Here's this weeks outdo music video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r8WpZqqDqcnOl5s.html Fancy Joining on Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult

I winced when you said the car was dragged even after falling. I feel so bad for the survivor, I can only imagine the terror and trauma it caused. Not to mention survivor's guilt. What a horrible accident.

1970s: "we have installed multiple safety systems that make an accident IMPOSSIBLE by automatically shutting everything down." Okay, what happens after it's all shut down? "Err, umm, I guess we disable the safety systems and start it again..."

Was curious how Alessandra handled being the only survivor. She was 14 back then, bad leg injuries and according to her she was afraid for many years afterwards, so probably quite a bit of PTSD. She died 2009 at age 47 of cancer. Carlo is also long gone. He died in 1998 also of cancer, a few weeks after the second Cavalese Cable Car Disaster. Alessandra described meeting Carlo a few times and according to her he got thinner and thinner and never got really over the accident. She also admitted how hard it was to shake his hand since it was the hand that pushed the button.

And The fact that they destroyed the evidence should have been enough proof of their guilt.

Nothing beats a good "safety override" button. It can be used to trigger so many disaster and incidents, from cable cars crashing into the ground, to radioactive source exposed while operators are fixing conveyor belts of sterilization chambers, not forgetting the Tchernobyl disaster where all possible safety features were overridden. Inclusion of a big red "MANUAL OVERRIDE" (with a "don't touch! -yesterday shift supervisor" sticky note beside it) is a mandatory option in complex machinery design, because engineers and system designers likes to have some fun.

Time and time again these "accidents" seem to almost always be caused by negligence.

Thanks for another fine piece of historical journalism, John. And yes, please cover the EA-6 Prowler collision with the cable. I'm an aviation writer and this incident fascinates me. It was a shameful chapter in the history of the US Marine Corps.

I'm surprised that he hasn't gone into some of the telecom tower failures. There are some really interesting engineering that goes into them

I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and every year in late summer there's the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition), which is essentially a colossal county fair. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, they had a cable car called the SkyRide which ferried people from one end of the fairground to the other. It was one of my favorite things to do there, but stories like this were always in the back of my mind. Especially when the car crossed over the support pylons, which would make the whole contraption shudder and shake.

There's always a slightly morbid delight when one of your new productions appear, great work and Thank You John:]

"a 6 on the disaster legacy scale and an 8 on the cable car only disaster legacy scale" this is how I would like to hear disasters rated from now on, a general rating and a sub rating.

Not so long ago there was another cable car accident. Tragically only a little boy survived. There the problem was again that they had overriden safety features. A clamp wasn't properly clamped down. If I recall correctly, it was also because they wanted to get more people across faster. It's sad to see how so many accidents happen because of errors that could've easily been prevented had they only followed the proper safety procedures. Edit: I didn't recall it completely right. There's some great informative comments in the replies below for anyone who wants to know more and a link to the Wikipedia article

Something that happened near me just last Thursday was a parking garage collapse (in Bayshore Wisconsin, USA). No injuries know of as of now (2 cars are still buried but it's unlikely anyone was in them). Obviously this is a recent and (relatively) minor event, but it did bring up discussion of another parking garage collapse from 2010. In that one a decorative concrete panel fell off the O'Donnell Park parking structure in downtown Milwaukee WI. It killed one teenager and injured 2 other people. It's another case of (IIRC) the construction company (or maybe designer) using the wrong materials and / or not considering the local weather. It's also a case that could have been much worse, since it happened during a major music festival and that parking structure is both used by attendees and between one of the entrances to the festival grounds and other parking areas.

Back when I rode one of these in France, it was a little nerve wracking when the entire car rocked from side to side, especially when it went over the support towers. At one time the power cut off and we got stuck about halfway down the route.

I remember flying to the US and considering the possibility that the plane might crash, and I reasoned that since death would probably be instant then there would be worse ways to go. When I rode up a cable car near Albuquerque I soon hit upon the deeply unwelcome thought that for much of the ride the fall might not kill me, and the car would be rolling down the mountainside with broken glass and human bodies being torn up inside. It was a very long and unpleasant ride up, and an even longer ride down.

Love the work John, the detail and accuracy is second to none. My nerdy senses tingle every time I see a new upload

I love your content! I have ridden a cable car last summer and absolutely did think about all the cable car disasters I have heard and read of, haha

Thanks for covering this, I've heard so much about the later second cavalese incident so wanted to hear something about the 1st incident but there was nothing really about it on the net when I looked. I'm not sure which incident is worse tbh both are equally tragic and careless and what rotten luck to have two major accidents on the same cable car line.

One thing I, as a person stemming from a small Greek village with a far too long and complicated name, who also happens to be gifted with a similarly long and complicated name, especially enjoy your efforts of pronouncing locations and names as ‘authentic’ as possible for a non-native speaker. The outstanding presentation, underlying humor and research work are great as always. Great work John, keep it up!

