The State - News from April 14, 1987

A San Francisco cable car loaded with tourists apparently lost the grip on its cable at the top of a hill and lurched backward for a few feet, jolting passengers into each other and knocking some to the floor. Officials said a 9-year-old boy broke his wrist and three women received minor injuries for which they were treated at hospitals. San Francisco Municipal Railway spokesman George Newkirk said the cable car slipped backward down Hyde Street hill until it was stopped by a safety latch. He said such slippages occur every few months, but, “it doesn’t necessarily happen at the crown of a hill.”