SINGAPORE: It was back to business for Sentosa’s Tiger Sky Tower as it re-opened on Saturday (Nov 25) following a three-month closure due to a malfunction in August that left 39 people stranded mid-air for more than four hours.
Visitors enjoyed smooth rides as they ascended the tower which stands 131 metres above sea level, and took in Singapore’s best sights.
Director of Sky Tower Pte Ltd Alexander Melchers told Channel NewsAsia that since the incident, the company has conducted intensive checks and reviewed its emergency response plans so technical staff can better manage such situations.
“We really used the time to practice and to really anticipate as many scenarios as possible. We looked at all the possible breakdowns that we can imagine and breakdowns that we have experienced before, and then we practise the necessary response.
“It’s not that we didn’t practise before, but there are certain elements of our operating procedures where we will do more practice in the course of our operations going forward,” he said.
The Building and Construction Authority said in a statement on Friday that it had given Sky Tower the green light to resume operations after it inspected its repairs and rectification measures.
The Tiger Sky Tower reopens after a three-month hiatus. (Photo: Elizabeth Neo)
BCA said a report from the specialist professional engineer (SPE) appointed by the Sky Tower revealed that the malfunction was caused by a drive unit that overheated.
It added rescue took longer than expected due to a procedural lapse in the manual winching process. This resulted in the failure of the manual winch that is used to lower the gondola when the drive unit malfunctions.
Sky Tower also told Channel NewsAsia that the ride coming to a halt that day was a safety response to the malfunctioning component.
“This was a fault in the drive unit which a human could not have detected but the system picked it up. So the safety design of our systems worked perfectly, it was just an event that was so rare, that at that time back in August that took us some time to identify the root cause,” said Mr Melchers.
Meanwhile most visitors Channel NewsAsia spoke to said they were not bothered by the episode.
Elyse Ilagan, 21, who was visiting from the Philippines said: “I trust that they made their checks and we felt very safe riding it, so we would do it again if we could.”
Australian Paul Blandis, who took the ride with his wife and two children added: “Knowing about the incident doesn’t really impact me on wanting to go on it again.”
