A  FAULTY small bearing was the cause of the disruption to the cable car service in Langkawi yesterday that left more than 1,000 tourists stranded, 88 of them in the cable cars at the peak.

Panorama Langkawi Sdn Bhd board member Azizan Noordin said the defective mechanical part was replaced as soon as the problem was identified and a spare was found.

“We found that a small bearing in the (cable car system) was faulty. It was a mechanical failure. We have identified and fixed the problem,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Azizan said during the disruption, the cable cars were manually moved to evacuate 88 passengers stranded at the top of Mount Mat Chincang.

He said the cable car service resumed at 10.50pm after repairs.

Azizan who is also the Langkawi Development Authority chief executive, officer said the incident was an isolated one that was not expected to occur.

This was because it was standard operating procedure for the maintenance crew to perform checks after operating hours each day, he said.

“The cable cars are very well-maintained. They are serviced every night after the cable car stations close.”

Azizan said the cable cars were also shut down for nearly 10 days once a year for a comprehensive service.

The Langkawi SkyCab opened in November 2002.

The 4,400m cable service has three stations – one each at the base, the middle and the top of the 713m-high Mount Mat Chincang.

Over 1,000 tourists were stranded yesterday for about six hours from  5.40pm.  – February 19, 2018.