Images: Thorpe Park installs crashed plane theming for The Swarm roller coaster

Thorpe Park has begun installing theming elements around The Swarm, its new disaster-themed roller coaster for the 2012 season.

With The Swarm's circuit now completed, workers have lifted the wreckage of a "crashed plane" on to the site. Riders on the coaster will experience a near-miss with the plane, with the ride's circuit set to pass underneath it. Thorpe Park has released a number of images of the plane wreckage via its official Facebook page, which are embedded below.

The Swarm will be the first Bolliger & Mabillard Wing Rider Coaster to open in the UK, with riders being seated on "wings" on either side of its trains. The theme for the new addition is based around war and destruction, with the coaster itself representing an invading "swarm" of aliens.

Thorpe Park's planning application for The Swarm revealed that the ride will offer a "fly-through experience through a crash scene", which will be populated with derelict buildings and vehicles. To match the depressing scene, the coaster's track will be painted grey with grey-brown supports.

The ride's station will be one of its central features, and will be based on a burnt-out chapel or church. Dotted around the ride's course will be a number of elements designed to add to the disaster theme. These include the life-size plane replica close to the first drop, a crashed helicopter jutting out of a pond and a burnt-out fire engine. The ride's queue will also feature similar theming, with a fire-damaged tree marking its entrance and "damaged" fences along its route.

For full details of the planned new rollercoaster, read Theme Park Tourist’s full preview of The Swarm at Thorpe Park.

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