happened in the afternoon, just before schools finished for the day and they had live updates going on the BBC (which is probably most of the reason why the company that owned the park complied with the investigation, since at that point the best PR move was getting everything over with as quickly as possible so they could reopen everything)
The people stuck on the ride later gave interviews, one said they could actually see the empty cart ahead of them and were yelling down at the operators to stop the ride, but it was mistaken for excitement/they were so high up they couldn't be properly heard.
That always stuck with me because it sounds absolutely, maddeningly terrifying to be stuck up high, seeing the danger ahead but have no way of stopping it despite your best efforts
Those special effects sound like a purpose-built seizure inducer
Thats what I was thinking, I can't see anyone smiling whilst looking at flashing screens, it would give you a headache
@@jacobalexander1773 yeah I have epilepsy with myoclonic and tonic-clonic seizures, although fortunately my seizures aren't provoked by visual stimuli. But I am more aware of stuff like that ever since my diagnosis.
@@Sarah.Riedel Same. I was thinking that too.
I'm very sorry about your epilepsy. I hope it doesn't impact your life the way mine does. 💛
Yea flashing lights are a migraine trigger for me so I can't imagine smiling from that bullshit....
Isn't riding a rollercoaster in general bad for someone with epilepsy? Multiple inducers - light passing through the steel rungs of the ride might trigger photosensitive epileptics, for one.
this is the only non theme park channel I've ever seen that accurately covers this accident. the fact that you even mentioned the name of the coaster manufacturer is awesome. Good job!
The fact that he goes into such details while honouring the victims is why I would love to see him cover the Dreamworld accidents in Australia. The ride in question was one of my favourites of all time and it really did shake the country when it happened
@@TinaTissue28 Just read about this due to your comment. So very sad.
@@SusanWillful It is a very sad event and I am glad that accidents like this is very rare
@Layne Krusz The only saving grace was the children on the raft were thrown off, thus saving their lives
@@TinaTissue28 He's made it by now
Imagine being one of the victims and having to hear that creepy Smiler music as you are suffering. It's eerie for me to think of.
IMAGINE THAT!!!
Well one of the victims passed out when they hit because she was in so much pain so she didn't hear much after that
I just love the narrator’s voice.He speaks clearly and gently with a sinister undertone suitable for the subject matter.
I remember coming home from school on that hot summer day and seeing this all over the news. Feels like yesterday.
Ms. Elite It was quite popular in England I don’t know about everywhere else
@@EAkin2000 s
It is in june
I live in Staffordshire so everyone my age goes here all the time. Hit particularly hard bcus we’d all walked past or been on that ride so many times
@@rachel_s_g i live close lol
Virgin parks: it's not our fault! We didn't do anything!
Chad Alton towers: it is our fault, we pay our respects to those injured, but this is our mess.
At first glance I thought you were actually referring to an amusement park called “Virgin Parks” and thought where’s that??
@@Kawaiikitten0211 lmao me too
I'm surprised Virgin hasn't created a theme park actually.
@settle down Beavis Michael Jackson too?
i really looked up virgin parks smh
Engineers: "Ok lets repair this machine that is already working outside its parameters"
Staff: "lmao guys lets add ANOTHER car to the coaster WITHOUT telling the engineers, pretty cheeky eh?"
Park managers: "Should we make sure our undertrained staff has open communication with the engineers for the rides? Nah, they got this."
It’s funny how the only theme park out of all of your roller coaster crash/ride fail videos that actually cooperated and took responsibility for the disaster was the only one that ended up having to pay a huge fine in the end. That’s too much to be a coincidence. The rest of them probably just paid off their judges.
Check the recent upload for the River Rapids at Dreamworld in Australia as they got hit with a multi million Aussie dollar fine. I get what you're saying though, the USA incidents are usually brushed away, probably with envelopes stuffed with a few thousand to each of the vital players.
@@glenjones6980 honestly I find it really upsetting how because of that accident it nearly pushed dreamworld out of business completely, I’d lowkey be infuriated at the family, being so I respect and will miss the river rapids as it was the one ride my whole family went on together. For all the accidents around the world I think dreamworld got the most punishment for accident ratio.
@@jaydennicholls441 four people were dismembered by machinery in front of their children, the ride had obvious safety faults, it didn’t even have a water level sensor, i’m sure it’s nostalgic to you but i’d argue they fully deserved their reputation being ruined, they didn’t even have the respect to build a memorial they promised
@@bakeymykakey no I don’t think they do have their reputation ruined as it’s still the biggest and WAS the best theme park at its time.
