The findings are detailed in the Information Note (NI) published today by the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft and Rail Accidents (GPIAAF), regarding the derailment of the elevator on Wednesday, which resulted in 16 deaths and 23 injuries.
According to the GPIAAF, “the elevator is subject to a maintenance plan to be carried out by the service provider, which includes various levels of intervention at different intervals, depending on the scope and extent of the interventions.”
This public body explains that these intervention levels range from major overhauls every four years to routine daily visual inspections of visible safety elements, along with various other inspections and interventions at intermediate frequencies.
“According to the evidence observed so far, the prescribed maintenance plan was up-to-date, and on the morning of the accident, the scheduled visual inspection was carried out, which did not detect any anomalies in the cable or braking systems of the vehicles,” the NI reveals.
The GPIAAF adds that “the evidence confirms that the existing emergency system on the reversal gear located at the top of Calçada da Glória, which is intended to cut power to the cabins in the event of cable force loss, functioned as expected. This would result in the immediate and automatic application of the pneumatic brake in each cabin.”
“At this moment, it has not yet been possible to verify whether the automatic pneumatic brake application in the vehicles due to cable force loss functioned,” the body continues.
Nonetheless, the GPIAAF emphasizes that “the evidence indicates that both the pneumatic and manual brakes were quickly applied by the brakeman of cabin No. 1 [the one that derailed].”
“However, in the existing configuration, the brakes do not have sufficient capacity to immobilize the moving cabins unless their empty masses are mutually balanced through the connecting cable. Thus, it does not constitute a redundant system for the failure of this connection,” the investigation points out.
The Glória elevator in Lisbon derailed on Wednesday, causing 16 deaths and 23 injuries.
The Glória elevator, managed by Carris, connects the Restauradores to the Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara in Bairro Alto, covering a distance of 276 meters and is very popular with tourists.
