ORLANDO, Fla. – The Sky Tower observation tower cabin at SeaWorld Orlando has been lowered to the ground after guests were stuck on the ride for more than three hours on Monday afternoon.
[VIDEO: News 6 reports on Sky Tower | News 6 talks with rider stuck ]
According to the Orange County Fire Rescue active calls site, an industrial accident was listed at 1:22 p.m. at Sea Harbor Drive. About 50 people were on board when the cabin somehow got stuck in place.
"We are working closely with Orange County Fire Rescue to quickly and safely remove all guests from the ride. We are in constant communication with the guests and team members on the ride, and all passengers are safe," SeaWorld said in a release. "The safety of our guests and team members is SeaWorld’s top priority."
Fire Rescue said 15 firefighters were on scene and a firefighter was lifted to the Sky Tower to confirm that there were no medical emergencies on board.
"Everyone was relatively calm, I was really surprised," said Michael Moffatt, who documented the ordeal from on board as the paramedic came up to assess passengers. "Apparently, the upper floor - there's two floors of the Sky Tower it holds about 20 people. There was one woman who was being told to raise your arms and breathe and that sort of thing. So we think she had a panic attack and the EMT did get her off first."
Moffatt told News 6 that riders received a comp ticket and some meals after the incident.
"Everyone was kind of laughing about it for the most part, a little annoyed, a little frustrating but we knew we couldn't go anywhere so we made the best of it," he said.
News 6 helicopter Sky 6 flew over the tower, showing guests on the ride, which appeared to be stuck not quite halfway up the 400-foot structure. The cabin lowered to the ground on its own just before 3:30 p.m., video from Sky 6 showed. It's not clear what caused the ride to become stuck.
"The Skytower cabin is now on the ground and all guests and team members have exited safely," SeaWorld officials said in a statement to News 6. "The SeaWorld guest services team and onsite medical personnel worked closely with individual guests to address their immediate needs and assist them in any way possible."
Orange County Fire Rescue tweeted about training for similar situations, saying, "today's efforts @SeaWorld are another example of why we train constantly w/ community partners to keep citizens and visitors safe in OC."
Sky Tower is the largest observation tower in Florida and opened in 1973. It features a double-decker rotating pod that guests board at ground level and ride to the top. It is not a drop tower.
It's not clear how long the ride will be closed.
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