As I said I completely agree that this was the most horrific accident in Australia yet but shutting down dreamworld would’ve been devastating.
Now if we look at america there’s a ride known as the Batwing which is an inverted roller coaster it has DECAPITATED two people months apart and EACH time it opened within the SAME DAY or the next day.
The scream roller coaster in America/Canada, well that one had a car of 10-20 people slide at 60-80mph into the other car crushing several of the guests legs, leaving them paraplegic, others lost arms ect few might’ve died. ALL ON FULL VIEW of other guests.
That was open within a couple months or a year.
So no I’m my opinion dreamworld shouldn’t have had it’s reputation ruined.
How could you not notice a whole train car on a roller coaster? Could you not just go outside and look up?
Which is exactly what they should have done before overriding the computer. As glitchy as computers are, they really do make very few mistakes in comparison to a human. This accident is proof of that.
Yeah I was wondering the same thing, why not check yourself?
This all seems right out of the Homer Simpson School of Safety Inspecting.
It might have been hidden behind the central element of the ride, and down to the miscommunication (i.e. not everyone working on the ride knew of the fifth car being on-track) the engineer thought that it was a phantom car because the other three were accounted for. Apparently he also said they felt under pressure to minimise downtime on the rides, although Alton Towers denies that.
Regardless, the ride shouldn't have been operating in the high winds, the fifth car should have been weighted with water dummies for the test ride, and yes, someone should have checked by eye that the tracks were clear.
This one was down to human error completely... but despite it all this coaster's still one I'd love to ride at least once in my lifetime.
I worked at Alton Towers for a bit before the incident (left about two months before it happened).
That particular section of the park is away from any kind of stands/employee heavy areas. The only people who would've seen the stray cart would've been:
-Park Guests, who would have little reason to suspect anything was wrong
-Anybody monitoring CCTV of that specific area*
-Any employee straying off their post
*My Dad's friend's son is the head of security for Melin Attractions (which is how I got the job), and works in the CCTV Monitoring Center. It is highly unlikely you would notice a single individual issue with the ride with their being a cart on the track, espcially considering they were already scheduled to run a test on it, hence why the empty cart was there in the first place. If anyone did notice the cart, they would have to go through a long series of communications with various individuals before any real information would be relayed through to the people operating the ride on that day. By the time anyone could get and reasonable information across, the cart with people would most likely have already been sent.
This lies entirely in the fault of the people who chose to override the ride's warning system, but it's also understandable as to why they did so, since (at the time) the systems that could detect carts on the track weren't 100% reliable, and could also sometimes be hyper-sensitive, picking things up like birds on the ride (which would likely move out of the way before anything could hurt them).
Sorry for going off, just felt like sharing the information I had. :)
Total operator failure, you never "override" anything
Exactly!
The problem is they have minimum wage, barely trained teenagers operating the rides. Half the time they're not even paying attention when you get on.
Yeah, it seemed like the ride itself DID prevent an accident from happening. They should have at least LOOKED before overriding anything.
Ironic how the ride itself had nothing wrong with it and was SIGNALLING to the staff that there was a cart still on the track but workers just didn’t bother to check for themselves.
Yeah, I was just thinking "why the hell would you even make it *possible* to override safety warnings on something as potentially dangerous as a rollercoaster?"
Is hard to Imagine how awful the ride operator must have felt when he noticed the accident he caused even when the computer told him not to send another car because there was still a car on the track . I hope he was severely punished for this.
I think the engineers who overrode the safety system lost their jobs. Alton Towers always put their customer safety first and foremost, two of their employees ignored a safety precaution on the ride...which was telling them something was wrong...and they just decided to not check with someone about how many trains were on the track for sheer ignorance
i'm pretty sure all those involved (the operators and engineers who overrode it) were fired and arrested as well as fined
how do you know this??@@lucyhardy-styles-shield2728
Man. The fact this accident was caught on CCTV makes it even more chilling. Another fascinating video.
The Smiler sounds like a bad horror movie that becomes a cult classic.
well i guess you could count “smiley”... not really a cult classic tho
Literally how they chose the name. That's literally the point. Anything new to add?
@@fdfsdfsvsfgsg4888 you really like the word literally.
I swear there is a z-list horror movie named The Smiler
@@masterof4elements826 i thought there was too.
Everything about this ride is terrifying, including the bizarre name.
These theme park videos bring back memories of one horrifying ride accident that occurred recently at Dreamworld here in Australia.
A river rapid ride that many people (myself included) would have ridden on over the years had a fatal flaw that no one saw coming. A rapids boat was overturned with the occupants strapped in as it was about to transition from water to mechanical track, and they were simultaneously drowned and mangled by the machinery.
