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French cablecar crash in 1999 - trial verdict

 Poster: A snowHead
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A cablecar crash in 1999, which killed 20 workers on a French mountaintop observatory at Pic de Bure near Grenoble, resulted last week in the conviction of three people for manslaughter. Pic de Bure is located above the ski resort of Superdevoluy.

An investigation into the accident revealed that the cablecar had no brakes - they had been deactivated in 1984 and removed in 1986 - which enabled the cabin to run backwards and fall off the cable within seconds. The cablecar was privately owned by the National Centre for Scientific Research. Among the dead were several distinguished astronomers. There is a striking memorial to them at the base of the mountain, incorporating a broken cable, but it is thought that this was an effect of the incident rather than the cause.

The result of the trial is summarised in this report (in French) from Le Nouvel Observateur.

Here is an original news report of the disaster, from CNN.
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David Goldsmith wrote:

The result of the trial is summarised in this report (in French) from Le Nouvel Observateur.

Here is an original news report of the disaster, from CNN.


There is a bit more information about the crash on this link which you posted to the SCGB site a while back. You have to scroll down to the last paragraph. Seems like some grease was used on the cable which meant the car slid when it reached a steep section and then ran back before becoming detached (I'm reading a bit between the lines here). Not a pleasant way to go Sad.
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It seems there were several other areas of concern about the maintenance and operation of that cablecar. The French justice system did, however, hold persons responsible to account. The Austrian justice system, faced with a greater disaster at Kaprun, doesn't appear to have done so (at least in the eyes of the victims' families).
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The rules were broken in this accident. This hasn't been proven in the Kaprun accident.

The general feeling with all Austrians I have talked to about Kaprun is "poo-poo happens, it was a dreadful accident and things need to change so it doesn't happen again." Austria is taking actions to make skiing safer (see other thread). One person even made the case that the war in Iraqi was no accident, it was also illegal but the poor Iraqi people won't even get a lawyer never mind a court case or a fair investigation.
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DB. You've got to be kidding. If you're operating a means of transport it's a general 'rule' that you give people the means to put out a fire and escape from a fire. Alternatively it's called 'duty of care', which is a general 'rule'.

The difference here is that the French investigated who authorised the removal of the brake from the cablecar (the equivalent of fitting the unauthorised heater in the train and allowing inflammable fluid to drip onto it). They then looked at who inspected the cablecar and who maintained the cablecar. And they found three people guilty.

I would have thought the Austrian judge could have applied similar accountability in the case of Kaprun, perhaps awarding similar sentences (manslaughter, suspended sentences) to the operator and the inspector.
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I think the big difference is probably that the French Accident occured because somebody removed a piece of safety equipment illegaly whereas in the Austrian Accident somebody had fitted a piece of equipment that whilst not being fit for purpose didn't in itself break the law by being fitted
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DG Orf has got it,

The un-approved heater malfunctioned and the oil line broke at the same time. If somebody had removed a safety device I am sure the conclusion of the Kaprun investigation would of resulted in a conviction.

Ironically individual appliances don't have fuses here in Austria. A simple fuse on the heater would of probably prevented the fire but that isn't required by law either. (but the heater should of had some sort of electrical protection, maybe this is where a successful conviction could be achieved)

You can't judge the Kaprun installation by English safety standards.
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DB wrote:
Ironically individual appliances don't have fuses here in Austria. A simple fuse on the heater would of probably prevented the fire but that isn't required by law either.


I'm not an electrician, nor I suspect are you, but I don't think that's a fair comment at all. It's the same in Switzerland, France or Germany, there's fewer devices per fuse/breaker typically. A faulty heater would easily trip the breaker in any of the properties I have as I know from long experience living in Europe, in fact it's rather too easy to trip the breakers much of the time. I presume that you're not actually suggesting we're all living in imminent fear of electrically started fires while we sleep ? Very Happy

Just because it's not the same as the UK doesn't mean it's not safe.
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I don't think Kaprun is over. Prosecutors are appealing the decision. Criminal charges are being considered against the heater manufacturer. And the families are taking civil action.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3516139.stm
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Not an electrician but my degree in Building Services covered electrics etc.

So why didn't the breaker that the heater was connected to trip? The heater was glowing by all accounts, the fault level should of been more than enough to trip the breaker, where was the overheat protection on the heater? Perhaps there wasn't a suitably sized breaker on the electricity supply, perhaps the breaker was designed for a much higher load and hence fault level. Perhaps the breaker tripped as the oil hit the heater but by that time it was too late. It's hard to tell from the ashes.

Of course I'm not saying we are living in fear of fire. I'm saying that the electrical installation should of protected the train as your system at home does.
PS It's a pain in the backside trying to work out what has tripped the breaker when a fuse in the plug would of indicated where the problem was.


Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads on Wed 3-03-04 20:09; edited 1 time in total
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You're right about the pain of figuring out which device tripped the breaker though Very Happy

I think the experts probably are quite able to peice together what happened from the ashes.
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You will probably find that because the heater was an addition it was probably fitted into a convenient circuit, one which had a high level of fault tolerance, rather like the Austrian Courts some might say Sad

What the experts would have done is worked out form th efire damage where the fire started and from there what caused it
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Here's a news report, in English, on the Pic de Bure cablecar crash and trial verdict...from Reuters.
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You know it makes sense.
David Goldsmith wrote:
Here's a news report, in English, on the Pic de Bure cablecar crash and trial verdict...from Reuters.


Seems to say the same but in less detail as the link you originally posted to the SCGB site which I reposted above. You are repeating yourself David. Happy
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