The First Cavalese Cable Car Disaster | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

[@FascinatingHorror]

If you want to learn about the Second Cavalese Cable Car Disaster in 1998, here's the video I made on it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2mtppyMp9h2btE

[@giulianocanevazzi6151]

quelle però non sono state stragi premeditate

[@TommyCrosby]

Jailing the un-trained Sweitzer is like jailing a kid, he didn't knew that he shouldn't have done what he did and the responsibility to put him there is on the shoulders of the cable car operator. They broke every safety protocols but blaming the guy who wasn't aware of the broken safety protocols is stupid.

[@mileshigh1321]

Why would they jail him? He did nothing wrong! He made a phone call and was told to turn off the safety system! Management and supervisors should have been jailed not him!

[@Alex_Was_Taken]

How does that make sense? Is an unlicensed surgeon not responsible for a death on his operating table either?

[@proxcess4946]

@@Alex_Was_Taken Lowest IQ take I've seen in a while. A surgeon is a highly skilled job. They do university and years of training. A cable car operator is a regular job, the guy hadn't been trained properly by the company that hired him, and when he asked for assistance with the issue he followed what he was told. I hope you're never on a jury.

[@MikeHunt-fo3ow]

@@Alex_Was_Taken analogies dont make good arguments...i know what youre saying

[@leandervr]

@@Alex_Was_Taken Everyone knows a surgeon must be licensed. It's not said here, but it's entirely possible that this guy didn't even know he wasn't qualified. It sounds just like he applied to a job listing, got hired, minimally trained and set up to fail without his knowledge.

[@KhrysKrypto]

From everything I've learned with this channel, I mainly understand that the 70s was a fantastic time to discover why we need safety protocols.

[@oniondeluxe9942]

The usual story: the poor worker got jailed, but the true culprits, the greedy company owners, were acquitted.

[@peachespavalko1980]

Did you miss the part where it’s mentioned that three other employees received similar sentences, however he didn’t go into any more detail than that. So no, your statement isn’t totally correct. Thought you may want to know so you can listen to that section again toward the end.

[@chaminadecrew79]

Except this didnt happen. Can you not pull your narrative out of your ass where it doesnt apply? Tysm

[@bradsanders407]

Money talks and bs gets to walk the rest goes to jail

[@oniondeluxe9942]

@@peachespavalko1980 three other EMPLOYEES yes. I doubt it was the owners of the money. But if so, I stand down

[@Thephillips-dj1po]

Some Dumbasses in the US Air Force: *But WAIT! There's More!*

[@sarahfrith1984]

They always punish the untrained operators when it’s management who are actually responsible 😔 glad alessandra survived, her survivors guilt must have been hard to bear ❤

[@seanpetaia]

I can only imagine those poor souls were gone to soon, because rim reaper was on that court. 💀

[@prismpyre7653]

meanwhile two american pilots having a drag race in their fighter planes crashed into cables and send several cars of people from all over the world plummeting to their deaths in Itally-- then they just flew home, landed, deleted all the flight recordings, had a good laugh about it and got to go on with their merry soulless bestial demon lives

[@nophone9311]

But why would you do such a job, where you literally have people's lives in your hands without training? The man literally had to call a collogue for help because he did not know what to do in an emergency. He is just as guilty.

[@AlGoYoSu]

​​​@@nophone93112:19 listen again. Carlos radioed for help. What is presumably a temporary employee kid supposed to do? They are not an engineer and lacked the training, knowledge, and experience to deal with the issue. I highly doubt if you (or anyone) were in his shoes you would not stop the car on your own authority. You would be a good kid because you don't want to lose your job and turn the annoying alarm off like you were told.

[@Alex_Was_Taken]

​@@AlGoYoSuyou don't need to be a rocket scientist to know overriding safety protocols is dangerous.

[@classicmicroscopy9398]

Some of the staff on a cable car I rode on once would sit on top of the car in the open air while it climbed the mountain. Absolutely nuts.

[@heishinmega]

Just imagining this gives me chills

[@peterhoulihan9766]

Although, if the car did fall, would they be worse off?

[@seanpetaia]

I can only imagine why these poor souls were gone, because rim reaper was definitely riding on that curt. 💀

[@ataridc]

@@peterhoulihan9766break out the ballistics gel dummies filled with red goo and lets find out

[@Cgeta4]

If they've been wearing safety gear they could've been inspecting the cables, or stopping at a pylon to climb on it for maintenance

[@peecee1384]

How could Sweitzer possibly be to blame? It's not his fault he wasn't trained properly.

