ANGELS' FATAL FLIGHT ELDERLY MAN DIES, 7 HURT WHEN CARS CRASH.

Byline: Rick Orlov, Erik N. Nelson and Troy Anderson Staff Writers

One man was fatally injured and seven other people were hurt when a cable apparently snapped on the historic Angels Flight funicular in downtown Los Angeles at lunch time Thursday, sending one car hurtling down Bunker Hill into the second car.

Leon Praport, an 83-year-old New Jersey man who suffered head and chest injuries and a broken pelvis in the crash, died Thursday night at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, said Adelaida De La Cerda, a hospital spokeswoman.

His wife, who is in her 80s, suffered severe head injuries and an open fracture of her lower right leg, said emergency room director Dr. Marc Eckstein. She was in critical and guarded condition in the hospital's intensive care unit.

The crash horrified bystanders, who described seeing the upper of the counter-balanced cars - that move in tandem on tracks up and down the hill - suddenly roll down the steep grade.

The upper car crashed hard into the lower car near the bottom of the hill and seemed to bounce and hit again, the witnesses said.

``This is an accident that never should have happened,'' Mayor Richard Riordan said. ``This will be shut down until we have an answer to what happened and see how we can develop a fail-safe system to see that it won't happen again.''

Riordan was briefed at the scene by Fire Department officials and said the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate.

Attorney John Welborne, the key figure in reviving Angels Flight five years ago, was visibly shaken when he arrived at the accident scene from his nearby office.

``We just don't know what happened and it's going to take some time to find out exactly what did occur,'' said Welborne, who heads the Angels Flight group and had worked for more than two decades to see the historic ride reopened.

A 34-year-old man was at USC Medical Center in serious condition with head and back injuries Thursday night. The remaining five victims suffered minor injuries and were taken to area hospitals. One was transported to USC Medical Center while two each were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital near downtown Los Angeles and Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, according to hospital authorities.

April Rylaarsdan, who works for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said she and a co-worker were planning to take Angels Flight back to the federal courthouse after eating lunch at a nearby restaurant.

`'We heard something, but weren't sure what it was,'' she said. ``You see something like this and it makes you wonder about its safety.''

NTSB investigators will work with the Los Angeles Fire Department in the investigation along with the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Fire Chief Bill Bamattre said officials were working to determine whether a snapped cable caused the accident.

Officials did not have time to review the inspection record on the ride, which is on city property, but operated by a private nonprofit group called Angels Flight Railway Foundation.

Pueblo Contracting Services Inc., a San Fernando-based historical restoration contractor that rebuilt the funicular, issued a brief statement: ``We, at this point, have no information about the cause of this accident. Our prayers go out to any of those injured by today's accident.''

Bamattre said officials believe most of the injuries occurred among the upper car's eight passengers. The lower car had four or five passengers. He said officials were not sure of the exact number since it is believed one person walked away after the accident.

``What we have here is a typical funicular,'' Bamattre said. ``The car at the top and the one at the bottom are supposed to leave at the same time when they go on separate tracks. Apparently, the top car came loose and rammed into the second car.''

The force of the impact was especially severe because of the steep angle the cable car tracks climb, Eckstein said.

``It was a vertical force, the sheer weight and the steepness,'' he said. ``These are like train cars.''

For 50 cents round trip, passengers can ride the tangerine-and-black cars, Olivet and Sinai, up and down the 298-foot slope of Bunker Hill from Hill Street to California Plaza above Olive Street.

Angels Flight served passengers from 1901 to 1969, when it was dismantled and put into storage. The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency funded most of the $4.1 million refurbishing project.

Bamattre said 11 companies, including the department's Urban Search and Rescue Team, responded to the emergency. Once the cars were secured, the firefighters climbed on board and applied emergency triage treatment to the injured.

Traffic on downtown streets was closed off for a three-block area.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box, map

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Firefighters call to colleagues, above, after the Angels Flight collision. Below, a female victim gets attention.

(3 -- 4 -- color) L.A. firefighters, above, examine damage to cars on the historic Angels Flight funicular on Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles. At right, rescuers prepare to remove a victim from the crash.

Nick Ut/Associated Press

Box: ANGELS FLIGHT

Map: Angels Flight crash