I believe staff who were supervising were only trainees and or didn't see the accident so didn't press the emergency stop in time.
It was also shamefully handled afterwards by the leisure company who ran the park.
It was disclosed in the media that the CEO and board were planning to accept huge corporate bonuses that Christmas despite the tragedy but when the public found out it created a huge scandal.
Oh my GOD. I hadn’t heard of this Dreamworld incident. I’ve just seen that the first responders were so traumatised by seeing what happened to the victims that they have PTSD and are suing the park. Surely this is the most horrific theme park incident in history
I read the inquest about that accident. There were several things going on that the maintenance staff should have caught. The immediate cause of the accident was that one of the pumps that supplied water to the ride malfunctioned and shut off, causing over half the water in the ride to be drained away, and two of the boats got stuck on a moving mechanical track, where one of them got trapped in the gap between the tracks and water. The two boats weren't even supposed to be that close together at the same time because of the potential for a collision, but the staff had allowed them to be released onto the ride close to each other anyway. To add to that, the water pump had malfunctioned 2 or 3 times earlier in the day, causing the ride to have to be shut down every time, and once the park staff were called in to remove people from a boat that got stuck on the tracks earlier. Then the park re-opened it again in spite of all of that, and that was when the fatal accident occurred.
I didn't know about the Christmas bonuses for the board. That's disgusting. What a horrible insult to all the victims' families and friends.
This is a very late reply and only on topic with the first part of your comment, but The Smiler is meant to be scary and make you feel uneasy. The ride literally has distorted laughs and music playing in the queue. It's themed after brainwashing and cults. They have a gift shop that sold those mouth stretching type of doodads to make you smile. Yada yada, its meant to be spooky. Just makes it worse that an unsettling ride had such a terrible crash.
Check ot the video list on his channel as Fascinating Horrors actually DID do video on it
A similar incident happened at Cedar Point in 2010 or 2011. A boat ride similar to Pilgrim's Plunge at Holiday World had one of its boats not line up with its underwater track properly, and the boat capsized, pinning some riders under it. A few guests climbed over the guard rail next to a path overlooking the ride to help park employees save the passengers. The ride was shut down and never reopened since. I think the ride itself is gone, but the lake it ran through and the ride station building are still around.
Side note: The park offered the victims free lifetime passes as part of the settlement. 🤕
are they insane. shsjjsks. who'd want to go on any ride after that. 😭
The more serious injuries in this case are definitely more likely to be traumatic. However, I could stull see them going to other rides on the park. If riders were severely traumatized, it's common to have them go on a gentle ride to deal with that fear.
I don't know whst else the park could offer them as condolences. They cooperated and paid, but it's not like they have a lifetime buffet pass or something else that they can give, so I understand that they were just trying to be nice.
I do understand how that could seem unthinkable to use.
I do hope some of the riders were able to get some happiness from that. The park would likely do their best to make an exceptional experience for those riders/customers/victims.
Plus they used their ride-induced handicap status to get to the front of every ride.
"Sorry about your legs... Come on back and relive that horrible experience anytime you want!"
yikes
man, imagine being stuck there for so long, injured, surrounded by so many others injured in pain... horrible
This is a brilliant ride and a brilliant park - now. This accident has raised standards for parks all over the world.
@Elite Soulfly youre much more likely to die in a car crash on the way to a park then at the park from anything in it . these incidents with serious injury are extremely rare at big parks.
@Elite Soulfly The ride and park is safe. It was a human error and I've noticed that there are more staff on that ride than any of the others, so they're doing all they can to prevent human errors.
Having been to the park both before and after the accident I would say the staff are far more stringent in their safety checks now. Sadly this should have been the case all along
@@haleynorthpie6740 your more likely to die in a home invasion. your more likely to die of smoking. you are more likely to die of alchohol or obesity. so its ok because its rare?
@@moo9874 it will never be safe as long as humans operate it.
It really saddens me that things like this have to happen before we actually make things safer.
It saddens me that people are so stupid and gullable that they blindly trust these contraptions and put their lives in the hands of souless corperations
@@spooped4033 ummmm so a corperate entity has compassion? Thats a bizzare claim. And if an emplyee of that corperate entity has compassion that means we can blindly trust them. Even though psychopaths can take control of them and often do?
And researching their safety mechanisms before questioning their integrity is nlond trust?
So should i check all theme parks?
Or are they all equal?
If 1 has integrity should i assume they all do?
