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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Emirates Air Line Thames cable car breaks down | Emirates Air Line Thames cable car breaks down |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| Passengers were left suspended in the air when a cable car linking two Olympic venues either side of the Thames broke down. | Passengers were left suspended in the air when a cable car linking two Olympic venues either side of the Thames broke down. |
| The Emirates Air Line, which links the O2 Arena in Greenwich and the ExCel exhibition centre, experienced a technical fault at 11:45 BST. | The Emirates Air Line, which links the O2 Arena in Greenwich and the ExCel exhibition centre, experienced a technical fault at 11:45 BST. |
| All passengers were back in the terminal half an hour later and the service was running again by 12:40. | All passengers were back in the terminal half an hour later and the service was running again by 12:40. |
| The crossing can carry up to 2,500 people per hour in each direction. | The crossing can carry up to 2,500 people per hour in each direction. |
| Some passengers tweeted about the ordeal. Alastair Owens, said he was in the air for about 50 minutes in total. | |
| 'Mini adventure' | |
| He wrote on his Twitter account: "Emirates cable car turned out to be great school holiday mini adventure - greeted with apologies and water as we landed." | He wrote on his Twitter account: "Emirates cable car turned out to be great school holiday mini adventure - greeted with apologies and water as we landed." |
| Janet Hutchinson, and her 12-year-old daughter, Freya, from Surrey, were stuck in one of the cable cars. | |
| "We were dangling over the Thames for half an hour, whilst swaying from side-to-side," she said. | |
| "We were extremely hot and worried as we were not given any information. It was a very unsettling experience when it should have been an exciting trip out. | |
| "When we got off we asked for a refund but was told because we paid by Oyster card we would have to approach Transport for London. I did not find the staff at the Thames cable car very helpful." | |
| Technical fault | |
| Danny Price, head of Emirates Air Line, said: "All passengers were safely back in the terminal by 12:18 and water and first aid were made available to them. We would like to apologise to anyone affected." | |
| London Assembly Member John Biggs said: "We need the mayor and TfL to look into what went wrong and confirm that passengers weren't in danger at any point. | London Assembly Member John Biggs said: "We need the mayor and TfL to look into what went wrong and confirm that passengers weren't in danger at any point. |
| "The public need to be confident that this kind of thing won't happen again." | "The public need to be confident that this kind of thing won't happen again." |
| The Dubai-based airline Emirates is sponsoring the cable car for 10 years at a cost of £36m. | The Dubai-based airline Emirates is sponsoring the cable car for 10 years at a cost of £36m. |