Deactivated load measurement led to Laax cable car coming into contact with the ground
Published: Thursday, Jul 18th 2024, 11:10
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The collision of an overloaded large gondola with the ground in the Flims Laax ski resort in 2022 is due to deactivated load measurement and errors by the operating personnel. This is the conclusion reached by the Swiss Safety Investigation Board.
On the ascent from Laax to Crap Sogn Gion, the cabin with the load bar attached underneath it first brushed against some trees and then collided with the ground. This is what the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (Sust) wrote in its investigation report published on Thursday. The cabin attendant activated the emergency stop, causing some of the 35 passengers to fall to the ground as a result of the abrupt braking. One woman suffered a minor injury to her finger.
As the Sust final report shows, the nacelle was overloaded by almost 40 percent. The permissible total load of 7.5 tons was exceeded by 2.9 tons, which led to a significantly greater sag in the suspension cable. The experienced machine operator had made a mistake when calculating the load.
Load measurement deactivated
Because the cabin's load measurement system had been deactivated for over a month due to repeated malfunctions, the cabin attendant did not even notice the overload. In addition, the inexperienced man was hesitant to act. When the cabin brushed against a few construction tips before colliding with the load bar, he did not slow down.
Based on its investigation, Sust made a number of recommendations to the Laax mountain railroad. These include improving the reliability of the load measurement equipment and ensuring that "sufficiently qualified operating personnel" are employed.
As Sust writes, the mountain railroad reacted immediately after the accident in line with the subsequent recommendations. The company also commissioned external experts to examine the cable car operation for weak points.
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