Are machines infallable? Are humans only motivated by benign goals?
Youre a moron
I'm glad you said "safer" and not "safe," because... it's never gonna be truly safe.
@@harrier331 no, i do not accept i am saglfe using any type of transport. I am accutely aware that i am putting myself in danger and i have no illusions of safety.
It is a calculated risk.
@@anitabonghit2758 Risk is what makes it enjoyable. Chances of being in a rollercoaster accident is disgustingly small. You're more likely to win the lottery twice im pretty sure is the stat. Must be boring living in your safe, cowardice life.
Imagine being on that ride and seeing a cart further ahead on the track, knowing you were going to hit it but powerless to stop it
Things like that are exactly why I don't like roller coasters and why they're the only thing that trigger a terrible fear of heights in me (despite me being an avid hiker, decent climber and having hanglided before). The feeling of being strapped into one of these harnesses, speeding along on those thin, rattling tracks, completely at the mercy of whatever the ride throws at you, is nightmare fuel to me. I know accidents are rare, but I prefer to get my thrills elsewhere. If I ever fall to my death, I want it to be through my own fuckup, on my own terms.
That blonde girl's expression on the ad makes me think this ride is some sort of a Final Destination thing
I love how detailed these videos are, I like to learn about theme park accidents and I didn't know a lot of this! Keep making videos, I love this channel😊
Will do. There are some many strange and crazy accidents I want to tell the story of.
@@FascinatingHorror great! :)
@@FascinatingHorror I don't trust any of those amusement park rides .
Back in the late 80s early 90s I dated a lawyer you told me he got to go on some kind of roller coaster ride at Disney in California alone at night with one person because he was working on the case as someone died on the ride and it was Disney's fault .
You just never know.
Anyway you might want to talk about the case I learned of perhaps a year and a half ago... I think the boy was on the roughly around 10 11 12 years old it was some sort of slide or water slide ride in Oklahoma where the poor thing actually ended up getting decapitated and his brother who was there turned around to see the blood running down the slide .
Poor kid goes to have the time of his life and instead it takes his life .
I can't remember the name of the place I'll try to look it up and come back here and give you more info if you have not yet heard of it
@@FascinatingHorror k.. I found it : Caleb Schwab was killed at Schlitterbahn Park and Oklahoma and if you go to horror stories Channel and scroll down in the comments you will see someone by the name of gixxer give some more information.... that is a good place to start .
Everyone needs to know this God awful story so that if they are ever in a situation similar to that they might actually be able to somehow see the warning signs beforehand and not follow through with the ride . That dear child was at the beginning of Life and should have had decades a fun and living ahead of him .
@@FascinatingHorror on the Atlantic Channel a video titled something like world's tallest water slide terrible idea...
I'm just looking at it now as somebody recommended watching it to see what really went wrong and you might be interested in that .
Also I do apologize if I said the park was in Oklahoma.... it was in Kansas and the ride has since been torn down as the creators had been told by engineers and mathematicians that it was too dangerous
This terrified me when it happened. I've since been on The Smiler, and it is a great rollercoaster, but it took a lot to go on it. I could feel my heart in my throat waiting in the queue knowing full well what had happened to those poor people not 4 years earlier.
We had a school trip there not too long after the crash and I avoided it like the plague just felt too soon...
Oh I thought the video said they didn’t reopen it for a whole year after the incident
@@katybug6572 They did say so in the video, however an article says it was 9 months. I don't know which is correct, however I do remember thinking they had opened it way too early when it did open back up so 9 months could be more accurate.
Does it actually manipulate you into smiling?
@@BrookeWinter82 honestly it's sort of a gimmick. I found myself smiling no more than usual, maybe even less because I was terrified of actually riding the thing, and I love rollercoasters haha. Nemesis gets me laughing more.
Safety warnings should NEVER even be able to be overridden.
guide lines are written in blood
I disagree. Sometimes safety warnings and automatic lockdowns can cause more harm than good. It should require some kind of admin password, but the option to override it should ALWAYS be there
@@bobskywalker2707 nope, it's a safety feature for a reason. If the safety warning is going on then it's not SAFE immediately stop what you're doing and fix the problem.
@@slickrick75150 What if an automated safety system locks doors preventing people from getting out of a burning building? I know that's not exactly going to be a commonplace, but there should be some way to override the automatic measure just for those outstanding events
@@bobskywalker2707 there are safety features on automatic doors for that reason so that you don't ignore the safety warnings. Your argument is invalid safety should NEVER be able to be overridden.
