A tragic accident occurred the 5th of March on the Planpraz gondola in Chamonix. This was the first accident of this nature in the almost 60 years that the International Organization of Cablecar Transport collects world-wide lift accident statistics. Gondolas are subjected to design and usage regulations defined at a national standard until 2004, and at a European standard since then. Specialized services of the ministery conduct controlled inspections to verify these standards. Tens of thousands of gondolas designed similar to those in Chamonix are used daily in the various mountain ranges. Dominique Bussereau has asked the bureau in charge of land-based transport accidents (the BEA-TT) to immediately open an investigation into this unique accident to analyze the circumstances and the causes of this accident in order to create useful recommendations. Without waiting for the results of this investigation, Dominique Bussereau has asked the lift station operators to better inform their passengers of the necessity to remain seated during the whole journey by, for example, displaying a very visible pictogram. Gondola passengers should respect these security conditions and behave in a manner adapted to this kind of transport. Dominique Bussereau has also asked for a new inspection of the plexiglas windows of all the Planpraz gondola cabins to insure that they conform to regulation. This inspection was carried out Tuesday the 4th of March and did not reveal any non-conformity.
