A Disaster In American Samoa
The very size of place has a lot to do with what makes something a disaster instead of perhaps a serious accident. Consider that in a place like Tokyo a traffic accident that kills seven people would be reported in the news but be forgotten in only a few months, while in Samoa with a population of 20,000, it would be remembered for decades. Such is the case of a plane crash in Pago Pago some 45 years ago.
The cable car spanning the American Samoan harbor of Pago Pago was a favorite tourist attraction in the 60s and 70s, until a military accident on April 17, 1980. It was a U.S. Navy plane inbound to the Pago Pago airport that snagged the cable car cables and crashed outside the historic Intercontinental-Rainmaker Hotel during Samoa’s Flag Day celebration in the capital. The U.S. Navy in Honolulu reported seven persons died in the resulting crash, including all six crewmen on the plane and a visiting tourist on the ground.
At the time, as it spanned the harbor, it was the longest cable car in the world over water. After the disaster a monument was erected on top of Mauga o Alii hill in memory of those who died and nearby sit the rusting remains of the cable support structure and a cable car. The cable car has never been repaired or replaced and hasn’t operated since the accident.
Before the disaster visiting cruise ships would sail under the cable car stopped in the middle of the harbor while flowers were thrown down onto its decks. It’s been recently reported that the government is looking into the feasibility of restoring and upgrading the cable car to put it back into service with maybe a zipline coming back across the harbor and perhaps a restaurants and visitors center on top of a mountain. It was a popular tourist attraction, and could be a popular tourist attraction again.
The Intentional Travelers 