"Not preventable"

Gondola crash has no criminal consequences

The gondola crash in the Tyrolean ski resort of Hochoetz in January, in which a Danish family of four was seriously injured, will not have any criminal consequences. The investigation into negligent bodily injury against the manager of the lifts and a forest warden has been dropped, said a spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office.

The accident was "unpreventable", according to an expert opinion on cable car technology, geology and forestry that had been commissioned, explained prosecution spokesman Hansjörg Mayr to "TT". Two spruce trees had tipped onto the cableway rope, causing it to vibrate massively. As a result, the clamp on the gondola came loose due to the trunks sliding down the cable.

Plunged twelve meters into the depths
The cabin then plummeted around twelve meters. The 49-year-old father of the family was critically injured and the three other passengers suffered serious injuries. A German man and his wife were also seriously injured in the gondola in front of them, which also began to vibrate violently.

Several expert opinions after the accident
According to expert reports, the lower spruce tree hit from above was the direct cause of the gondola crash. According to the prosecution, however, a technical defect in the cableway could be ruled out with certainty as the cause of the accident. For example, the rope of the Acherkogel cableway that was examined did not show any signs of damage.

The geological expert was also unable to find any culpable behavior in the assessment or inspection of the tree population, it said.

As it can be assumed that the fall of the gondola could not have been prevented even by individual tree inspections, which are not required by law, the investigation proceedings were closed.

StA-Sprecher Hansjörg Mayr

Fallen trees as an abstract danger
"The expert for geology and mineralogy came to the conclusion that the fallen trees can be regarded as a so-called abstract danger, which even a geologist would very probably not have been able to recognize in advance," explained Mayr. The forestry expert opinion came to the conclusion that the cause of the loosening of the upper spruce could not be determined with the necessary certainty. The cause of the tree giving way could also have been a loosening of the rock or soil material.

"As it can be assumed that the fall of the gondola could not have been prevented even by individual tree inspections, which are not required by law, the investigation proceedings had to be discontinued," said the spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office, summarizing the reasons for this step.