BS: Cable car accident (Austria - Sept 2005)

Subject: BS: Cable car accident
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 05 Sep 05 - 12:40 PM

Last week I was on holiday in the Austrian Alps and managed to persuade my wife, who has a fear of heights, to take a trip on a cable car across the Rettenbach glacier.

Today I heard on the news that 9 people have been killed and another 10 seriously injured on the same ride when a helicopter dropped a concrete block onto one of the cars.

Kind of pulls you up sharp when you realise that the fun we had could turn to tragedy in just a few seconds.

My heart goes out to the injured and bereaved.


DC

Subject: RE: BS: Cable car accident
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 05 Sep 05 - 12:52 PM

Reuters article.


Sounds like it was just a freak accident.

Subject: RE: BS: Cable car accident
From: Grab
Date: 05 Sep 05 - 01:34 PM

Reuters is gone, but the BBC has it.

What an incredibly unlucky thing to happen. I presume from the story that the concrete block was dropped by accident, and they just happened to be over the cable - fantastically bad luck. I feel sorry for the helicopter pilot.

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Cable car accident (Austria - Sept 2005)
From: alanabit
Date: 06 Sep 05 - 04:02 AM

Unfortunately, according to a news report I heard yesterday, it was not the first time even this week, that a block had fallen from a helicopter. Maybe one block falling is bad luck, but a few questions need to be asked all the same. It was bad luck that the second one landed on a cable car in an area as sparsely populated as the Alps. However, at some stage of a helicopter's flight, it is always going to approach a place where there are people.