Stresa–Mottarone cable car crash

At a glance

Dates: From 2021-05-23.

Place: Mottarone, Italy.

Type: disaster and ropeway or cable car accident.

Deaths reported: 14. Casualties: 1.

What came before

Background The Stresa–Alpino–Mottarone Cable Car is an aerial tramway, a form of cable line in which cabins are suspended from a fixed cable and hauled by a separate traction cable to which they are permanently attached, with cabins shuttling backwards and forwards instead of running in a continuous loop. The Stresa–Mottarone line had two separate sections, each with two cabins, and passengers changed cabins at the mid-point station of Alpino, between the Stresa and Mottarone stations. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]

Catalyst / how it started

Linked causes: structural failure.

What happened

Casualties Thirteen people died at the scene of the accident, [ 1 ] while two children were seriously injured and airlifted to a pediatric hospital in Turin. One of the children later died of cardiac arrest, bringing the death toll to fourteen. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The deceased victims were identified as eight Italian nationals (of whom three were from Vedano Olona , two from Varese , two from Bari , and one from Cosenza ), an Iranian male national, [ 4 ]

Investigation On 26 May 2021, three employees of the cable-car company were arrested. One of the three worked as a freelancer for the company but was an employee of Leitner Ropeways, the company in charge of regular maintenance work on the cable car. [ 1 ] According to police, they had intentionally deactivated the automatic emergency brake, as a malfunction had repeatedly led to the halting of the cabins. [ 2 ] After the service resumed on 25 April, the cable car showed “anomalies”.

Aftermath By 30 May 2021, all three employees were released from prison, with two of the three being found not culpable and the third being sentenced to house arrest. [ 1 ] As of 21 November 2021, the third employee, Gabriele Tadini, was released from house arrest after 6 months. [ 2 ] ^ "Three arrested over Italy cable car deaths allowed to leave prison" . ^ "Tragedy of Mottarone, Gabriele Tadini returns free after six months under house arrest" .

On 23 May 2021, an aerial tram on the Stresa–Alpino–Mottarone Cable Car crashed to the ground after a haulage cable snapped about five metres (16 ft) from the summit of Mottarone, a mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. Normally, a hydraulic safety brake would have stopped the runaway car immediately, but the cable car was operating illegally with the brake disabled. The crash killed fourteen passengers in the cable car, and seriously injured one child.