[@jdb47games]

Every employee must disobey an instruction from their employer if it is obviously dangerous, regardless of the consequences for the employee. He failed to do that, presumably for fear of losing the job. Saying 'I was only obeying orders' is not a defence. You do not require training to know that routinely disabling safety mechanisms is dangerous.

[@hindenburg2006]

Blame always rolls downhill, unfortunately 😒

[@KCzz15]

@@jdb47games He didn't know it was "obviously dangerous", he was led to believe by the people he was told to trust that it was perfectly normal so he put his faith in them.

[@prismpyre7653]

because don't you know the decision makers, the capitalists, the bosses who kill people for money- they are NEVER to blame, for anything...... our society is ruled by psychopaths and monsters. as long as we let it be

[@FirstLast-vr7es]

@@jdb47games He didn't know what was and what was not dangerous. All he knew is what he was told by management. It was management's responsibility to make sure that the operators were properly trained and licensed, and it was management's responsibility to make sure the equipment was maintained. They failed on both counts. The operators NEVER should have been imprisoned for this.

[@MusicoftheDamned]

Learning of the corner-cutting at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="150">02:30</a> makes pretty much everything from <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="560">09:20</a> onward even less surprising than it already would be.

[@LordHeath1972]

Well documented without unnecessary padding; a pleasant voice from the narrator that is easy on the ears; and a perfect length. Perfectly edited.

[@antonioforestgardens697]

And punctuation, those A.I. versions? (certainly not voices) are laughable to say the least.

[@vertyisprobablydead]

First time here?

[@I2dios8]

I imagine the guy who packed a few extra kids on the gondola probably had quite a bit of lasting guilt, even if ultimately his decision didn't cause the accident. I know if I was in his position, I'd be hitting myself over the head daily for the rest of my life about how I could've saved a couple of kids if I hadn't ignored the maximum occupancy of the gondola.

[@prismpyre7653]

and obvi they should have to live with that not their corrupt scumbag soullles incompetent thieving employers

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

He was probably under orders from his superiors to pack the gondola as full as possible every single time, and counting children as half adults in weight. If they were running the operation faster than recommended, they were probably packing it to the limit every time as well.

[@deborahblackvideoediting8697]

I was thinking the exact same thing. It would haunt me knowing I could have saved two or three people's lives if I had of been more strict with the rules.

[@MiroslavProvod]

There were a few Alexandras classmates who also wanted to get on the gondola, but the operator just shouted at them that it's full, shut the door and saved their life this way... Alexandra, Francesca and Giovanni broke off from their class as they were chatting to some German boys ahead of them. Francesca and Giovanni were the only victims from the Carducci grammar school from Milan.

[@TheGrifCannon00]

Somehow this is the worse of the two disasters with the Cavalese Cable Car, and yet somehow the second one is even more infuriating than the first.

[@faenethlorhalien]

Absolutely.

[@DardanellesBy108]

The second one was crazy. Getting flown back to the US immediately and only getting a slap on the wrist for 20 people deleted plus the pilot didn’t seem to give a flying F afterwards. It was definitely an outrageous outcome.

[@MadameChristie]

And he only got a slap on the wrist because he got caught destroying the videotape that mostly like proved that the altimeter warning did in fact go off when they started flying too low, unlike what he claimed at his military trial @@DardanellesBy108

[@Ozymandias1]

@@DardanellesBy108 The victims weren't Americans so they couldn't care less. Didn't he also get a medal? That is customary in the US armed services it seems. The captain of the USS Vincennes which had downed an Iranian passenger liner also got awarded.

[@davidjones332]

@@DardanellesBy108 It's a common theme when Americans are wanted by foreign courts -witness the recent case of the woman who killed a lad on a motorbike in England and scurried back to the US before the police could get to her. They refuse to extradite their citizens but expect others to send their nationals to face the loopy US justice system.

[@Digglesisdead]

Alesandra's description of the people speaking after the fall brought me to tears.

[@cekojuna6930]

My friends and I are watching this video in a cable car ride ourselves in Vietnam. The fact this video is uploaded during our ride was too funny to pass up and we started taking pictures of this video thumbnail with ourselves in a cable car. Fun aside, we did discuss the contents of the video and are baffled by negligence of the main workers and company laxness.

[@prismpyre7653]

in Viernam they actually give a shit about public safety though, not just making money by murdering people

[@cekojuna6930]

@@prismpyre7653 I'd expect so too since these cable cars and attractions have high amount of tourist traffic. Even saw a cable walk the mountains to do his job once on Ba Na Hill. The one I got my picture taken is on Vinpearl and they seem legit.

