FRANKLIN, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- State inspectors are now heading into a third day of investigating why a chairlift failed a day after undergoing maintenance at the Sugarloaf ski resort in Maine.
A large group of skiers coordinated through a Franklin ski shop went up to the resort on Saturday, and the people FOX25 spoke with say they are ready to go back again, despite getting stuck.
Mike Costello said at first he and his group didn't think anything of the sudden stop on the King Pine ski lift at Sugarloaf Mountain. Then, they started rolling backwards.
"We were about five chairs up the mountain when we stopped," he said. "It started off slow and then gained speed. And as I mentioned to you, we had the safety bar down. So I immediately told everyone to lift it up quick and jump."
About 200 skiers were on the lift Saturday afternoon when it malfunctioned. Some skiers grabbed their cell phones as people were jumping and falling off the lift. Others had to be rescued from their chairs.
Costello said he decided to jump to avoid the bull wheel at the base of the lift.
"People were going around it at a pretty high speed. And falling off, getting flung off," Costello said.
Maine state inspectors have been at the mountain investigating ever since.
According to Sugarloaf mountain's website a preliminary investigation revealed a "major mechanical failure" in one of two gearboxes.
When the backup brakes failed, the lift attendant had to pull the emergency brake to slow it down.
But just the day before the accident, Sugarloaf says the gearbox passed a routine maintenance procedure, and had major service done before the 2011-2012 season.
The Maine board of elevator and tramway safety inspects and licenses ski lifts, and told FOX25 the sugarloaf passed it's annual inspection right before the start of the season.
They say they continue to look into what caused the lift to fail to ways to prevent it from happening again.
"I'm sure that they've done everything they could to ensure the lift was running properly and sometimes accidents happen," Costello said.
The chair lift that malfunctioned is 27 years old.
Cox Media Group
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