I didn’t say it could never happen here but there should be safety features built in, which it appears maybe they were in Maine. There should be clutch lock or something.
There are better safety features installed in the lifts we have around us. However it may not be the case on the older lifts that need to be updated. More modern lifts have a antiroll back feature which stops the lift from rolling backwards. Clearly this did not and something snapped causing all of the weight on the one side to make the chair lift go in reverse very fast.
I as well am extremely surprised no serious injuries. Some really bad ass kickings were dealt out by the lift.