Ski Trip to Death

This touching accident had tragic consequences. But today, we hardly talk about it anymore. Civil engineers are charged in this disaster, but they were not the culprits. Nevertheless, we will look beyond the horizon and discuss this terrifying event in this post.

In the ski area of Kitzsteinhorn/Maiskogel – Kaprun in Austria, skiers can enjoy winter sports up to an altitude of 9,938 ft. 20 years ago, on the 11th of November 2000, a disaster happened here that sadly made this place even more famous.

The funicular is the longest one in the world. It was built in 1972 and extensively renovated in 1994. It works on the principle of an opposing railway. This means that when one line goes up, the other line goes down, and vice versa. There is a driver's cab on both sides. Therefore, the driver has to change his cabin, depending on which station he is at.

In total, the trains can carry around 180 people. The ride takes about eight and a half minute and leads through a tunnel with a total length of 9,842.5 ft.

At 9:02 a.m., the train with vacationers starts up the mountain as usual. After about 66 ft, a passenger noticed a slight, unusual smoke in the driver's cabin on the valley side. He suspects a fire in the back of the driverless part. However, there is no signal to the train driver, and there is also no mobile reception.

After 3,714 ft, the train suddenly stops. The passengers are not informed about the reason. They are exposed to the poisonous and acrid smoke. The situation is serious. Nevertheless, there is only concentrated silence instead of panic in the rail car.

In vain, a way out is sought. There are no tools like emergency hammer in this train. A passenger decides to destroy the Plexiglas pane with his ski.

Meanwhile, the rear part of the train is completely on fire. In such a fire, the toxic smoke from carbon monoxide is particularly dangerous. The tunnel has a slope, so you can imagine the situation as a chimney. The fire moves from the bottom up to the mountain station at a speed of more than 62 mph. The few survivors throw themselves headfirst out of the destroyed window in time.

At 9:10 a.m., the train driver reports a fire. An emergency call is made. None of the people who are not in the tunnel knows what kind of struggle for survival is going on there.

At 9:11 a.m., there is a power outage for the railways and the entire region. There are twelve survivors. They run down to the opening of the tunnel. Finally, the train driver can finally open the doors and escape from the vehicle.

There are no signs indicating the direction of escape. Following their natural instinct, people run up from the fire. But this is also where the deadly smoke moves. The survivors walk down a staircase with a width of about 2 ft only. It was not planned as an official escape staircase, so there is only a rope as a railing, steps with irregular distances, and no emergency light. Another problem is that the people who escaped are still in ski boots and snowsuits. It takes about 2,000 steps to walk down. During this time, there are two explosions. This causes panic that the ropes of the train will break and it will simply race downwards. That would also mean death for these people. However, the twelve skiers can free themselves from the tunnel. They will be saved immediately.

Many rescue workers are alerted. Even soldiers come. Nevertheless, it quickly becomes clear that there is nothing left to rescue. 150 people lost the fight for life in the tunnel after a short time. The tragedy continues in the mountain station. Three people fall victim to the poisonous smoke here. The train driver and a tourist in the train going downhill died.

It's not just a mental effort of the rescuers, but also a physical challenge. They have to carry the corpses up 40 to 50 very steep steps. A helicopter brings the accident victims down into the valley.

The accident leaves 500 bereaved. 49 children become half or full orphans. A difficult time begins, not only for the relatives, but also for all rescue workers and others involved.

How can such a disaster happen?

First of all, it had to be determined what reasons caused this catastrophe at all. The track is completely burned out. The final main cause was an unsuitable heater or fan heater. This is actually to be used as home appliance only. The heater probably breaks out of the bracket unnoticed because of the vibration. Hydraulic lines likely lost oil at their connectors. They were laid in close proximity to the fan heater. The oil probably got to the hot star of the heater and ignited. Initially, there was a slight build-up of smoke in the driver's cab, because the plastic housing is no longer able to withstand. The hydraulic oil acts like a fire accelerator. If a lot of it leaks out, the pressure in the brake hydraulics can drop. Therefore, the runway stops in the lower third of the tunnel.

Another problem was that the railway had no fire protection equipment. It was not taken into account that the vehicle itself could also cause a fire. The passengers could have established contact with the driver via an intercom. However, after a compromise, this installation was not considered as necessary, because it is only a short distance and also not to distract the driver.

Moreover, there were many combustible materials implemented in the railway. The tragic course of this accident also follows from the lack of elementary safety precautions. Emergency hammers, emergency exits, escape routes, and fire extinguishers were simply not available.

Who are guilty? Who was charged for this?

On the 18th of June, 2002, the process begins. 16 people are charged. There is a total of 63 trial days with 55,000 pages of files. The charge is negligent induction and negligent public endangerment. A "funny" and really hard to understand fact is that funiculars were considered incombustible. It has never burned before. This corresponds to the Austrian standards. A total of three employees of the Gletscherbahn Kaprun AG is indicted, namely the technical director, the main operations manager, and the operations manager. The fan heaters were installed by the company Swoboda Karosserie- und Stahlbau. Their two directors were also accused.

Three employees of Mannesmann-Rexroth AG installed the hydraulic lines. Three officials from the Ministry of Transport and two inspectors from the TÜV also had to answer in court. With regard to civil engineers, a technician, a test engineer, and the builder were accused. A fire door in the exit lock of the mountain station caused the smoke in the Alpincenter, however, their installation was determined to be proper.

Despite the fact that so many people have had to answer in court, the result is very unexpected. On the 19th of February, 2004, all of the accused were acquitted. The evidence process provides complete relief. In total, the relatives receive compensation of 13.9 million euros. That is around 30,000 euros per person.

The court ruling was repeatedly challenged. Therefore, the Heilbronn public prosecutor rolled out the entire accident again. In addition, they found out that there was an invalid test mark on the heater, that the delivery did not come in the original packaging, and without the manuals. Nevertheless, they finally come to the same conclusion that there is no criminal behavior of the accused of the fan heater company. However, the restart of the process fails again. In 2010, the statute of the prosecution finally expires.

What have we learnt from this terrible incident?

Numerous laws and safety regulations have been changed for future mountain railways and cable cars. The same model of the funicular was also used in the Pitztal. Some improvements have been made. There is now a video connection to the conductor and an intercom to the driver's cab. Passengers also have mobile reception. There are emergency door openings and hammer, so the windows can be smashed. There are lights in the tunnel now. Furthermore, the railway is systematically checked within certain time periods. A business trip is carried out daily before the guests' first trip. The auxiliary drive is checked every week. The service and safety brakes are subject to a monthly test and the traction and suspension ropes to a semi-annual test. A mandatory rescue exercise must be carried out every year. Every two years, the cable fastenings on the running gear are checked.

01 Fire Safety Precautions

What will happen to the tunnel now?

In the meantime, those responsible have considered converting the tunnel as a load carrier for 600 tons of beverages and food for the restaurants. In return, 130 tonnes were to be transported back into the valley. However, that was not due to a good logistics center. This is why the Glacial Aerial Tramway Kaprun 2 was never put into operation again. In 2014, the steel bridge was dismantled. The tunnel is closed and is only used for energy supply and sanitary facilities now. Several new and different tracks have replaced the original track.

On the 11th of September, 2004, the memorial to the victims was erected, an elongated cuboid made of exposed concrete and glass in the Glacier railway station. Nevertheless, the relatives can never really close it. There is no one who feels responsible for this act. Worst of all, no one really apologized to the bereaved or for this tragic disaster.