Late morning on Thusday 16 May 2013, the first section of the Aiguille di Midi lift suffered a mechanical failure. The Compagnie du Mont-Blanc quickly put their contingency plan into effect. A helicopteer was deployed to transport passengers from the top of the first section, Plan d'Aiguille, back to Chamonix. A total of 45 flights saw all 251 passengers safely retuned to the valley floor.
Work on the defective motor continued for several hours. By the morning of Friday 18 May, the first section of the Aiguille du Midi was operating as schedued.
An incident of this type is very rare and there is no danger to lift passengers.
