Alton Towers Crash

Stories of rollercoaster crashes have been around for years, metal girders, fast moving carriages and low lying beams. With all these issues at hand these rides need to be constructed perfectly and tested regularly, to ensure there will not be an accident.

Alton towers main attraction rollercoaster, ‘The smiler’ was constructed in 2013, carriages hit a max speed of 52mph and Alton Towers paid £18 million to have it constructed. There have been several issues with the ride since it’s opening, but yesterday came the worst accident in Alton Tower’s history

A carriage with 16 people on-board collided with an empty one, 4 people suffered serious lower ligament injuries. And other people were stuck on the carriage for up to 4 hours, about 25 feet (7.6m) above the ground. The Alton towers first response team were there in minutes to treat the more severely injured, with the emergency services arriving not long after.

Eyewitness reports suggest that the carriage containing the people came round one of the loop-the-loops and straight into a carriage that had been stuck on the roller-coaster. Visitors also reported via social media that the ride had been closed temporarily that same day.

Merlin Entertainment, the group that owns Alton Towers, claim to have started a full investigation, the HSE arrived onsite shortly after. Merlin Entertainments was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 after the crash, with shares down 3%.

This outlines the importance of health and safety, when a system fails or an accident happens, it can effect the business in a negative way.