I think it's a lot like when you break spaghetti strands into smaller pieces, tough to bend until one breaks, then they all break. And while it is tough to break steel cable, it does happen.
And from the images I saw on TV, it was the cable itself that snapped. Having taken physics classes in High School, I remember enough to steer clear of anything where my life depends on a hydraulic line or a cable swooshing me about in the air.
I'm not so much afraid of the designers as the maintenance of the equipment.
We had a fatal accident on a carnival ride here in MA a year ago. It seems that the operator replaced an old bolt with one he picked up at Home Depot, which, believe it or not, didn't match the specs.