[@Ozymandias1]

It's like watching Titanic during a stormy night on board a cruise ship. Or one of many movies involving plane crashes during a flight.

[@MiroslavProvod]

​@@Ozymandias1 Once we watched Twister when suddenly a real Tornado Warning was issued. Luckily, no tornado hit our house.

[@corey6393]

In the early 90's I was a teenage ski bum living in Montana. I was hired to help operate the two gondola lifts at Big Sky Resort. Both were pretty old, but one seemed ancient. In hindsight, It blows me away that we were allowed to operate those things with virtually no real training. As far as I know, there was never a major failure or injury on either gondola. Pretty sure both of them are long gone now.

[@reachandler3655]

I'm appalled the operator was sentenced to prison, he did as instructed, and was probably unaware qualifications were required.

[@john1701q]

"I was just following orders" IS not a valid excuse. If he had refused over 40 people would have lived.

[@fortunatecookie]

@@john1701qbut he didn’t know that. “I was only following orders” is a shit excuse when the person knows the harm they’ll cause ahead of time. Ignorance is not the same as complacence

[@Ozymandias1]

In Italy there was an earthquake a few decades ago. Afterwards a group of geologists were jailed because they SHOULD have known that an earthquake MIGHT happen in the future. Italy does not take responsibility lightly. Another more famous example is the captain of the Costa Concordia who got a lengthy prison term.

[@lilliematthews7922]

@@john1701qBut what was he supposed to do? He wasn’t trained and didn’t know about the risks. He couldn’t just leave 43 people hanging in mid air, so he asked for instructions and then followed them. Knowing what WE know, it was a bad idea, but how was he supposed to have known that?

[@moteroargentino7944]

@fortunatecookie You can't call ignorance when disabling a safety system. Any person with a working brain would find that strange and dangerous. "It's malfunctioning" more than an excuse would be even MORE reason to worry. I'm surprised to see so many people defending him. The higher-ups certainly deserved heavier punishments, but the operator had his share of responsibility.

[@bartbjorri9502]

Getting an holiday job, calling some one what to do and then sentenced to jail for doing the best you can. Does not sound right. The compagnie should be sentenced for employing non trained workers.

[@timrobinson6573]

Italy's legal system is not based on English law. Italy is a place of injustice.

[@prismpyre7653]

because don't you know the decision makers, the capitalists, the bosses who kill people for money- they are NEVER to blame, for anything...... our society is ruled by psychopaths and monsters. as long as we let it be

[@MadameChristie]

​​@@timrobinson6573ehhhh, you say that now, wait until he gets to the second cable car disaster. You're gonna wish the Italian justice system had a go. I will say, the Italians do have a particularly strange way of going about air crash investigations. Plane crashes are automatically deemed criminal investigations so cops get a first dibs and the actually expert investigators have to wait on the sidelines, which often means the cops fuck up the crash scenes (move debris and shit) so they have a harder time getting an accurate picture of how the aircraft crashed, not mention finding the black boxes and other important pieces of the plane

[@josephd.5524]

you don't jail rich people- that's what poor people are for.

[@Klaatu2Too]

Italy's justice system is odd. For years after Aryton Senna became unlived after he crashed during a F1 race in Italy they kept trying to find someone to charge for manslaughter. More recently, after some people died during a earthquake several geologists were sent to prison for not warning people about the earthquake.

[@kittykittylyons]

I've been waiting for you to cover this one! I went to a neighbouring village for a skiing trip in high school and we had an Italian guide/instructor. When we visited Cavalese and got on the gondolas up the mountain, he said to us (in not-perfect English) that here the gondolas "fell twice" and one time they were hit, but he couldn't really explain it to us in more detail, so we were confused and thought maybe he was trying to scare us because this gondola was across a bigger valley than the others we'd been on. Sure enough, when I got back to the hotel and looked it up, he wasn't joking. In retrospect he had said he'd lived in the area for a long time, so it's not unlikely he was there or nearby for the 1998 disaster. A great video as always.

[@budm9982]

Using the safety override became a part of normal operation. This is what is now referred to "Normalization of Deviance", responsible for many tragic occurrences throughout history, many of which have been covered on this channel. Will people never learn?

[@WobblesandBean]

Imagine being the only survivor, and hearing the people around you fading into oblivion, one by one, men, women, children, and all.

