It is a harrowing tragedy that happened on Sunday in Stresa on Lake Maggiore in Italy, around 600 kilometers from Salzburg. The cabin of a cable car crashed, 14 people died. While the local authorities are looking for the cause, the “Krone” asks: Is something like this possible here too?
“From a human perspective, something like this shouldn’t happen,” says Erich Egger, Salzburg’s cable car spokesman and head of the Schmittenhöhebahnen in Zeller. But he also knows and emphasizes: “Such an incident cannot be ruled out 100 percent.” Egger warns to wait and see what the exact cause of the accident in Italy was. “To put a stop to speculation. The results are also of interest to us. ”The first suspicions of a break in the suspension rope make the Pinzgauer suspicious:“ I don’t know of any cases where the suspension rope has torn without any external effect. I can’t really imagine that. “
Such a suspension rope consists of many strands, i.e. many ropes that are interwoven. At the Schmittenhöhebahn it is up to nine centimeters thick. It has been used for 50 years and checked monthly – using magnetic induction testing to detect broken cables. In any case, the cable car to the 1491 meter high Monte Mottarone was a cable car like the one we have here. A design that is comparable to the Untersbergbahn or Schmittenhöhebahn, for example.
Regular checks based on the four-eyes principle
The domestic safety regulations are considered to be the strictest in the world, the cable car laws “do not allow any compromise”, says Egger. This was also taught by the misfortunes of the past. In Zell am See, for example, there is a “strict control plan”: from a major overhaul in autumn to daily checks. The four-eyes principle always applies, says Egger. It is to be expected that the cable car authority will respond to the results from Italy.