Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy cable car disaster

Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy cable car disaster

The aerial tramway (on right) leading to the Plateau de Bure Interferometer, where the accident took place.
Time 07:15 local time[1]
Date July 1, 1999 (1999-07-01)
Location Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy, France
Coordinates 44°38′02″N 05°54′29″E / 44.63389°N 5.90806°E / 44.63389; 5.90806
Casualties
20 dead (all on board)

The Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy cable car disaster occurred on 1 July 1999 in Saint-Étienne-en-Dévoluy, France, when a gondola which was being operated on a privately owned aerial tramway detached from the cable it was traveling on, and fell into the valley below, killing all twenty people on board. The death toll was equivalent to another cable car accident in Italy which occurred one year prior. The disaster remains the deadliest cable car accident in France, and one of the deadliest such incidents anywhere in the world.[2]

Accident details

In the early morning hours of 1 July 1999, twenty staff members who worked at the Plateau de Bure Astronomical Observatory boarded a gondola which was serviced by an aerial tramway owned by the company. All twenty people on board the gondola were of French nationality, and included five astronomers, nine construction workers, four technicians, and two maintenance workers.[3] When the cable car had traveled 500 metres (1,600 ft) from its starting point, the car detached from the cable and plunged 80 metres (260 ft) onto the rocky slopes of the valley beneath it, disintegrating on impact and killing everyone on board.[4]

Aftermath

According to the chief representative of the cable car company Jean-Charles Simiand, the aerial tramway had been built in 1981 and was "working in perfect order" prior to the accident, as it had recently passed an inspection.[5] Simiand indicated that Apav, a private engineering firm, had carried out the last major inspection of the cable car in 1998. During this time, each part of the cable car was evaluated; including the cabin, cables, motors, and pylons. He stated that major inspections of the gondolas take place every five years once they are commissioned.[1] Witnesses reported that it seemed as though one of the cables holding the car had snapped. Local officials stated that the gondola had broken free from two of its three cables and had brought the other down.[4] However, the prefect for the Hautes-Alpes region, Remi Caron, told a press conference that it seemed as though the car had unhooked itself from the cables for unknown reasons.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Henry, Michel; Pivois, Marc. "21 morts dans la chute du téléphérique du pic de Bure."Pourquoi un tel accident aujourd'hui?"". Liberation. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Twenty killed in French cable car accident". CBS News. CBS News. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Dahlburg, Joh-Thor. "Cable Car Plunges, Killing 20 in French Alps". Los Angeles Times. Times Staff Writer. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 Lichfield, John. "Alpine cable car disaster kills 20". Independent.co.uk. Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "French Cable Car Falls". Chicago Tribune. Tribune News Services. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "World: Europe Cable car crash kills 20". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
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