[@krashd]

That was also the case when JAL 123 crashed in Japan, because the authorities just assumed that no one could have survived the crash they didn't bother checking it and left it to burn overnight, of the 509 people on board the plane it was estimated that as many as 40 actually survived the crash but by the time authorities got there 6 hours later all but 4 were dead. Those four had to spend 6 hours in the burning wreckage of a plane during heavy rain listening to people gradually die.

[@MiroslavProvod]

The owner of Hotel Grunwald in Cavalese, Giancarlo Gilmozzi, has been through all that. Saw the cable car stop, restart, swing, fall and disappear behind trees before crushing. Then drove with his friend on a slippery road and then run to help people. When they arrived at the cabin, there were 6 or 7 bodies outside (who fell out as the cabin was dragged) and the rest inside, many still crying and calling for help. They started pulling people out before official help arrived, unfortunately only Francesca Piovessana was alive, the rest were corpses. They pulled like 15 people out in that time. Incredible and chilling story!

[@bicivelo]

I have nightmares about just falling from high places and they are terrifying. This poor girl literally lived that nightmare.

[@jamessimms415]

I don’t like high places either, especially high bridges that I avoid whenever possible

[@JoEbY-X]

The first Fascinating Horror video I watched was that guy who got stuck deep in a cave and had to be left there. Such a terrifying story that the opening music to these videos still makes my blood pressure go up!

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="660">11:00</a> It's called alarm fatigue...they have found it happens in nurses too, they stop hearing patient alarms if they get too used to hearing them.

[@jamessimms415]

Or if there’s a particularly prickly patient. Times I’ve been in, I try to be as accommodating as possible & not too demanding

[@maxinefreeman8858]

@jamessimms415. I worked as a nurse 25 years before retirement. I worked the midnight shift most of the time. Less employees on the shift. I never got to the point of alarms going off, a regular call bell, IV pumps alarms, emergency alarms from the patients bathrooms, that I ignored them. That's the only times that you're allowed to run, emergency bells going off and someone is hemorrhaging.

[@KaileyB616]

Same thing happens when tornado alarms are overused.

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

@@KaileyB616 true

[@QT5656]

Are we going to get a death by bouncy castle episode soon? I think it would be good to raise awareness about the dangers of not securing them in wind etc. Thanks! 👍

[@stuartgmk]

I'm from Tasmania we had a bad one about 5 years ago in Devonport all the victims where very young children a very sad day.

[@pseudotasuki]

There have been *so* many accidents.

[@aaronhogan2371]

@@stuartgmk life imitating art of Chris Lilly's "We Can Be Heroes"

[@rich_edwards79]

They can be very scary, especially in the UK where it's almost always windy.

[@firstnamelastname6216]

What?... Bounce houses have killed people??!! I shouldn't be surprised, but I mean wtf, for real....

[@FirstLast-vr7es]

I've always been afraid of those things. Now, I know I'll never ride one again. This incident is absolutely horrible, and was absolutely preventable as well.

[@Sashazur]

Just adding to your nightmare fuel - there are some cable car systems where the cars are the size of phone booths and only hold two standing people, so you can add claustrophobia to the list! I rode on one a few years ago in Italy and it stopped halfway up. The only thing that prevented me from freaking out is that I’d noticed it had also briefly stopped while we were waiting in line to get on, so I figured it would once again only be stopped for a short time. But now that I know the cable car in this accident also stopped due to a safety system which was overridden, I think if it happened again I *would* freak out!

[@earlofcumbrae-Ground_Zero]

I think you meant November to April...not " April to November "...great content! Love the channel! ❤️ ❄️

[@iamabuki]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@bobcastro9386]

Unless quoting the Southern Hemisphere definition of winter...

[@Eeveelyn]

Growing up in another part of Italy there's a mountain nearby that's a very popular place for school trips and also summer programs that take children to do things while the parents work. They always pressed us into the gondola like sardines. As it's typical for Italy nothing was learned from this incident. In fact there have been more cable car incidents since. Right now there's a politician who managed to start the process of building an insanely expensive and unnecessary bridge on ground that's completely unsuitable because of earthquakes (among a long list of other problems). All of this a few years after a bridge in Italy collapsed from an earthquake.

[@user-ll8be9vt4u]

Another story very well done. I can imagine the sole survivor having survivor's guilt.

[@MrMalvolio29]

@FascinatingHorror, I wish I knew your first name, so I could write this note properly. In any case, **I HAVE BEEN WATCHING AND APPRECIATING YOUR REGULAR POSTS, as well as your tongue-in-cheek videos about disaster films on April Fool’s Day and other special occasions for several yrs now. I especially appreciate the thorough research; excellent scriptwriting; and thoughtfully chosen images for your videos. Truly, truly terrific work! Cheers, stephen

[@micheleshively8557]

It's Christian

[@MrMalvolio29]

@@micheleshively8557 THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Quite kind of you!

