The Return of Angels Flight
Angels Flight -- the historic, vertical railway that shut down two years ago after a fatal crash -- may re-open sometime next year.
The downtown landmark has been closed since Feb. 1, 2001, when a car on the railway (located on the side of steep Bunker Hill) broke loose and sped backward, where it smashed into another car. An 83-year-old man was killed.
According to the L.A. Times, a final report by federal investigators blames the accident on faulty mechanical and brake systems, as well as poor oversight.
The paper reports: Angels Flight also lacked backup track brakes and a safety cable that could have stopped a runaway train. Investigators noted that those design features are common on hillside trains, sometimes called funiculars, such as Angels Flight.
Several agencies were found at fault by the National Transportation Safety Board, including the L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency, which brought Angels Flight back to life in the 1990s. (First built in the 1900s, Angels Flight was thrown in storage in the late 1960s to make room for modern development.)
The CRA told the paper that the Angels Flight cars have been repaired, and that it hopes to raise enough money to reopen the attraction in 2004.
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