Skyline Queenstown's gondola ride was shut down for 20 minutes last night after a cabin being removed from the line became stuck in the conveyor system at the bottom terminal.
Skyline last night responded to reports passengers were stuck on the gondola for almost half an hour and a cabin window had been damaged.
It came after the company reported on Friday the gondola was closed at 1.15pm due to ''unscheduled maintenance''. It was closed on that day until 4pm.
Skyline Enterprises executive chairman Mark Quickfall said last night the gondola system, which was not at full capacity at the time, was cleared of passengers once the cabin was removed from the line.
A thorough inspection was conducted by cableway engineers.
Mr Quickfall said there was no-one in the cabin involved and passengers in the cabins were safe at all times. An 0800 number was labelled in each cabin for passengers wanting more information when the gondola system was stopped.
Passengers in one cabin at the bottom terminal were released by staff using the emergency handle on the cabin's exterior.
''Gondola cabins are often removed from the line throughout the day, most commonly for cleaning,'' he said. ''In this case, the cabin got stuck on the conveyor system once it had been removed from the gondola line.''
He said staff got everyone off the gondola line, apologised for the delay and then paused operations for 10 minutes while engineers looked into the matter.
The gondola resumed operation about 6.10pm and the incident and response would be reviewed today.
There was no damage to any of the cabins.
