Bonneville Magistrate's Court has given its verdict on the accident in the Brevent gondola back in March 2008. Antoine Laurent, a 32 year old man from Amiens, was riding back down in the gondola after a day of skiing with three friends. He somehow fell against the plexiglass window, which gave way and he went through. He fell 25m onto the woodland path below and was killed on landing.
An investigation concluded that the men must have been standing and moving round in the gondola and there were suggestions of jostling and heckling that may have caused Antoine Laurent to bump into the window with sufficient force to knock it out. A reconstruction was carried out by local gendarmes who only managed to dislodge a gondola window with considerable force. The family of the deceased man chose not to press charges against the other men, as they had all been friends for many years and the family concluded that whatever happened, it must have been a genuine accident.
However, the Compagnie du Mont Blanc has been fined 50 000 EUR and ordered to pay 500 000 EUR in compensation to the family of Antoine Laurent.
The accident happened on the old Brevent gondola lift, which has since been replaced with an entirely new system. There was no suggestion that the original gondolas were unsafe, but the Compagnie du Mont Blanc was advised to make signs warning people not to stand in the lifts more prominent.
Source: Le Dauphiné Libéré
