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Ride/Park Accidents

62mph for a cable car! Wow, that sounds incredibly dangerous. It seems that the brake is a very important safety device so it's quite incredible that it operated with a fault being known.

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That explains the whistling noise witnesses heard in the area, it was the shear speed of the cable moving around the circuit.

That they opened it it with such an obviously essential safety feature disabled is incredible. As soon as another component failed and the gondola started moving back down under its on weight it was doomed, akin to running a coaster with no anti rollback on the lift hill as happened at Battersea.
 
pluk said:
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That they opened it it with such an obviously essential safety feature disabled is incredible. As soon as another component failed and the gondola started moving back down under its on weight it was doomed, akin to running a coaster with no anti rollback on the lift hill as happened at Battersea.
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I watched a very interesting video about the Battersea Park accident the other day;
(Fantastic channel I must add)

 
pluk said:
One long cable completes the circuit.

As the gondola is winched to the top the natural forces want to drag it back to the bottom but the forward drive of the motor prevents this from happening. With a failure in the drive the car will quickly pick up speed as the gondola pulls the cable through the wrong way as the gondola falls to the lowest point. This overspeed should quickly apply an emergency brake, but that had been disabled so it was free to pick up speed.

With the system and cable not designed to tolerate those speeds they will fail.

The article mentions a cable breaking starting the incident, that may be a bit of a translation issue but if they do really mean a cable breaking I would guess that would be a tensioner which if failed would create a sudden drop in the toutness of the cable and start the main cable slipping backwards with the sudden slackness.
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I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that it was a static cable and with an independent haul cable.

Edit - this suggests multiple cables
DD-COMP-ITALY-CABLE-CART-CRASH-graphic-v4.jpg
 
So this system the gondola runs on rails and the moving cable doesn’t support the entire weight? If that’s correct the bit about the emergency brake makes sense.
 
This is the emergency brake...

43458913-9620095-Since_the_cable_car_reopened_on_April_26_after_lockdown_technici-a-40_1622022421197.jpg


And the "fork" device installed as a temporary fix, that prevented it from working properly...

43462995-9620095-image-a-57_1622023250778.jpg
 
I think I have ridden this cable car, about 15 years ago maybe? Went to Stresa for my mum's 50th.

It's really shocking that I'm not more surprised by this "bodge" - sounds like the Genoa bridge collapse all over again! Tragically a lax approach to safety and a refusal to follow proper procedure has cost lives again.
 
I would also assume that the main reasons a log flume boat would tip in an unsafe way is from guests messing around.
 
jon81uk said:
I would also assume that the main reasons a log flume boat would tip in an unsafe way is from guests messing around.
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That's a common cause, but Screamscape are reporting that this video is of the log prior to the incident, where the metal guard on the trough has dislodged and was causing the boats to tip.



 
Ah I see now. That could've been far worse had the weight of the boat held the riders underwater

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Yeah the ride possibly shouldn't have been signed off as ready with the metal railing in that condition. Although I guess with empty boats it may not have been as noticeable. Fortunately it looks like a reasonably simple fix, but its also lucky there wasn't a full capsize.
 
jon81uk said:
Yeah the ride possibly shouldn't have been signed off as ready with the metal railing in that condition. Although I guess with empty boats it may not have been as noticeable. Fortunately it looks like a reasonably simple fix, but its also lucky there wasn't a full capsize.
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Right, but it might not have been signed off in that condition. One fast boat, full of adults could have have removed the steel work from its rightful home 10 minutes after opening.
 
Should a log be hitting a metal barrier at that kind of speed on a corner after a drop? I know it has operated since 1974 but it seems like a design flaw perhaps?

These metal guards are there so that water can spill out but the speed of the log and waves of the water looks like it's hitting too high and too hard. Even the sturdiest of guards would damage after repeated smashes with that kind of force.

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I've seen footage today of the Stresa-Mottarone cable car crash for those who wish to search for it, won't post it here though as I'm not sure on the rules for what's technically visible fatalities.

It's taken from the top station security camera and is quite frankly horrific. I hadn't realised it happened in that manner and now understand where the 62mph stat came from.
 
Rick said:
That's a common cause, but Screamscape are reporting that this video is of the log prior to the incident, where the metal guard on the trough has dislodged and was causing the boats to tip.



Click to expand...

Had a look at some other videos of the ride operating, and it definitely doesn’t take that corner at such speed under normal operation.



I wonder what would cause that to happen? Too little water in the trough perhaps? None the less that is no way for a log flume to be taking a corner and its no wonder there was an incident.


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