14 people lost their lives on Pentecost Sunday west of Lake Maggiore. Because a cable car fell into the depths. The question now remains: How did it come to this?
A Carabinieri investigator said at a press conference on Whit Monday that a steel cable had come loose. Where exactly and why remains unclear. Apparently, a whole series of technical defects was to blame for the accident, as «La Stampa» reports. First there was a problem with the steel pull rope that carries the cabin up the mountain.
Then the braking system, the safety system of the load-bearing cable, failed. The gondola had just reached the last mast. The gondola then shot down the valley, jumped over a mast and fell 30 meters. Then she rolled several hundred yards down the steep slope until some trees caught her.
“As a family company, we are deeply affected”
The South Tyrolean company Leitner carried out an overhaul of the cable car from 2014 to 2016. However, the rope was not replaced – according to the company’s media spokesman, it is around 20 years old. The Leitner spokesman does not want to speculate about the cause of the accident. He says to BLICK: «Leitner is a family company and deeply shocked and affected. Everyone wants the circumstances that led to the disaster to be clarified as soon as possible. “
In November 2020, the ropes were examined magnetically inductively by a specialist and the results were sent to the Italian authorities. “No critical deficiencies were found,” said the media spokesman. In addition, the operators would carry out a visual check on site every day. The magnetic induction test, on the other hand, takes place annually.
The problem is more likely the connection point, not the rope
Berno Stoffel, President of the Swiss cable car industry organization, told Blick on the day of the accident: “A rope break is a possible variant. But it could also be that there was a technical defect in the connection between the rope and the cabin. The investigations will now show that. “
After today’s press conference, Stoffel’s conclusion is: “If those responsible say that a steel cable has come loose, that does not mean that it has broken.” A rope break with the «normatively prescribed safety factors» without external influence is practically impossible. “Because the cable on mountain railways is so compact, strong and dynamic that it cannot actually break.”
There are rope regulations that clearly regulate the construction, transport, assembly and control of ropes, and these are based on the European CEN standards. “These are European standards that also apply in Italy and Switzerland in particular.”
With the periodic rope tests – visual and magnetic inductive – you can see very early whether there is a point where the rope may have been damaged, for example in the event of a lightning strike.
Only external influences could lead to such an injury that a rope could theoretically break: “A lightning strike is certainly not enough, an object that falls on the rope with great force or, as happened in the past, by an airplane which the rope brushes. “
Rope that is X-rayed annually is at the end of its life
The possible service life of a rope depends on how it is used. “It must always be ensured that it runs as smoothly as possible, the jamming points of vehicles and corrosion are further points that affect the service life of a rope,” explains Stoffel.
All ropes are checked periodically, usually every three, then every two years, and annually as they age. “If a rope is very tightly timed, it is likely to be near the end of its life. That means that – regardless of this case here – it will probably have to be replaced soon. ” However, a steel cable can hold up well for 20 years and more. “It depends on how it was claimed.”
According to Stoffel, the probability of a rope break without external influence is so low that he says: “In the past 40 years I have not seen or heard this anywhere. In my experience, however, in such rail accidents it is usually an accumulation of different events. “
At today’s press conference, all points remained open as question marks. Blick TV reporter Selina Berner reports after the media event in Stresa: “We couldn’t ask any questions.” The public prosecutor of the Verbania municipality in the Piedmont region has started the investigation.