A terrible accident hit the cable car of Mount Faito Which connects Castellammare di Stabia (NA) with Monte Faito, Thursday 17 April 2025, causing the death of four people, three foreign tourists and the operator of the plant. Following the rupture of the driving rope and of the Failure to operation of the emergency brakeone of the two cabins of the cable car, rushed to the ground after the impact with a pylon. Here to understand what could have happened, let’s analyze the functioning of a “go and come” cable car, like that of Mount Faito, based on the information available.
The possible dynamic of the accident at Monte Faito: what happened
The accident occurred on April 15, 2025 was caused by cablethe one that makes the cabins move, that has broken. The emergency brake systema mechanical system thanks to which the cabin is still the supporting rope through the ganasces, worked for the cabin that was downstreamin fact, this was blocked with the passengers who were brought to rescue. The cabin that was upstreamon the other hand, for some reason that today it is not yet known has not been blocked; Emergency brakes did not work And the cabin began to go down to the valley along the supporting cables.
The cabins have the wheels of the trolleys that run on the load -bearing cables, but these, in the absence of the driving rope and brakes, go down without any control. It is presumable that the cabin went down to a Very high speed and for some reason, probably after thebump against one of the pylonsis derailed from the load -bearing cables, then falling down between the trees and crashing on the ground.
Something similar took place with the Stresa – Mottarone cable caron May 23, 2021 where, following the rupture of the driving ropethe cabin quickly went down along the cables. Also in that case the emergency brake did not activatecausing the crash against a pylon, the derailment from the supporting rope and a fall of over 20 meters.
It is likely that for the cable car of Monte Faito, which had been reopened on 10 April 2025 After it had been subjected to checks, the dynamics may have been very similar. From a technical point of view this is the most logical explanation, clearly there are investigations they will run their course and define the reasons So the driving rope broke out and because the emergency braking system did not work.
This disaster has an important precedent, the first accident in this plant took place on August 15, 1960, when the downhill cabin came to the valley too quickly falling on the tracks of the Circumvesuviana, causing 4 deaths and 30 injured.
How the cable car of Mount Faito works
The cable car of Mount Faito has Two stationsthe one on the valley placed at 68 meters above sea level and the upstream one instead a 1 131 meters on the sea level. The difference in height of the journey is approximately 1 060 meters And the inclined length is 2 945 meters. The cabins reach about approximately 7.5 m to the second and the journey lasts about 8 minutes with a maximum slope is of the 60%.
The two cabins follow the operating principle of the “Go and come”when one cabin rises, the other drops, supported and towed by the fundamental elements of the system:
- The main ropes: They are two thick steel cables, thesis between the valley station and the upstream one. These are fixed cables that do not move during the exercise. They serve to support the weight of the cabins that flow on it through trolleys equipped with wheels.
- The Trante rope: a closed ring cable that moves thanks to the engine installed in one of the two stations (usually downstream). The rope is rigidly connected to the cabins; When one salt, the other goes down.
- Emergency brake systems: In case of breaking of the driving rope, the one that makes the cabins move, emergency brakes are activated that anchor the cabin to the main ropes. So, generally, in the event of the breakdown of this rope, the cabin blocks and remains hanging, pending rescue.