Alton towers is Just down the road from me. I remeber this incident. The park paid out millions in compensation and totaly took full responsibility. So sad for all involved
All the likes on this comment are people who also live super close to the theme park
I was here exactly a week before the accident, and rode front row on the smiler. I had to queue for about 3 hours, it was insane. Alton Towers is a really good park but I still get chills whenever I walk past or go on the smiler.
Jess yeah me too. I remember going here on a school trip where they let us just run off and go on whatever but the line was insane.
Timing is everything thank god you guys went a week b4 so scary. After something like that happens ...that ride should be tore down !
@@macadonis9242 why should it be torn down ?
@@SarahLouiseDouglas sarah because its dangerous as hell.. bolts falling out..track splitting. People hanging upside down 4ever.. cart crashing full impact everyone hurt. Couple people losing feet. If i was one to lose a foot for life i would own that park . Zero amount could replace my foot. Omg you would ride that thing after all that? Its just like a dark cloud over it kinda morbid idk.
@Alfie Liddle thanks for your opinion that means nothing to me! Alfie ride it all you want! Hear is thing that im telling you! Its something called respect showing character...remorse ever hear of it clearly the park lacks it...its money all they see .thanks for your weak ass opinion. Imagine if your kid or loved one was on that ride just forget it it's above your head!!!
I discovered this channel earlier tonight. It's now almost 4am and I'm still going
I remember a few years after this there was a programme on tv with celebrities going on a road trip and one of them was the girl who lost her leg. She went into detail about the incident and seemed to have put it behind her, brave girl
The advertising clips and images are straight out of a black mirror horror special. Why does it seem like a particularly British brand of advertising/horror tho? I just don’t envision that marketing being successful in the US for some reason.
Look at the front of a lucky charms box. The expression on his face isnt that far off. It's just obtained by chemicals in the cereal.
@@Matt19matt19 hmmm idk , the British are especially corny when it comes to marketing and entertainment.
The entire theme of Alton Towers is creepiness and surrealism, someone once said it was as if Lewis Carroll designed a theme park. The park's theme tune is In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg which everyone in the UK colloquially calls the "Alton Towers theme" to the annoyance of classical music lovers. ua-cam.com/video/Z1veH80gdU0/v-deo.html
@@krashd I remember hearing that song included in a Mad Men episode and thinking theres no way a UK period drama show would include that as it instantly breaks tha immersion and makes you think of Alton Towers TV adverts. I've never heard a classic music fan kick off about it though
well, it worked here. and i once heard a joke that british people have a sense of humour similar to looking an eldritch horror in the face and laughing at how it could rip them to shreds, tear down their house and sink their country easily.
Okay so far, no crowds, no theme parks, no hot air balloons, and no rollar coasters for me.
I love these types of videos, but man do they make me paranoid af hahaha.
Great video.
It's really anything where your life is in the hands of an untrained inexperienced and most importantly cheap to hire operator. Or anything designed by the lowest bidder with the cheapest materials. Just look at the 737 Max, nothing can be trusted.
i hope this helps in some way
you're more likely to get into a car crash going to the theme park than get injured IN the theme park
the stats are: car crashes: 1 in 300, roller coaster/theme park accidents: 1 in 24,000,000 (i thought it was 250,000,000 but it isn't). plus the smiler is a lot safer now, and i believe only trained professionals can operate it now, not just people hired to do it
i mean people specifically trained FOR the smiler
God I remember going on a school trip and queuing for 6 hours for the Smiler with my friends because we'd heard so much about this insane new ride that pelted you with laughing gas, even the guys strapping you in were acting all kooky for the experience, I feel like this event changed a lot of people's feelings towards Alton Towers for a loooong time
I saw the footage of this accident on tiktok. Hearing the people scream, knowing people were filming while no one called for emergency services is so awful.
"What's that error beeping? Add another car! God, still beeping? I don't know, it's probably fine. Run it!"
The concept of The Smiler is creepy and I can already feel a migraine. Damn am old!
Haha. I was thinking that it would be horribly seizure inducing.
I ain't old and i'm pretty sure it'd give me a migraine too
It’s an amazing ride! I’ve been on it a few times since the accident happened. Definitely my favourite coaster.
Honestly once you get past the last part of the queue and onto the ride it’s a great ride and is super safe now. Alton towers in general is a great theme park and has some of the best rollercoasters in England as long as you have the patience to wait in the queues for them because every ride is just so busy
I’m pretty sure that was intentional
I love how much research this guy does for every single video. Many channels who cover the smiler just say “omg collision!! They hit eachother!!” and leave it there.
