Alton Towers Smiler crash down to 'human error', report finds
The crash on the The Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers which seriously injured five people was caused by "human error" and the ride will re-open next year, it was revealed today.
The horror crash on The Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers which seriously injured five people was caused by "human error", an investigation has found.
Alton Towers spokeswoman Liz West confirmed 'appropriate' action had been taken against the employee involved but could not clarify whether there would be any criminal proceedings.
She said: "We can't go into any more detail about that as it is a private matter between Alton Towers and the individual.
"Any action we take will remain private."
Owner Merlin Entertainments said the ride will reopen next year, with extra CCTV, staff training and supervision.
Sixteen people in total were injured on the ride when the carriage they were in collided with another that had come to a halt on the track on June 2.
The five seriously injured people were Vicky Balch and Daniel Thorpe, from Buxton in Derbyshire, Leah Washington and Joe Pugh, from Barnsley, and Chandaben Chauhan, 49, of Wednesbury.
Ms Balch and Ms Washington had to have legs amputated as a result of their injuries.
Speaking previously about the idea of the ride reopening, university student Ms Balch told ITV's Good Morning Britain she wanted it shut for good.
She said: "I'd like it to be, but I know that's not realistic because it was a big attraction for the company.
"It's affected literally every aspect of my life - I'm not independent any more at all. I'm slowly getting that back but life is never going to be the same as it used to be.
"I've got all this to deal with for the rest of my life and then they've said this (the reopening) a couple of months after it's happened. It feels like it's not fair."
She added: "I was at university, so I've been there for two years so I've been independent for almost two years. I was doing basically whatever I wanted with my friends, looking after myself, and then now I've had to go home and I can't do many things myself."
Three medics who risked their lives helping the victims of the crash were given Pride of Britain awards in September.
Army doctor Major David Cooper, 34, and aircrew paramedic Tom Waters, 27, were on duty with Midlands Air Ambulance when they were called to Alton Towers following the crash.
Ben Clark, 40, a volunteer with North Staffordshire BASICS emergency doctors, was also part of the emergency response team.
Despite having limited rope training, they ignored health and safety rules to climb the structure to save the lives of the trapped victims.
A statement from the company today said: "The investigation concluded that the incident was the result of human error culminating in the manual override of the ride safety control system without the appropriate protocols being followed.
"The investigation also identified areas where protocols and the training of employees should be improved. There were found to be no technical or mechanical problems with the ride itself."
Immediately following the incident, the theme park implemented a number of improved safety measures across all multi-car rollercoasters to ensure that an incident of this nature can never happen again. On re-opening, The Smiler ride will also incorporate an extensive set of new safety measures, including technical improvements and enhanced training. An additional level of authorisation will also be added to the existing supervisory protocols to ensure that no manual override process may be completed without a senior member of staff authorising and being in attendance. The technical improvements include multiple additional CCTV cameras and additional manual reset buttons around the track which require staff to inspect each individual section to verify it is clear before authorisation can be given to restart the ride.
Alton Towers continues to provide help and support to all of those who were on the ride when the incident happened. It has taken full responsibility for the incident and continues to co-operate with the on-going Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation. We are confident that lessons have been learned and that appropriate action has been taken to address all the issues raised by our investigation and we believe our core conclusions will be in line with the HSE findings.
Having completed all of the necessary steps, the ride, which has been closed to the public since June, will re-open in 2016."
Details to follow....