I never knew there were 2 separate times that something bad happened there. Crazy

@ Plainly Difficult, The second cable car disaster is embarrassing and shameful. I was in the US Navy at the time, working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, so this hit very close to home. Personally, I was disappointed at the findings of the Courts Martial and felt that pilot Captain Richard J. Ashby, and navigator, Captain Joseph Schweitzer, should have gone to prison.

I remember this happening. It made the news here in the US too. My grandparents traveled to Italy a couple of months later to visit my grandpa’s cousins. Cavalese is in the north near the Austrian border and my grandpa’s father and uncles came from a town near Turino in the northwest. This was still making news while they were there. Needless to say they kept their visiting activities at ground level.

Too bad no one makes "disaster postcards" anymore. I'm just morbid enough to collect them.

was there last year on vacation. really nice old city but i never heard of the 2! cable car disasters. very well done video as always

Carlo should not have been charged let alone imprisoned at all. Glad at least his boss got sentenced.

Everytime I hear the word "Safe", I become Plainly Difficult and think about how things called Safe are safe only under the right circumstances. Long time subscriber, and thanks for covering sich a wide range of difficult topics. ❤

Oh my goodness: Very, very rarely does a single fact make me say "OH *NO*!" out loud, but the revelation at the end of this one that it was the exact-same cable car line that was involved in the incident with the USAF is just ... heartbreaking.

Thanks for covering this. I live near Cavalese and know very well both disasters. Regarding the second, I have been told by parents about the frequent flyby of the air force in the area. After the disaster they never flew again, but a year ago two jets passed at low altitude. We were a bit unpleased to say the least.

I love how these old incidents seemed to be caused by not one but a series of multiple unfortunate events but they have one thing in common, an incompetent operator.

Watching this as a programmer, just thinking: this is why we NEVER share the little hacks we know and build in with non-programmers. Because even if we explain to them HOW to use them, they won't understand WHEN to use them...

It is sadly not the only cable car disaster that occurred in Italy due to frequent overriding of the safety features. In May 2021, a terrible cable car crash occurred in Lake Maggiore, which was also the result of gross negligence (and perhaps also very poor maintenance) in the use of tools to bypass emergency brakes, which should have used only during maintenance and repairs, not during normal use.

Similar disaster happened in 1978 at Squaw Valley. I remember having to ride a cable car passed the shattered car, which was still suspended, to get to the top. It took them quite a while to remove it. Terrible.

What is up disaster dudes

I’m very glad you have the independent “cable car only” scale. That makes much more sense.

If the cabin designed to carry 40 people is not capable to hold 44 people, it wasn't designed for that 40 either.

Jeez! There's no justice, is there? The overloading of the cabin and the overriding of the safety cut-off could only have happened in a company culture that fostered and approved of negligence. Whoever put Carlo in charge of operating the machine without appropriate training was more directly culpable than Carlo himself, and should have gone to prison in his place.

The "Cable cart only" legacy scale makes me never want to get on a cable cart again.

As usual an amazing documentary on some of these likely almost forgotten facts and tragedies. Thank you very much and keep going! 🙂

Apart from your nuclear disaster documentaries, this is one of the best I have seen. Another truly horrible accident involving blatant gross negligence would be the Stresa-Mottarone cable car crash in 2021. Maybe something for you to cover in the future. Keep up your good work!

The difference between 40 adults and 44 adults / children is absolutely zero as far as safety margins and engineering considerations are concerned. The issues of cables touching, speed over the pylons, etc is the problem here, the forces exerted during those encounters is exponentially greater than any overweight issue. Also the injuries sustained post-fall due to the safety systems being overridden is a big contributing factor... these operators had no clue what they were doing from an engineering / physics standpoint when they mashed that button... they just wanted to get their paycheck and go home. This is a textbook example of Normalization of Deviance, which is itself a huge issue in modern day safety management systems and safety culture.

It is interesting to see that there is basically no redundancy in the system .... the cable has to hold. But at the same time cable cars are among the safes transport systems so apparently it is quite possible to make is safe enough to mitigate the risks.

new phobia unlocked

Ahhhh....i got all excited when your upload appeared 😁😁😁 I'd read about this disaster quite a while back....very sad and needless tragedy. RIP all those who died 💔

John’s channel has never let me down.

Wow. I saw "Cavalese Cable Car" and thought of an incident ... only to find out there was a WORSE one before the one I knew of!

similar to the Texas State Fair skyride accident. The fair forced the skyride to run in high winds with the safety systems turned off.

That is some pretty slim margins if it was recommended to hold 40 and failed with 44. You would think it would be engineered to hold 60-80, especially given variations in human "physiques" A particularly plump group could overload it pretty easily.

