Rega planar 8/Apheta : Tiny needle arm collapsing on itself

Antiskating was set to 0.5 and right left balance was ok.

Using a stereoscope I was able to picture the broken tip of the Apheta inside the groove. Can anybody explain the copper wires. Is the diamond tip connected to any copper wire?

I recall you had an earlier thread started about anti-skate setting. I'm wondering if you've torqued your anti-skate setting so much that when it encounters one of the test LP toruture tracks it's causing this issue? Happening on two separate turntables is very odd. 

And you're positive there are no blemishes on the actual LP?

I just played the same Hi-Fi news test LP on a 50$ TT and the same thing happened. The record is a TT killer.

Cantilever tie-back wire broke. It is repairable. Rega should cover it under warranty. Send the cartridge back to Rega.

Not going to help your problem but "tiny arm holding the needle" is the greatest synonym for a cantilever... Ever. Congrats.

The crack sound happened during playback about 10 seconds after the beginning. For 10 seconds I heard good sound from both left and right and then a crack followed by silence.
This is an Apheta 3 that came with my new planar 8 which I'm using for 2 months now.
The LP looks perfect. No scratches. No wobble and no visible defect.
Could there be a possibility that the elongated needle of the Apheta 3 would stick into a too narrow grove and as a result the cantilever got twisted and ruined ?

The photo is hard to tell exactly what is going on but from what you described the cantilever ("tiny arm holding the needle") has twisted and the needle is facing to the side and not down, is that correct?

Did the crack sound happen during or after you played it? You say "10 seconds after I played it I heard a silent crack sound". Are you saying 10 seconds after you started playing the test record you had the issue?

What is the age of the Apheta? Is it the original Apheta? Or a 2? Or a 3? Are you the original owner?

And have you gently run your fingers across the LP to feel any deformaties in the LP?