'Human error' caused Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que., gondola crash: report

Human error caused a gondola to fall to the ground at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que., onDec. 10, according to a report by engineers hired by the ski hill.

Maxime Cretin, general manager and vice-president of Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) for the eastern region, said engineers ruled out the gondola itself, the mechanical and electrical components of the lift, as well as its maintenance plan as reasons for the fall.

Mont-Sainte-Anne did not say when the report was filed.

Early Tuesday evening, the Rgie du btiment du Qubec (RBQ) told Radio-Canada that it received a final version of the equipment analysis report on Jan. 5.

Six days after the event, the RBQ ordered all ski lifts closed at the resortand suggested human error might have caused the gondola to slip off its cable and fall to the ground.

A simple visual inspection

According to the RBQ, a mechanic carried out a simple visual inspection of the lifts after a malfunction message contrary to the manufacturer's guidelines and authorized a restart.

The ski lift stopped abruptly after another safety device was triggered, and then the gondola fell, the RBQ said.

Although no one was aboard the gondola or injured in the incident, the resort closed for nearly a month.

Lift remains closed

The RBQ has still not authorized the reopening of the lift. A spokesperson with the RBQ told Radio-Canada that the resort is waiting for an engineer to confirm that safety requirements have been met.

"Investigations into the incident are ongoing. It is premature to mention a return to service date," Sylvain Lamothe, a spokesperson for the RBQ, said.

All other ski lifts ordered closed by the RBQ were up and running as of Jan. 8, and, according to Cretin, operating procedures for all ski lifts have been revised with the help of qualified experts.