Cavalese cable car accident (1976)

Memorial stones for victims of the 1976 Cavalese cable car accident

In the Cavalese cable car accident on March 9, 1976, a fully occupied cabin on the Cermis cable car crashed . 43 people died. This was the most momentous accident involving a cable car worldwide to date.

Starting position

The Cermisbahn connects the place Cavalese in Trentino (Trient) with the Cermis , a mountain of the Lagorai mountain range . It is a cable car with cabins that is operated in three sections. The railway's suspension cable had been officially checked two weeks earlier and found to be in order.

A cabin with 43 passengers and the gondola driver drove down the lower section between the Alpe di Cermis and Cavalese .

the accident

Strong wind threw the cable of the railway over the support cable. In such cases, an emergency brake is triggered, which immediately and automatically stops the motor that moves the cable car. This safety circuit failed. The two steel ropes rubbed against each other over a longer distance until the suspension rope broke shortly after 5:30 p.m. The cabin fell 50 meters on a steep slope and overturned there several times. The approximately 3 ton heavy structure tore off, fell on the cabin and completely smashed it.

consequences

First 42 fatalities were recovered. Only later was an initially missing Venetian found dead. Only a 14-year-old Milanese woman survived the accident as the fall was cushioned by the bodies of other victims.

See also

• Cable car accident

• Cavalese cable car accident (1998)

Web links

• NN: Forza, forza! In: Der Spiegel 12/1976 v. March 15, 1976, pp. 203-205.
• NN: Nobody knows why the suspension cable tore. In: Hamburger Abendblatt of March 11, 1976, p. 4.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NN: The worst mountain and cable car accidents. In: Spiegel Online from June 10, 2000.
2. ↑ Andreas Frey: How long does a rope last before it breaks? In: Badische Zeitung of February 12, 2011.
3. ↑ Andreas Frey: Just no hemp. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of January 2, 2011, p. 56.
4. ↑ 1976: Scores die in cable car tragedy, BBC On This Day, March 9, 1976.
5. ^ Jon Henley: Cable car disasters. In: Guardian, July 2, 1999.

Coordinates: 46 ° 16 '24  .8 " N , 11 ° 28' 34.8"  E