The best bright side is how Alton towers took responsibility and stood by the victims- I’m sure they did the best response that they’ve ever could’ve done
You should do a video over the Texas giant death that happened at six flags in Arlington, TX.
Is that the one where it has a history of cars getting jammed at the top of the first drop?
Ckat24 no a lady was too heavy to be on the ride and the restraining bar did not click right and the ride went on and she ended up coming out of her seat and falling out while her son was next to her.
@@jessicainfante7227
Lady was too heavy to be on the ride but was allowed to go anyway. MURICA.
I'll have to look that one up too. Thanks!
@Stephanie Logan I remember that, I think it was at Knott's Berry Farm though, unless it was just a similar incident.
I love rollercoasters but the only time I've been terrified for my life was actually at Six Flags Magic Mountain, in CA. We were going on X2, which was fairly new at the time I think, and I'd never been on it before, and during the ride I realised that my safety bar was loose but I couldn't tighten it. The ride does 360s, loops, etc and I was slipping around in my seat so badly as there was a huge gap between me and the bars (I was like 15 and really tiny) that I was terrified I was going to slip right out of. I was a really shy kid and never told anyone at the time about my experience, looking back I definitely should've said something to the ride staff.
What's sad It was her first time going
I'm sure it's safe NOW. Never override a safety interlock.
Stfu
@@henryhatesharribos_8292 n o- did you have a brain tumor for breakfast? Do you not get how VITAL it is to never ignore warnings to keep everyone safe? Did you fall on your head as a child?
@@henryhatesharribos_8292 what's your problem dude. You've been shitting up the whole comment section
It’s probably the safest ride there, when I went they had water dummies on the ride to Eau it down because covid has made it so less people are on the ride.
The scene at 3:37 is so chilling. The coaster did save those people but then came a human who was like Nope! Off you go!
My partner & I were there then; the queues were crazy long. Knowing to spend excessive time queuing for this would result in missing many other rides; we opted for the multi-ride day - and were fortunate to ride almost all other rides, some twice, and some also bagging the coveted front-row seats - all the while agreeing to return at another [quieter] time to ride the Smiler. We never went back.
I remember this happening vividly. I was an avid theme park goer when I was in my teens but always remember thinking how young all the staff seemed (rarely older than 18) and thought how I would never want that much responsibility over people's lives, even when there are lots of safety precautions it only takes a little mistake..
living in north staffs, this was absolutely huge up here when it happened. towers is probably our biggest tourist attraction, and the place was totally deserted for ages after this. no queues, but an interesting atmosphere.
I remember seeing adverts for this coaster as a kid, as well as the news coverage of the accident. Scary.
Holy crap. After working at Disneyland for years as an attractions hostess it's SO mindblowing to me that this stuff happens when it's usually 100% preventable if the operating crew aren't lazy.
i can’t imagine the immense guilt and trauma that that employee must be feeling after causing that terrible accident. i’m traumatized of driving after crashing my moms car and no one even got hurt, can’t imagine what they must feel like
I'm such a huge fan. The content and narration are spot on. I enjoy the creepy background music as well. Kudos to you.
I rode the smiler the day before the crash, they had recently started a promotion were you would take pictures of yourself by newly added wooden stands of a design of each of the major coasters. Ie nemesis, air etc all had one. You won a little hand band for doing so, don’t know where it’s gone. Weird to think I was there the day before, but then you realise a lot of people had been their on the same day you did.
This is probably the only video on this channel that features a theme park that actually took responsibility and did their best to help them.
I had ridden the Smiler a few times only a few months before this happened. I feel really guilty because I remember laughing when I first heard what happened; at that point the only news was "16 people stuck on the Smiler", it sounded so mundane I was confused why it had made the news so the laugh was more an incredulous "people will complain about anything" sort of laugh.
Very quickly that turned into guilt and fear as more details came out :/
Nah. Don't feel bad. That was me too. I remember being mildly irritated since I loved Alton Towers and thought it was just fear-mongering at the time.
I used to love Rollercoasters, but then I began watching videos like these and began to get anxious about them. Ironically, the same year I decided coasters weren't worth it I was diagnosed with a brain malformation that could be devestatingly advanced by rollercoasters
I live about 30/40 minutes from Alton Towers, I vividly remember seeing this on the news before I went to school. I've never been a massive fan of rollercoasters but this accident put me off them forever.
I've ridden on the smiler, in the front. It's such a good ride and I was truly horrified when I saw the news.
“The worst roller coaster crash in the history of the park”. You mean Alton Towers has a track record?
