Tiger Sky Tower ride at Sentosa re-opens after suspension

SINGAPORE — The Tiger Sky Tower ride on the resort island of Sentosa, which has been closed for more than three months after a malfunction stranded passengers mid-air for four hours, will re-open on Saturday (Nov 25).

Investigations showed that the gondola stalled 30m in the air on Aug 12 because of a faulty component — called a drive unit — that raises and lowers it, and it was overheated. The operator’s general manager Ken Lee told TODAY that it has been replaced.

The operator has also enhanced its emergency response plan for similar incidents. For instance, four technical staff members will now be on standby, one more than in the past.

The procedures for manual winching of the gondola, protocols for assessing risks, and response times have also been revised, Mr Lee said.

“Additional drive units, preconfigured to the ride’s operation system, have also been set aside so that they can be replaced more efficiently in future,” he added.

“Safety is of paramount importance to us, and rigorous tests have been conducted to ensure that the Sky Tower remains safe for all visitors to enjoy... The Tiger Sky Tower team again apologises for the inconvenience caused by the incident, and we look forward to welcoming our guests once again.”

On Friday, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) told TODAY that it received the final investigation report last month from the specialist professional engineer appointed by the ride’s operator. In brief, the report showed that there was “a fault in the ride’s drive systems which resulted in an overheating condition”, and there was “a procedural lapse in the manual winching process which resulted in a failure of the manual winch”.

The BCA noted that the operator had carried out the recommended necessary repairs and measures to set things right, before it gave consent for the ride to resume operations.

The Sky Tower, Singapore’s highest observation tower at 110m, was ordered to shut by the authority after 38 visitors and an operator were trapped from 5.35pm to 9.45pm. Engineers on-site tried to lower the gondola manually, but having made no headway after 90 minutes, the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team under the Singapore Civil Defence Force was called in to help.

Rescuers climbed atop the tower and rappelled into the cabin, but they did not have to lower the passengers by rope eventually because the operator managed to winch the gondola to the ground.

The BCA instructed the operator to appoint a specialist professional engineer to inspect the ride after repair works, conduct functional tests and obtain its consent before resuming operations. Sky Tower said that it brought in tower manufacturer HUSS Park Attractions for the investigations.

Built in 2004, the ride was previously suspended for nearly four weeks in 2010 after a misalignment of guiding wheels left 11 people stuck for about 45 minutes. They were later rescued by staff members who reached them via a central stairway inside the tower.