Why was it the rope that broke and not the wing? A few Observations on the air accident at Cavalese, ltaly on 3rd February, 1998

Since the accident in February, the basic facts have been more or less established relating to the accident at Cavalese, where a military jet sliced through the ropes of an aerial cableway (New York Times, 1998; Marchelli, 1998; and Nejez, 1998).

 This article is an attempt to answer the question how such a relatively fragile structure as an aircraft can sever a solid track rope at one point and the haulage rope at two points yet still be able to fly.

 Author(s): Oplatka, G., Volmer, M.