There has only ever been one other real incident on a ride there in which the back half of the runaway mine train's train was separated from the front half, but that is it. An extremely clean track record up until then
@@vimes1003 my god, I never knew runaway mine train had an incident.
pun intended?
@@whatthefuckisupwithhandles lol. No actually. But we’ll spotted 😂
Finally an enthusiast who knows what they’re talking about when covering this topic
Edit: I just wanna say that the empty cart didn’t get stalled on the cobra roll, it was in the butterfly loop
I was sure it was the same element
Lol it wasn't even the butterfly loop it was the batwing roll😂
HenryHatesHarribos _ ok bro I think I get it now ngl
I remember one of the victims was on an episode of Tattoo Fixers and she had an elephant tattoo done
I watched that. I wondered if it was this ride.
I’ve been on the Smiler multiple times since the crash, I have to say it’s the best ride I’ve ever been on
I went on it a couple weeks before it crashed. It's gotta be said, I'm not sure if I'd go on it again 😆
@@KissMyFatAxe personally I’d rather go on a ride that has crashed as you know for sure they won’t allow the crash to happen again, the safety measures would be better then any of the other rides
I had never heard about this one. Thank you for the video! And the security camera footage was a nice touch.
I just stumbled upon your videos after watching all of the videos from the "absolute history" youtube channel, which have a lot of stuff like the dangers and horrors of victorian and edwardian life. Your vids are like a more modern version of those lol. Good stuff.
Some lessons that I'm learning from this channel about rollercoasters: do not sit in either the front or the back of a rollercoaster, but instead sit in the middle and hope for the best; if the ride is known for having problems and is having several issues where they need to temporarily shut it down, more so if it's just in one day, stay away and go on something else; if a ride is new, give it away before getting on it.
(I also wish that parks would at least make a memorial for people who die at their parks as a result of their rides and at this park can recognize that it was wrong and are trying to make it right and that no one was killed in this incident.)
I remember going there with a friend, and we rode that coaster.
Just the year before this incident. Even if it was a whole year between, it felt a bit too close for comfort.
Glad to hear they are still a successful park, it was awesome.
Also, good video!
I live near here so everyone at my school goes here all the time. Made it so much more shocking when it happened. I’m just so glad no one died
0:57 how do you see this and think “yea i wanna go on that ride”
Because it has 14 inversions and is a lot of fun
Its supposed to provoke fear! I went on this ride 2 months before this crash occurred. I do have to say, this is one of the greatest rollercoasters I've ever been on. Even with its dodgy history and this horrific crash, id go on it again in a heartbeat. Maybe second row though
Because it is 100% worth the risk; it is THAT good
I'd just keep thinking about Final Destination 3!
@@k1dn1ce76 same
I've never liked roller coasters or other thrill rides in general, and stories like this definitely aren't going to make me change my mind anytime soon. How awful! It's amazing that no one was killed, but the injuries were horrific.
I was in college when I heard about what had happened. My friend went on the smiler a few months later, she's fearless. It scared me so much bc that ride had always had loose screws. Poor victims though as they had to have their legs amputated
I remember the boss of Alton Towers being interviewed on Sky News about it the morning after.
The poor guy was devastated, and was trying to do the right thing and front it up, but the Sky News interviewer was like a dog with a bone. Made for very painful viewing.
Cheers to the park taking credit. Thats how you know theyre a good company
How Merlin handled a fatality at Warwick Castle in 2007 suggests otherwise.
They didn't do it because they're a good company, they did it because it was obvious they were at fault and if they fought it not only would they look like schmucks but they'd get absolutely no mercy at all in court. Seriously, if you deny something you are obviously guilty of, it's in your best interest to NOT imply the judge/jury is an idiot who can't see the truth.
Ask the people that work in the park if it's a good company
@@kathleengorman6151 Wait, what?
@@NitroIndigo A customer fell 4m (13ft) over a low wall and died. Merlin Entertainments were fined £350 000 and at the time said they were disappointed with the verdict. I also know someone who was with the first aid team covering the event that was on (it was a Christmassy thing with a skating rink) and they said that the staff were more concerned that there was first aid coverage for the skating rink than dealing with the gentleman who fell. Local news article on the court case www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/news/warwick-castle-bridge-death-trial-company-fined-ps350000-after-guilty-verdicts-2379061
I worked at Space Mountain in Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. That ride is similar in that we have multiple trains on the track at one time, up to 11.