[@RyanideProductions]

*Kristian

[@DardanellesBy108]

An EA-6B aircraft operated by US Marine squadron VMAQ-2 was the cause of the second gondola accident. The pilot was “hot dogging” way below limits and sliced the cable. The US authorities rushed the US four airmen home and gave them slaps on the wrists as the Italians screamed for them to be handed over. This was back in February 1998.

[@Scorpioncactusflower]

Yup. He already did a video on that one. I was confused when this video dropped, actually 😂😂😂

[@jamest2401]

“During the winter months, usually from around April to around November…”?? Was that simply misspoken, or does Cavalese have one hell-of-a wacky winter schedule? Sorry Kristian, I know it’s a bit nitpicky, but it made me chuckle and I couldn’t resist.

[@mrnice4434]

He properly mean November till April :)

[@jfergs.3302]

Aye, I did a bit of a double take myself when I heard that :)

[@montdawgs]

Yes, a mistake resulting from rushing their videos. They used to be of much much higher quality.

[@pseudotasuki]

​@@barron204I assure you, those are the months *without* snow.

[@LilDitBit]

We have the cold months from May to August down here in Australia! It's getting down to 5°C tonight 😉

[@cameron398]

First I agree with @peecee1384 that putting this man in prison for any amount of time just added to the tragedy. Having just retired from 25 years in the US Army and seeing more than enough situations like this; where a person needed to be blamed for a terrible situation it brought me to tears this morning. An innocent man who was untrained and a young woman who both had to live with this horror for the rest of their lives is the worst punishment ever.

[@JoeSmith-vs5sy]

All of the episodes of this channel are top notch.

[@peterhoulihan9766]

> The first I'm guessing there's another video coming up. I feel bad for Schweizer, it seems like he was scapegoated here. He could not have reasonably known that his training was insufficient or that the work practices he was taught were dangerous.

[@Scorpioncactusflower]

We already had the other one. Check the 'Aviation Accidents' Playlist.

[@QueenE31]

Oh WOW!!! I started following you when you had 30,000 odd subscribers!! Well done. Well deserved 👏🏼

[@craigritchie8470]

Greed + Complacency = Faliure

[@brightnbreezyfelix1003]

It’s gut wrenching that the temp cable car operator was jailed (Carlo Sweitzer?) . He should be compensated. To observe the death of those people would be devastating then to be held accountable is disgraceful. I wonder if he had to return home to face the blame and grief of thousands of people in the town. Poor guy …. 😢.

[@ecocodex4431]

So Carlos was not trained properly, he called his coworkers when something happened and followed their advice, was only working part time here for a couple of months... WHY tf was he sentenced up to 2 years!? What could he have POSSIBLY known to do different, given his circumstances!? I am pissed! Free my boi Carlos! He did nothing wrong! #FreeCarlos

[@dinolil1474]

He was released after nine months. Don’t worry. He is free now.

[@danijuggernaut]

I remember it well, i raised up in Switzerland and it was a shocking news in the TV.

[@jayr.3720]

Good lord, how much faster did they juice the system to be that the friction would sever a 52 millimeter cable?!?! I don't think people realize just how thick and strong that is.

[@bluefanofeverything4329]

You're my favorite channels when it comes to disastrous events that I didn't know. Maybe you can cover the Manor Hotel Fire (2001) and the Kentex Slipper Factory Fire (2015). Both had 74 deaths.

[@glennmcg8104]

❤ this channel, ive binged everything!😊

[@TheLastPhoen1x]

Winter months April to November? Last time I checked Italy wasn't in the southern hemisphere.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Didn't you know it flies south for the winter.

[@seandelap8587]

That would indeed be my biggest worry if i was on these things that the cable would snap when it was half way through the air i would prefer to take my chances walking

[@VERAmenteAnonima]

Thank you for covering also these Italian accidents. Please make a video on the second Cavalese accident.

[@Ozymandias1]

There is already one on this channel.

[@VERAmenteAnonima]

@@Ozymandias1 Thanks! I'll check

[@BruinsPastaSauce]

just show how corruption and greed is everywhere. instead of jailing the actually people responsible they jail the poor dude.. the town, the judge, the police and whoever else was involved all failed those men, women, and children who died.. the fact the town was okay with this outcome is terrible.

