1976 Cavalese cable car crash

1976 Cavalese cable car crash

The cabin after the incident
Date	9 March 1976 (1976-03-09)
Time	17:19, local time
Location	Cavalese, Trentino, Italy
Coordinates	46°16′24″N 11°28′34″E / 46.27333°N 11.47611°E / 46.27333; 11.47611
Cause	Overlap of cables, human error
Deaths	43
Non-fatal injuries	1

The Cavalese cable car crash is the deadliest cable car crash in history.^[1] On 9 March 1976, the steel supporting cable broke as a fully loaded cable car was descending from Mt. Cermis, near the Italian ski resort of Cavalese in the Dolomites, 40 km (25 mi) north-east of Trento. The cause of the disaster was an overlap of the carrier cable with the support cable near the first pylon, which resulted in the carrier shearing the support cable.[9]

The cabin fell some 60 metres (200 ft) down a mountainside[9], then was dragged by the carrier cable for another 100-200 metres along the ground before coming to a halt in a grassy meadow. In the fall, the three-ton overhead carriage assembly fell on top of the car, crushing it. The crushing was possibly exacerbated by the dragging along ground. The cause of death of a large fraction of victims was due to suffocation rather than due to injuries suffered as a direct result of the fall [9]. Forty-three people died, including 15 children between the ages of 7 and 15 and the 18-year-old cable car attendant. Initial reports stated 42 dead with one missing; however, the last body, that of Fabio Rustia, was found later.^[2] The body of Fabio Rustia was sent to Milan by mistake due to mis-identification of boides [9]. The only survivor was a 14-year-old Milanese girl, Alessandra Piovesana, who was on a school trip and was with two friends when the crash happened. She testified in the succeeding trials and later worked as a journalist for the science magazine Airone, before her death from illness in 2009.^[3][4][5]

Cermis mountain near Cavalese

The cable car had a capacity of 40 people or 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg). At the time of the crash, at 5:19 pm, the cable car had 43 occupants—justified by the operator as many of them being children. Most of the victims were West Germans from Hamburg. Among those aboard were 21 West Germans, 11 Italians, 7 Austrians, and one French woman.^[2][6][7]

The inquest found that the stationary and the moving steel cables crossed, with one severing the other. A contributing factor that caused the crossing of cables was likely an increased speed of the cabin when going over a pylon (possibly over 10 m/s [9]). In an attempt to reduce the journey time from approx. 6 and half to 5 and half minutes and combat the long queues of skiers waiting for the lift [9], many regulations given by the cable car manufacturer were broken, including manual alternations to a programmer that regulates the speed of cabins near pylons. Some reports state that the "slow down regions around the pylon" were halved while several skiers who took the cable car in the few days before the crash reported to the police that the cabins didn't slow down at all near the middle pylon [9]. However, a crossing, or an overlap, of cables on this type of cable car is not an unexpected situation and there is a safety system that stops the cabin immediately if the two cables touch. This happened on this occasion as well and the cabin with 43 people on board halted suddenly shortly after passing the pylon, swinging abruptly as seen by several witnesses [9]. However, the operator of the cable car, Carlo Schweizer [9], who controls movements of the cabins, didn't have a licence to operate such cabins [9]. He was a seasonal worker and was not the only worker employed to control the movement of cabins without a licence (many other workers who did obtain a license were apparently fired because of having a licence as they became too expensive for the cable car companies, who illegally preferred to hire cheaper unlicensed staff). When the cabin halted abruptly as a result of engagement of the safety system, Carlo Schweizer, the operator, didn't know what to do as he was not trained for this type of situation/emergency. After a telephone conversation, the operator was instructed by his colleague, Aldo Gianmoena [9], to disable the automatic stop safety system that had engaged due to the cables crossing. This manoeuvre was apparently done repeatedly on this particular cable car as cables often briefly touched each other on a long stretch between the station and the pylon, possibly as a result of the excessive speeds of the cabins. This time, however, disabling the stop safety system caused the engine to keep on pulling the cabin even though the cables were crossed. The pull of the heavily loaded cabin exerted excessive force on the support cable at the point where the cables overlapped. The overlap was noticed by the operator, Giorgio Demattio[9], who was travelling alone in the 2nd cabin in the other (ascending) direction, parallel to the stretch where the overlap (crossing of cables) occurred. Based on his report, intense sparks were visible from distance and noise was heard [9]. He tried to report this occurrence by phone that is part of the communication between the cabin and the middle station, but the phone didn't work.[9] Approximately 80-90 seconds [9] after the cabin was restarted without the safety system, the support cable gave way. The full cabin with 43 people on board hit the ground while the other cabin with the single operator became stranded mid-air between the pylon and the middle station (Dos Dei Laresi). There was a delay in between the fall of the cabin and the pulling engine being stopped, which led to the dragging of the cabin along the ground for 100-200 metres. This delay was likely caused by the confusion of the inexperienced operator, Carlo Schweizer, who reported that he had to hide under the operational unit as the top part of the snapped cable sprang backwards due to tension, hitting the control room and breaking windows.[9] The trials were lengthy as the lift officials denied the phone call between Carlo Schweizer and Aldo Gianmoena, likely in an attempt to cover up each other.[9] Four lift officials were jailed for their part in the disaster. ^{[8] [2]}

The only survivor of the tragedy was a 14-year old girl from Milan, Alessandra Piovesana. She survived as she was protected by the other bodies from the impact of the fall and she stood at the front of the cabin, which was the least impacted part due to the orientation of the overhead carriage, which crashed the cabin. She testified in courts and reported her experience of the incident: "I was going down with two of my friends, Francesca and Giovanni. We stood at the front of the cabin facing Cavalese. The ride seemed to be normal until we reached the middle pylon when the car had suddenly stopped. We stood still for maybe a minute. Then it had started again, had winced, someone in the cabin had started laughing. Someone had said "hooch" when the rocking got stronger. They all laughed as if it were a game. Then there was a loud noise, I knew immediately that something dangerous was happening. I clung to Francesca. Then the cabin jerked backwards, and I felt lifted, then pulled in the gin by the legs, I couldn't breathe. The fall, the experts say, did not last more than three or four seconds. Four seconds before it crashed. Someone saw death run towards him. Certainly, those who were near the windows saw it as the cable car cabins are very panoramic. Four seconds are a moment, but they are also an eternity. I thought I was going to die. After hitting the ground everyone seemed to stop screaming and I heard only my voice. Then I passed out, but then woke up before help arrived. I tried to talk to Francesca, but she wasn't communicating. I saw Giovanni crouched on the ground with his face in his hands and crying. A child was screaming "Mom" and a man was saying "I will be back in Milan very soon" before he silenced forever. Then I tried to open the door in the roof of the cabin. Help shortly arrived and I wanted to call my mother to tell her I was OK. Next I was being taken to a hospital."[9][5]

See also[]

• Cable car accidents and disasters by death toll

References[]

Coordinates: 46°16′25″N 11°28′35″E / 46.2735°N 11.4763°E / 46.2735; 11.4763

  9. Sardi, Luigi (2002). I due Cermis. Gurcu Genovese.