Very sad result for what I’m sure was expected to be an exciting but safe outing. One which we enjoyed just a few months ago, as in that photo.
Thanks a lot for posting the report and the recall notice.
I do not own that particular via ferrata device, but a few months ago I bought one with a similar design—which I do not know how to inspect myself to see if it could possibly have a defect like what Petzl seems to have acknowledged.
In the last few months I’ve become more suspicious of the safety of most Via Ferrata devices generally to handle falls, because of the inherently high impact forces—which could injure a climber’s body even if the VF device works successfully after a fall (as I saw happen last year on another VF climb in France).
So my personal policy for Via Ferrata climbing has moved more toward keeping my selection of routes and climbing style and weather conditions far within my capabilities—so I never have to find out how well my Via Ferrata device actually works in a real fall. But (until now) I was not much thinking I should worry that a VF device might fail in the way I’m sort of understanding from reports so far of this event.
Ken