I need a compilation of you just saying "Cavalese" 😭 Great video dude! I've neen binging on them for hours now ✌🏾

When it comes to braided cables comprised of multiple strands of wire twisted together, damage or wear to a few outside strands won't necessarily cause the whole thing to unravel or break. This will, of course, compromise the strength of the cable as a whole, but it is easy to discount what seems to be minor damage as just a 'flesh wound' with no major implications. Big mistake, especially when life safety literally hangs in the balance. Cables are surprisingly abrasive, with even Hellfighters (oil well firefighters) attempting to use them to cut off the damaged tops, or 'heads', of flaming oil wells. This was done to make capping of the spraying oil easier. The tactic didn't succeed as planned, but only because the inferno began to melt the cable before it had gone all the way through the thick piping. RIP to those who lost their lives. Overriding safety systems (outside of during emergency situations) almost never ends well.

Loved the groovy ‘70s clothing in your illustrations!

I noticed right off that this cable system used only one load carrying cable. Most modern ones I have seen on here have two. I wonder why.

I've taken these in Austria my whole life, they are terrifying, I'm always torn between "the view is so beautiful" and "humans aren't meant to travel like this, this thing will crash!!!", especially when the car goes over a pylon it's like a horror movie 🤮

I'm always fascinated to see how safety bypasses are designed without a key or anything to prevent their abusive use...

This is definitely negligence. Thank you for the video, John.

The passenger rating is based on average weight, not actual number of people. The total safe weight should be set at something like half the actual weight the cables can support. So if a cable car is rated at 40 average people it should be able to support 80 average people safely, but that many almost certainly wouldn't fit in the car. A 10% overloading in numbers may not have been an overload in safe weight depending on the actual individual weights of the passengers. The car may or may not have been overloaded according to its passenger rating, but I don't believe the car was dangerously overloaded. The car should have been tested with the equivalent of 80 average people aboard.

You soften the blow for us with gentle whimsy -- thank you.

I feel like you dropped the ball here. What design factors allowed the cables to cross? What regulations changed? This just feels incomplete.

nothing more frustrating in these videos than a worker actually trying to prevent the failure and not being able to

John..congratulations for unfortunately showing these accidents..but it is a curiosity in which we use for company as work security...show more videos from Brazil..!!

The claiming "two children=one passenger" part reminds me of the very much forgotten Penmaenpool Ferry disaster, in which 15 people died, in North Wales in 1966. The boat was overloaded and the operators claimed the same thing during the inquiry, it was also supposed to have a crew of two but was instead being operated by a single person. This event and its inquiry would of course be overshadowed by the deadlier Aberfan Disaster later that year.

Another Great video! Thank you John for the Amazing content! I truly look forward to your videos!

I was on a cable car in France and the operators absolutely packed it with people. I've no idea how many eventually ended up in behind us or what the limit was but it was a crush and I was seriously concerned but could not get out as we were at the front so squashed right in.

Engineer: "Why do we give you limits, if you ignore thrm anyway?! >:c"

I skied (for freedom!) there and throughout the region for three years up till '75, just missing the disaster by a few months. Lovely place, lovely people, great food, skiing, etc. but definitely janky maintenance at many places.

I hope researching all this dark stuff isn't negatively affecting your mental health. I appreciate your content because I'm morbidly curious

I have a friend whose father worked at a restaurant just next to the bottom station of the cable car when this disaster happened. He described that when it crashed, the multi-ton counter weights in the bottom station also crashed to the ground, making an extremely loud bang so people first started to panic thinking that there was a gas explosion somewhere before realizing that the cable car crashed. Some people actually saw the crash and said the falling red cabin with the cable attached to it looked like a kite flying and then landing in a field. I've done some research on this disaster and there must have been so much cover-up during the investigation as even today, nearly 50 years after the incident, many people who are now in their 70s, 80s and 90s and who witnessed this or worked there don't wish to talk about it or make a video-interview to be published. Even my friend, who was born 6 years after the incident, doesn't wish to be named, but he helped me a lot to find out information about what really happened and took me to talk to many people who witnessed this, showed me the place where the cabin hit the ground, where it was dragged along the ground before the engine was stopped and the tree, which is still there, where the crashed cabin halted, so I could do drone flights and some documentation of the area. I made a video-documentary about this. I must warn the quality of the video is amateur and by far not as good as other great documentaries on this incident, including this one, and the video is over 1 hour long as I do tend to talk about details in great length (I'm a scientist) so it's probably boring for the average person, but for anyone who is interested in this in more detail please have a look as I talk about many details I found out from the people who actually witnessed this. A great credit goes to my friend for providing archived photos of the cable car before the crash, of the crashed cabin, as well as black and white photos from a local photographer who took pictures of the dead bodies being taken out of the crashed cabin and laid on sheets in the field around (but these aren't shown in my video). Feel free to re-use the information in my video or any images/animations. Link: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bJN3dcycvpaloYE.html The 1998 crash is a totally different story and much of what I know has been published in the news, but I visited Cavalese regularly since the age of 11 and was there, as a boy, a few days after that 1998 disaster. I have a short video from my old VHS camera from the bottom station a few days after the disaster: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b5ybeqt6vZm0aKs.html

You should do an episode on that observation platform that collapsed in NZ in the 90s (if you haven't already.) I think around 15 people were killed. There's a long documentary about it on YT. It's pretty crazy what happened!

