Typically, a ride on the SkyWheel in Pier Park only lasts a couple of minutes. But some tourists got more than they bargained for when shuffling into their gondola Thursday night. The SkyWheel ended up malfunctioning and getting stuck, with their gondola resting at the highest point. The entire ordeal lasted around 6 hours.
Multiple agencies worked together to bring them to safety but not without some challenges.
“It was a little sketchy up there with the winds blowing us around at about 17 miles per hour as we were trying to get anchored off,” said Glen Kuehner, a District Chief for the South Walton Fire District.
South Walton’s tactical rescue team was dispatched to Panama City Beach shortly after Panama City Beach Fire Rescue arrived on the scene. Their job was to apply their high-scale rescue expertise.