[@MiroslavProvod]

The town blamed Carlo Schweizer. People were even afraid to shake his hand because they would "touch the finger that caused this tragedy".

[@fiddlersthree8463]

Wonderful presentation. And I'm very grateful to hear a human narrator -- nicely done.

[@derekporter7548]

It really is incredible how unempathetic so many people can be. Anyone arguing that it was the untrained operators fault is beyond delusional

[@LprogressivesANDliberals]

The cavalise disaster in Italy with the Us military plane cutting the wires will always be a top 10 horror story! Pray I go out peace fully

[@kushgoblin51020]

What are you talking about?

[@DardanellesBy108]

@@kushgoblin51020In February 1998 an EA-6B flown by US Marine squadron VMAQ-2 sliced a gondola cable in the same valley sending 20 people to the valley floor. The US sent the US airmen home and gave them very light sentences. It was an outrage that gave the US yet another black eye.

[@krashd]

That happened in the same place as this one, that is why they call it the second Cavalese disaster.

[@VanK782]

It's a shame that, other than not ignoring the safety system, if the phone in the gondola had worked maybe the line would've been shut down in time

[@MiroslavProvod]

It's interesting there are so many similarities between the 1976 and 1998 Cavalese incidents. The surnames of the people at blame, Carlo Schweizer and Joseph Schweitzer, are very similar. In both incidents, the cabin operator who died in the cabin swapped shifts a few days before. In both cases, the strong carrier cable gave way due to external force (friction and being struck by plane), something that never happened on any other such cable car in the world. The crushed cabin was always a full cabin during one of the last few afternoon runs, with the other cabin going up being empty only with the operator in it. Marcello Vanzo, the cabin operator who died in the 2nd incident, lived in a farmhouse below the cable car. In 1976 the cabin crushed in a field not far from his house. In 1998 he died in the crash, his body being the only body outside of the cabin. All other bodies were inside.

[@lisaknits69]

Love listening to these stories ❤❤

[@poepoepo]

the first tike i rode cable car was in an amusement park. i started crying so hysterically that my family had to get off the cable car in the midway stop. it's been many years since then and i'm not scared of them anymore but glad to know little me's fear wasn't that irrational

[@HeronCoyote1234]

Everyone who’s commenting on the months of snow, give it a rest! Kristian does a fabulous job, week in, week out, giving us detailed, well-researched and delivered accounts of tragedies. Quick joke: A woman walks into a butcher shop, picks up a chicken, smells it left, right, inside and out, and says, rather indignantly, “Sir, this chicken stinks!” To which the butcher replies, “Madame, would YOU pass a test like that?”

[@giorgismama8024]

Ha ha!Thanks for your joke. I needed it to start my day with a laugh.

[@michelletrimmer7431]

I live in Nevada and ski at Lake Tahoe. My favorite place was Squaw Valley. I stopped going there when they changed the name. Most of the resorts have gondolas to take you up the mountain. The cars are filled with people and their ski equipment. I was always uneasy. I hate heights and the movement of the car. This just sealed the deal for me. This coming year I planned to ski again after my total knee replacement. I think I will go snow tubing instead.

[@stefanobazzanella1976]

My name is Stefano bazzanella. my father was one of the first responders who were on the incident site. the scene was horrific! bodies was recognized because the sky swift. a 9 year old boy named STEFANO died on my father arms. this is the reason why my name is Stefano, . I am very surprised that’s story is popular on youtube videos. please ask me .. STEFANO BAZZANELLA .

[@waleniafs]

I always pass by Cavalese when going up in the mountains on holiday, i remember the first time i asked my mom why that particular lift followed the terrain instead of going straight up and she told me about the disaster, such a terribile story in such a beautiful, kind land

[@wolcek]

From April to November it would be the whole summer. I doubt they have much snow there then.

[@PasserEminibey]

that poor little girl, i cant imagine how it must have felt to be the only one left

[@robloxgirlwithadog]

“She had been protected from fatal injury by the bodies of her friends and fellow passengers surrounding her.” Dear God. That poor woman probably had survivors guilt for a long time.

[@Thephillips-dj1po]

"This is a horrible disaster that should not have happened." Some Dumbasses in the US Air Force: *"There is Another."*

[@r.speirs]

The contrast between this and the later airplane strike incident is bizarre.

[@MaiAolei]

Cavalese, Australia, with the winter months from April to November. Ah, good times.

