On 27 May 2021 at 10:34:42 BST, "nightjar" wrote:

On 26/05/2021 12:54, GB wrote:
One official told Italian TV channel Rai 3 that the suspects had
admitted disactivating the emergency brake following "malfunctions in
the cable car", which repair workers had been unable to fix, according
to Ansa new agency.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57252289



As one does, of course. What a load of plonkers.

The cable that broke would have been a multi-strand cable. That is to
ensure that the failure of a single strand does not release the car. It
also means that it is very unlikely that all the strands will fail at
the same time. I wouldn't be surprised if they found signs of
progressive partial failures in the cable, which might be what was
triggering the emergency brake.

The purpose of being multi-stranded is so they can be wound round a drum (or
generally so they are stronger when flexed because a solid cable would have
excessive tension in the outer side even with bending under its own weight).
But otherwise I agree the failure *might* have been progressive.

--
Roger Hayter