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In 2018 football fans were leaving a stadium in Rome. They boarded an escalator down to the metro. Suddenly the machine sprung a fault.
Multiple safety systems were triggered. One after another. And then the final line failed.
This is why.
Things really escalated quickly there
It’s terrifying how common you come across stuff like this, speaking as a maintenance guy.
It's also astonishing how many cable car disasters happened because someone disabled a malfunctioning safety device instead of fixing it.
wouldnt be surprised if the auxiliary brakes failed repeteadly and instead of fixing it they opted on disabling them
The scary part isn’t that one thing failed. It’s that several safety systems failed one after another. That’s when a small fault turns into a disaster.
It's the good old "we took the fuses out because it kept blowing fuses" type of situation.
Two plastic strap can do wonders
According to the internet 24 people were injured. Seven of them severely. At least one person got their leg amputated. I hope there was some legal action.
Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times is enemy action.
This is quite common in Italy actually, there have been at least a couple company owners sentenced to jail because they disabled machines's safety measures and workers died. Deaths on the job are generally quite high in Italy as the managements will absolutely screw over everyone else to make more profits.
"Why do we need to make good main brake when there's an auxiliary brake?" "Why do we need an auxiliary brake when there's a main brake?" Escalator:
Unfortunately technicians who do those thing are in every industry and they get rewarded by management for getting things done "fast" whilr the ones who take the time to do the job properly get called "slow". Yes every industry even the ones called "life critical" !!
On 23 October 2018, an escalator at Repubblica metro station in Rome malfunctioned and accelerated uncontrollably while crowded with football fans. The incident occurred just over an hour before the UEFA Champions League match between CSKA Moscow and AS Roma at the Olympic Stadium. Key facts: - 24 people were injured, 7 seriously. One person had a foot partially crushed, and at least two others required surgery for leg injuries. - Most of the injured were CSKA Moscow fans heading to the stadium. - Video footage showed the escalator suddenly speeding up, causing people to tumble and become trapped at the bottom, with stairs crumpling and exposing jagged metal plates. - Initial reports suggested fans were jumping or dancing on the escalator, but this was later disproven by police reviewing the footage.
People always imagine elevators suddenly falling many stories down, but never appreciate how dangerous escalators can actually be
He's becoming wolverine
This is an example of what is meant by the saying: "Safety rules are written in blood."
The manufacturers, owners, and maintenance personnel investigated themselves and found no wrongdoing.
So a compounding of human incompetence. Shocker.
I was in Rome a month after that, the escalators were still inoperative (that's when I learned what happened). I never thought something like that could happen
I've worked in a company that was "blinding" the overload sensors on the machines so they could work 10% harder- same stuff- zip ties on brakes and glued mirrors on scanners. Also they deactivates the warning lights- because no alarm= no problem. No problem= no technical service= no money spend. Whole plant burned down, the owner who was responisble for this blamed the technicians and got additional insurance money and dissapeared 😢