Standing at 131m above sea level, the Tiger Sky Tower on Sentosa Island is the tallest observatory tower here, according to Sentosa's website.
Introduced in 2004, the 110m-tall Sky Tower - initially known as the Carlsberg Sky Tower - ferries up to 72 passengers to the top via an enclosed, air-conditioned cabin, also known as a gondola. The ride affords views of Sentosa, Singapore, and parts of Indonesia and Malaysia.
In 2010, there were two occasions in which the tower ran into problems. In July that year, the tower had to be closed when it stalled with 10 tourists on board. The ride got stuck at the 55m mark during its descent, due to an uneven curvature on the track which affected the balance of the cabin.
Sentosa staff and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel escorted the tourists, who were from Malaysia, down the emergency staircase. It took less than two hours for all tourists to be escorted down.
In June 2010, 36 passengers were left stranded 30m in the air for more than two hours when the ride stalled on its way down due to a mechanical fault.
The ride was restarted after more than two hours, after the SCDF and police were called in to help.
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What happened last night
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•5.35pm: A mechanical fault left 38 passengers and one operator trapped in the gondola of the 110m-tall Tiger Sky Tower on Sentosa at 25m above ground. Bottles of food and water were distributed to guests as engineers from the tower worked to lower the gondola.
•Around 5.50pm: Sentosa rangers were called in to assist the engineers with mechanical winching to lower the gondola.
•7.10pm: The Singapore Civil Defence Force was called in for assistance.
•Around 9.30pm: The gondola started moving again but soon stopped. A walkie-talkie from a rescuer nearby blared "stuck again". A large crowd gathered at the scene.
•9.45pm: The gondola was lowered back on the ground. All 38 passengers and one operator on the ride emerged safely, with no reported injuries.
Yuen Sin
