Switzerland: Helicopters used to evacuate nearly 300 tourists after cable car breaks down

After a cable car to the top experienced technical difficulties, helicopters were employed to evacuate approximately 300 individuals from a high-mountain station situated in the Swiss Alps. The incident occurred on Thursday morning and affected the cable car leading up to the well-liked Glacier 3000 ski resort, located in the Les Diablerets mountain massif in south-western Switzerland, reported media citing the station chief.

“There was an electrical failure in the engine system in the second [cable car] section up to the top,” said the Glacier 3000 chief executive, Bernhard Tschannen. “It was not a big deal. No one was harmed,” he said.

According to the station chief, the cable car was equipped with a specialized engine designed for handling such situations, which allowed for the successful evacuation of the tourists who were onboard.

Tourists initially told to enjoy the view

At first, the tourists at the top station, situated at an impressive altitude of 2,971 meters (9,747 feet), were requested to remain calm and enjoy the breathtaking views while the technical staff worked on resolving the issue with the cable car. "The weather was beautiful," Tschannen mentioned, and to ensure the comfort of the people, they were provided with refreshments and food at the mountaintop restaurant during the waiting period.

However, around 1 pm, the decision was made to evacuate the station. Approximately 270 individuals, the majority of them being tourists, were safely transported by chairlift down to the glacier below. From there, helicopters were deployed to pick them up and complete the evacuation process.

The operation utilised two helicopters to transfer people to the middle station, from where they could catch the operational chairlift on the first section, leading back down to Col du Pillon at an altitude of 1,546 meters above sea level.

Tschannen stated that the entire evacuation process was completed in less than two hours. While the evacuation was ongoing, some technical staff members remained at the top station to continue their efforts in resolving the problem with the cable car.

“We hope that tomorrow everything will be working again and we can open as normal, but that needs to be confirmed,” he said.