The group had to be lowered to the ground by ropes after a staff member climbed along the cable to each chair, tied a harness to the stranded people and lowered them to the ground.
It took about 55 minutes to get everyone down, according to Skyline Enterprises managing director Ken Matthews.
He told the Otago Daily Times it took an engineer five hours to identify the problem.
"There was an adjustment required to the braking mechanism, which has since been corrected. That was the cause of the problem," he said.
The systems panel did not identify the problem so the lift could not be restarted using the auxiliary motor, he said.
The company had plans in place for such an event.
It was the first time the lift had broken down.
"There was never any question of public safety being at risk," Mr Matthews said.
Each chair had a pack under the seat containing a thermal blanket and a rope, which could be lowered if staff needed to get food or water to stranded people.
The chairlift began operating again yesterday morning, he said.
Australian tourists Iain Ogilvie and Meredith Adams used the chairlift yesterday unaware of the incident the day before.
However, Mr Ogilvie said that even if he had known about the malfunction, he still would have ridden the chairlift.
"It was wonderful, great fun. We laughed all the way and the views are just breathtaking," Ms Adams said.
Charlie and Maggie Michael, also from Australia, said the luge was a highly recommended activity.
Unaware of the malfunction the previous day, Mr Michael had six turns on the luge and said it "wasn't enough".
