Negligence charges against the chiefs of former Ngong Ping 360 cable car operator Skyrail-ITM over an empty gondola that crashed to the ground were dropped by the prosecution yesterday, which said a prolonged trial would not serve the public interest.
Summonses against former company managing director Bill Calderwood, and its assistant maintenance manager Thomas Li Kit-loi were issued under the Aerial Ropeways (Safety) Ordinance in 2007.
The pair was accused of negligently failing to provide the necessary procedures and instructions to officers during a cable car brake test on June 11, 2007, causing danger to the public.
Government prosecutor Peter Chapman said in Kowloon City Court yesterday, before Principal Magistrate Andrew Ma Hon-cheung, that the former Lantau cable car operator had already pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined HK$5,000 in January last year, accepting full responsibility, which 'satisfies the justice of the situation and enables a line to be drawn under this case'.
The government had therefore decided, on the criteria of public interest, that the benefit that might be derived from the trial would be 'disproportionate to its cost and length'.
An empty gondola fell 50 metres from the ropeway onto a hillside in Tung Chung during a nighttime brake test in June 2007. No one was injured but the cable car service was suspended for about six months.
The owner of the HK$1 billion Lantau attraction, the MTR Corporation, took over its management from Australian-based Skyrail-ITM about three months after the accident. A government report said the operator had acted poorly in managing and maintaining the system, leading to the accident.