[@shysintendo648]

Any chance of covering some tornado events such as the 1974 tornado outbreak including the Zenia, Ohio tornado, The Joplin Tornado, Tri-State Tornado, Bridge Creek-Moore Tornado, El Reno Tornado, 1913 Easter Sunday Tornado, '68 Tracy Tornado, 2013 Moore Tornado as a few starting suggestions.

[@dangerousandy]

Good morning

[@dottiegillespie8067]

Good morning to you also. Thank you

[@JohnBand78]

This is 50 years ago, but it is fascinating that (unlike the Anglo, Nordic and Benelux countries, which have moved to no-fault accident investigation outside of gross negligence by people who should know what they're doing), Italy still absolutely bases its disaster response on throwing the most on-the-ground people in jail. Third world behaviour.

[@divalea]

I’d love a video on “second disasters,” which is when a disaster area is inundated with unwanted and unneeded donations (read: crap people don’t want and teddy bears) and there’s no place to put the stuff and no people to deal with it. Joplin, MO is a good example of this.

[@crazysquid0227]

Hearing about this gondola disaster reminds me of the Vail, Colorado USA Gondola accident that happened around the same period.

[@PacificEgg]

A video on "The Centralia Massacre" in Washington Stae would awesome! It involves the last lynching in Washington

[@Goabnb94]

Repeated activations of safety systems is a sign of a problem, with the thing the safety system is looking over, or the system itself. It should never be regarded as just "part of the job", its there for a reason, and here we have an example of boy crying wolf, nobody believed the safety system warning of a very real problem.

[@majuuorthrus3340]

I feel out of all the people responsible, Sweitzer is like... the least responsible. Like, yes, he deactivated the safety system and wasn't licenced, but like. Because he wasn't trained or licenced, he shouldn't have even been there in the first place, and it's not like he randomly broke into the control room. He was employed by someone Also the bit about the cable car moving because Sweitzer was (understandably) taking cover from shattered glass just made my brain scream "deadman switch"

[@Tainotito40]

It's always somebody cutting corners to save dam money never mind SAFETY

[@246trixie]

Gondolas scare the sh*t out of me, and ski lifts

[@francoiscomeau9104]

I believe you said "During the winter months, usually from around April to around November..." Great video as usual!

[@jessehutchings]

Another great example of why safety regulations, inspections and certifications exist

[@alexandrapearce5260]

this made me think of another cable car accident (tho it didn't go down at all like this) that happened in American Samoa in 1980. April 17 marks Flag Day, the day that American Samoa became a protectorate of the US (i could be wrong, i'm not a local). on Flag Day of 1980 there was an airshow which at first looked like it was going well, until the plane flew between the cables of the cable car and crashed into a hotel. now the tramway has fallen into disrepair and i believe there was a monument too that is in just as bad a state. idk many other details as i haven't ever been told the story in much detail either

[@kspen6110]

Companies that use shortcuts to save money and time usually end up taking innocent lives. And they get away with it. Despicable!!

[@trevormillar1576]

"Oi! Clint Eastwood! Patrick Whymark! Stop fighting on top of the cablecar!"

[@chrisjames3204]

That was Richard Burton and Donald Houston.

[@DDE_ADDICT]

That was a great movie, family favorite.

[@kenmore01]

I have a funny feeling those cables were rubbing a long time and that's a big reason the safety system tripped frequently.

[@MrMemetic321]

I was trying to find ur channel cuz i watched the Wedding Floor collapse video a while ago, could only see News Channels, but I found it!

[@BigusDickus-n6p]

Calling it the "First" Cavalese cablecar disaster is quite the morbid overshadowing

[@FirstNameLastName-lk3ng]

Did you used to have a video about the 1998 Cavalese Cable Car disaster? The one where a U.S. military plane flew too low and cut a support cable? I could've sworn I'd seen it on your channel.

[@somebloke3869]

The wrong people were jailed. The managers that let this work place break safety protocols are fully to blame.

[@TheClumsyFairy]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="67">1:07</a> Don't you mean "From November to April", not "from April to November"??

[@aurenkleige]

As usual, the company that operated the entire thing didn't get any punishment for their negligence. Disgusting.

[@jnalhn1188]

Winter tourists season in Cavalese is usually from November to April. Not the other way round 😂

[@jordanalbano9780]

Insane how their protocol for dealing with the emergency safety shutoff system was to just override & ignore it

[@moestrei]

European Winter from April to November ?

[@charcoaldreams5203]

Reminds me of when I was about 15. The fire alarm at school kept going off for probably a year. Malfunctions and boys setting it off for fun. Sometimes it was a couple of times a day. After a while we just stopped evacuating, staying in our classrooms and waiting for it to stop. If there had ever been a real fire (which it thankfully never was) it could have ended really bad.

