Operations on the Tiger Sky Tower ride in Sentosa were grounded to a halt on Saturday (Aug 12) evening, trapping 39 people in mid-air for more than four hours. Sentosa released a statement saying that a mechanical fault caused the ride to be suspended, trapping 38 passengers and one operator in the tower’s gondola, about 30m above ground, from 5:35pm until 9:45pm.
Sentosa assured the public that food and water were given out to the stranded guests, and that there was a mobile toilet in the capsule. Engineers from the Sky Tower “worked to lower the gondola”, and Sentosa Rangers were subsequently brought in to assist with the manual winching.
But when the mechanical fault still could not be resolved, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) called in its Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, which “ascended to the top of the tower before rappelling down to the immobilised passenger cabin, at about 25 meters above the ground.” It also had resources on standby in case there was a need for a height rescue operation.
“At 7:10pm, SCDF was activated for assistance and SCDF staff were in the capsule with the passengers to prepare for an evacuation. All passengers are safe in the capsule,” Sentosa said.
Everyone on board was eventually evacuated safely. According to Sentosa, the cause of the fault is under investigation, and the Tiger Sky Tower is closed until further notice.
Yesterday (Aug 13), the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) stated that it had issued a “closure order to suspend the ride from operation”.
“BCA was informed by the operator of the Tiger Sky Tower rider on Sentosa on 12 August at around 7:30pm about a system malfunction with passengers trapped on the ride. BCA engineers were onsite to investigate the incident,” said its statement.
The director of Sky Tower explained the ride’s “strict maintenance regime”, saying that safety checks are standard procedure and a Sky Tower engineer is present at all times during operations, reported Channel NewsAsia. He added that the Sky Tower would collaborate with the BCA to decide “when we will get the operating permit to continue the operation of the attraction”.
According to TODAY, the affected passengers had the option of receiving full ticket refunds — or using the refunds to visit other Sentosa attractions — for their alarming ordeal on Singapore’s tallest observatory tower.
Apparently, this isn’t the first time passengers have been stranded on the 13-year-old ride. Two similar incidents occurred in 2010 — the first one had 36 people trapped for more than two hours due to a mechanical fault, while the second one saw 11 passengers stuck in mid-air for almost an hour.
