LISBON: The cable that snapped and caused a Lisbon funicular railcar to hurtle down a hill in September, killing 16 people, was not certified for use in passenger transport, according to a preliminary report that also pointed to maintenance flaws.
Portugal’s Office for Air and Rail Accident Investigations (GPIAAF) said in the report late on Monday it was still impossible to say whether the use of an inadequate cable had caused the crash, as other factors were also at play.
GPIAAF’s final report is due by next September.
The yellow tram-like carriage, which carries people up and down a steep hillside in the Portuguese capital, hit a building after leaving the track on September 3.
Gloria, which opened in 1885, is one of three old funiculars operated by the municipal public transport company Carris, which suspended their use after the incident. The line carried around 3 million tourists and locals a year.
GPIAAF said the maintenance procedures, designed by Carris, have not been updated for many years and “the use of cables that did not comply with the specifications and usage restrictions was due to several accumulated failures in the process of acquiring, accepting, and using them by Carris.”
Carris’ internal control mechanisms “were not sufficient or adequate to prevent and detect such failures.”
Carris has outsourced maintenance of the elevator since 2007 and the GPIAAF also identified deficiencies in this area.
“There is evidence that maintenance tasks recorded as completed do not always correspond to the tasks actually performed,” it said.
Carris said in a statement “it is not possible at this stage to say whether the nonconformities in the use of the cable are relevant to the accident or not.”
Cable that broke in Lisbon rail crash was uncertified, report shows
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Cable that broke in Lisbon rail crash was uncertified, report shows
- The yellow tram-like carriage hit a building after leaving the track on September 3
- Gloria is one of three old funiculars operated by the municipal public transport company Carris
UK defense minister suggests Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ behind Iran tactics
LONDON: UK Defense Minister John Healey suggested on Thursday that Russia was influencing Iran’s use of drone attacks in its war with the United States and Israel.
Healey said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” may be behind some of the tactics deployed by Tehran in the Middle East conflict, which started when the United States and Israel struck Iran on February 28.
He told reporters that officials were analyzing an Iranian-made drone that hit the UK’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus on March 1 “for any evidence of Russian or any other foreign components and parts.”
“We will update you and appropriately publish any findings from that when we’ve got them,” he said during a visit to Britain’s military headquarters in Northwood, near London.
“But I think no one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics, potentially some of their capabilities as well, not least because one world leader that is benefiting from the sky high oil prices at the moment is Putin,” he added.
Russia is a close ally of Iran, with the two agreeing last year to help each other counter “common threats.”
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he had no indication Russia was supporting Iran in the war, but that if they were, it was not “helping much.”
Nick Perry, the British military’s chief of joint operations, told Healey there were “definitively” signs of a link between Russia and Iran, including Iran’s use of drones “as learned from the Russians.”
No one was injured when the drone hit a hangar at Akrotiri. British warplanes shot down a further two drones heading for the base the same day.
Guy Foden, a brigadier in the British army, briefed Healey that UK troops based at a military base housing international coalition troops in Irbil, Iraq, had helped shoot down two Iranian drones on Wednesday.