What they did, their whole process sounds insanely careless. Anytime we get a fault, 99% of the time the ride shuts down automatically as a precaution. Then our process is to power down the ride (like turning off your car) and remove everyone from the ride (up to all 11 trains, but 50% of them would likely be at the station). At this point, the ride could be powered up in Normal Mode and the mechanics can fix whatever issue, or if they want they can go into "maintenance mode" and mess with the ride, including overriding faults so they can troubleshoot. But you NEVER do this when people are in a train. Maintenance mode, and overriding faults were only for when the ride is completely empty of riders.
Feels so crazy to have accidents like this so close to you. Places you've been, rides you've been on.
Its heart breaking for the victims.
when i was younger there were SO MANY ADVERTS FOR THIS and then.. they just stopped on day and i didnt know why until like 6 years later. the adverts had a keshire cat theme and looked creppy already
This is why Tommyint was so scared to go in this ride lol
I'm a bus driver and we used to take service buses to Alton Towers. You should have seen the difference in attendance after this crash. Before, you'd have a full coach park, 60-70 coaches maybe. After, maybe a half dozen. Its astonishing just how much affect this had on the park. Dramatically reduced passenger carriage led the company I work for to stop driving the route.
Their deranged “smiles” are what nightmares are made of!
wilbur should have showed this video to tommy before they got on the ride
Oh sh¡t...
I'd love for you to cover the Dreamworld River Rapids disaster. I think the inquest has finished so there should be reliable info available. Yes, I could read it myself but I'd be missing your voice...
Yeah, there is a full inquest. I found it linked on Reddit. That one was horrible to read about not just because of how the victims died but because there were so many mechanical failures over and over and over again, that should have been screaming red flags to shut down and refurbish the entire ride and how it was operated, but the park kept it running anyway.
Check out his most recent video!
ua-cam.com/video/BurDAd6cNQ0/v-deo.html
Sorry, above link for video on Dreamworld river rapids disaster
I watched the whole camera footage of the crash, and seconds after the collision you can start to see a crowd swarming the outer barricade. Must have felt awful to have witnessed the impact and be unable to do anything besides inform the park staff of what's been done.
Imagine being the bruh that said “nah it’s just a glitch” and then being responsible for a tragedy that physically damaged 16 peoples’ lives and mentally scarred many more-
i always wonder how someone must feel getting off the ride safely and finding out the riders who got on minutes after you left get into some accident like this
God I remember everyone gossiping about this in school! I’ve been on The Smiler about 5 times since this accident and I have had my own tiny incident on it, I have multiple ear piercings that I accidentally smacked on the side of the seat due to the force of the ride, causing my ears to bleed onto the seat (I got a free mug and T-shirt though) but that’s nothing compared to this - It’s actually a pretty fun ride as well and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Alton Towers - a shame what happened but I’m glad the Park took responsibility, still one of my fave theme parks to go to here in the UK
This channel was on my suggested watch and I've been binging it since.
when I was a kid there where so many adverts for it, not adverts for Alton towers, but just adverts for the Smiler. I barely knew the names of any rollercoasters, even the ones near me (I was only about 9 or 10) but I knew about the Smiler. I even remember a guy at my school bragging about going on it, thats how famous it was, at least in England. They marketed it constantly, it was so surreal when this happened because it was so well known.
Everything with moving parts, Will fail
Yea, it's just a matter of statistical danger. Accidents like this are exceedingly rare, which means it's relatively safe. You certainly have much more of a chance dying every single time you get in your car and drive somewhere
*Laughs in AK47*
It didn’t fail. Unless by things with moving parts you’re referencing the idiot humans who ignored clear computer warnings
Conclusion is : pointless to set up security warnings and automations if there is no written protocol to follow when they flash out. The decision to overcome the automatic halt of the car has been taken under the pressure to lose money. He was afraid of losing his job if he had stopped the roller coaster for nothing. This should have been anticipated. If a mandatory protocol existed to treat that case, he would not have restarted the roller coaster.
Yep. Also enable and enforce communication between the staff and technicians so they can have a better idea of what is going on.
You can't blame individuals for making bad decisions under pressure. The problem is when the employer allows for that possibility when the guests' safety is at stake.
There is actually written protocol from HSE England, Merlin, and Gerstlauer. The team has to be sure beyond doubt that there is not a train, or danger in the next block section to perform a block reset.
They did a reset because they thought it was a ‘phantom train’
Crash or not, The Smiler still holds the title of my favorite ride at any theme park.
I remember visiting Alton towers shortly after this incident happened and the section that the smiler was in was closed. It was really eerie.
It's rare to see footage on the topic incident in your videos. It made the video better since It's hard to imagine the scale or severity of an incident when only relying on photo stills and raw data.