You mean to tell me there were 2 different cavalese cable car disasters and the perpetrators had the same last name? Holy smokes

Wow. I knew there had been a disaster with this system…. And thought at first this vid was about that, until I saw ‘76. This incident I was completely unaware of.

Gotta love the Cable Only Scale. Priceless.

Based on all the events you’re able to make videos on, and how many times things seem to go wrong, it seems like it’s just *plain difficult* to get things right 😂

“There were more children as usual” My brain: hey! Isn’t that the cart that fell down?

I only just learned about the the 3rd incident in Italy. And to realize it too was the result of negligence and ignoring safety is frustrating.

I wonder what a difference automatically putting top mgmt I prison along with the actual employee would do to change mgmts attitude toward safety.

'Hey, lets over charge the cabins and not slow down at the pylons' What's the worst that could happen? Negligence sadly strikes again.

The US Marines jet that snapped a cable car line in 1998 was so messed up. Fewer people died but the arrogance of the pilots was incredible.

As a citizen of the failed Hispano-Italian love child that is Argentina: Yeah, not a strange thing to happen. Not strange at all. Not in the least of it. Rare thing is it didn't happen earlier. This case shows how corruption, ignorance, and lots of "laissez-faire" can end up in a lethal result even when dealing with equipment that is not inherently dangerous but also completely unforgiving if you take it for granted. Excellent video, John.

Maxi John! There is a ski lift type ride at the local amusement park. I once talked to an elevator repairman and he had worked on it and warned me to never ever get on that

John from Southern London, you made my day

I don't see why people continually come to the conclusion that cutting corners is a good idea. Quite often there is a very good reason things are done they way they are done.

In a typical move, the kid in the hut gets the blame while the people actually responsible skate.

Wow you've grown! I remember when your Patreon credit list was a fourth of how long it is now. Could not have happened to a better dude. 👍

And two weeks later in 1976, there was another aerial cable accident in Vail Colorado. Not a good month for cable cars.

JOHN I JUST GOT THE CHARACTER SHIRT IN THE MAIL I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOUR CONTENT FOR YEARS ILY

A plainly difficult video for my birthday?? You shouldn’t have :’)

I'm from south Tyrol and never new about this accident, thanks 👍🏻

Thank you! Another well done production

I already knew about the plane crash and was expecting that to be this video, I hope you cover it as a follow up to this video, the circumstances of that accident are just as interesting.

Great video, as always! 👍

Odd. The first thing that popped in my mind was a movie/book title "where eagles dare."

Hahaha children don't count as people, is it mean that I laughed?

The 1998 Cavalese cable car disaster wasn’t because of any fault of the system or its operators but because of a reckless US Marine Corps flight crew which clipped the cable with their jet. The Italians were very pissed off when not only the pilot and navigator were acquitted of all charges the US refused to compensate the bereaved families of the victims, which was a really shitty thing to do. It damaged US-Italian relations.

At first I thought this was the one with the muricans who clipped the cables with their plane and got away scot free. Maybe it has already been covered here before? Can't remember.

Love your channel, I’ve learned so much about civil engineering and nuclear power and damns, it’s great, and you’re very respectful of the dead, giving the same coverage to tragedies with 1 death as to 1,000.

Always seems to boil down to human incompetence and arrogance in the upper levels in thinking "Nah, it'll not break, look, it's working fine!!! Ignore the alarms going off!!!", and boom, dead people everywhere and they're passing the buck onto their underlings to excuse themselves of the blame...

just to say I hit the like button on these videos to show my appreciation of your work, not because I like the subject matter

A suggestion for a future video is the collapse of Hotel New World in Singapore. A fascinating story of heroism during the rescue and failure in design.

If there is anything that is a common thread in the vast majority of disasters, it is the very predictable human fault of always cutting as many corners as possible. As long as it isn't the owners life at stake, they'll never lose a wink of sleep gambling with lives if it means more profit. If someone dies, they can call their insurance companies, curry favor with influential friends in high places, throw some lackeys under the bus, then duck out of sight for a period of time until the public fury abates, then resume everything as usual.* *I know this is a gross oversimplification but you get the message.

Thank you for the brief pause you put into your videos right before an ad. Its always annoying when your watching a video and an ad breaks in abruptly.