[@catw4729]

I had to have that discussion with my lodger. My smoke alarm is sensitive to any frying. Usually we have the fan on full but it will occasionally go off. When she ignored it the first time I explained that it is there for safety, so if it goes off she should check all is safe. A few weeks ago it sounded for a few seconds with no explanation late at night. I checked nothing had been left lit and there were no other causes. I knocked on her door to check all was OK and that she didn’t have a candle. The next morning she was only interested in speculating why it had gone off and could not get it into her head that she should have appeared from her room as soon as it sounded. The irony is that as she is with me under a refugee scheme the fire brigade visited when she first moved in and gave her information about what to do in a fire.

[@SilverIchimaru]

Looking back on my own experience with that kind of stupidity I got lucky. The college kids pulled those bells for fun so often at night(multiple times a week), everyone just grumbled and went back to sleep. Even the emergency crews stopped responding. I was told they set up a way to know if there was an actual emergency. The alarms could go off for hours, and I'm not sure if the apartment employees reset them or they reset themselves.

[@heidisparklebottom]

The rise of streaming cars was meant to compete with cable cars but it seems they are slowly becoming just as bad

[@Scorpioncactusflower]

It's too early for this. I haven't even had my coffee yet. 😂😂

[@HR-wd6cw]

I find it a bit odd that people say that people who experiences tragedies like this or potentially worse ones end up recovering and living a normal life. You may recover and live a normal life for the most part -- broken bones and bruises will heal, but the memories of the accient will always remain with you for the rest of your life. This I would think, as a child / young adult would be something someone would remember for the rest of your life, especially considering the fact that all of her friends (and everyone else) in that cable car died.

[@MiroslavProvod]

Yes, exactely! Alexandra never took a cable car again and had even problems to come back to Cavalese. But she was very brave, came back to school in only about 2 weeks and still managed to finish her year. Later on she became a very successfull journalist at Airone. So her career was awsome given what she went through though her personal life was likely largely affected. She died of cancer in 2009.

[@stephenbritton9297]

EA-6B has entered the chat... "um, glad you repaired that cable car, but where exactly is it?"

[@caitedavis4671]

Whenever you hear ‘to save money’ you know disaster is going to strike.

[@thurayya8905]

So, the operators and managers were given prison sentences, but the greedy corporation that set them up wasn't punished at all? Where's the justice in that?

[@maurolara8499]

I didn't know there was a disaster before the 1998 disaster. Depressing.

[@redmage777]

I'm guessing the override key is exists so the system can be evacuated after the problem has been identified, or if catastrophic failure is eminent and time is not on the side of those still in the gondolas.

[@noodletoots]

The second I saw “cable car” and the gondola in the thumbnail, my brain just went NOPE. I’m not a fan of heights, and those gondolas are terrifying to me even at the best of times. The dread I felt at “43 people were in the gondola, 42 died” was immense. But then seeing that this was only the first Cavalese cable car disaster? So much senseless suffering, from the deceased to the untrained seasonal employee who got punished for everything.

[@SilverIchimaru]

Yes, there was one other I'm aware of. That one involved a U.S. Marine flight crew(1998? This channel covers that)who decided to joyride where they shouldn't have. Their aircraft cut lines on a loaded gondola and painted the snow red. They should have, in my personal opinion been jailed for life(or executed), but I think they just basically lost their military benefits in the end, because they got an other than honorable discharge. It's insane, I'm aware of people who got dishonorablely discharged from the U.S. Air Force for a single instance of drinking and driving(a big no no) in which no person was actually harmed. And these Marines got away with the murder of civilians in a foreign country outside of a war, no less. The pilot was a unfeeling wretch of a person, given some of his behavior afterwards.

[@shannaclankie184]

Its like a whole bunch of awful. Full of children - so its okay to overload, and them just blatantly ignore a safety warning, no certified operator; though it doesn't sound like that mattered at all, even if one of them was there. So much negligence all at once. This is why I don't like it when you have to put your life in anyone else's hands. I don't trust anyone to do their job right.

[@princessmarlena1359]

Totally unfair to scapegoat Sweitzer…he was given no training, and set up to fail.

[@MrHastygamer]

The worker who has been there for a few weeks jailed, those pushing for the system to go faster than suggested, they’re fine.

[@kurtreichert9607]

It’s weird that both of the Cavalese Cable Car disasters had someone named Shweitzer directly responsible for the tragedies.