Dozens Stranded Midair on Haifa Cable Car

Thursday evening's drama (Photo: Reuven Cohen, Haifa Municipality Spokesperson's Office)

Dozens of passengers were left suspended in midair for more than an hour on Thursday evening after a severe technical fault brought Line 27 of the Rakavlit, Haifa's cable car, to a halt.

According to Kikar HaShabbat, the passengers were stuck high above Haifa Bay inside closed cabins with no way to get out on their own, and waited a long time for the fault to be fixed or for an evacuation.

Large Israel Fire and Rescue Services teams were called to the scene and prepared for a complex high-altitude rescue. A giant specialized crane was brought in for the operation. Because the fault dragged on and there was concern for the passengers' wellbeing, firefighters focused their preparations on a professional height rescue, which would involve rappelling down to the cabins and bringing the trapped passengers safely to the ground.

The cable car resumed operating after nearly an hour and a half, the report said.

In an unusual coincidence, the breakdown came just two days after the Haifa station of Israel Fire and Rescue Services held a large-scale rescue drill at the site, on Tuesday. The drill simulated exactly this scenario: passengers trapped in the cable car's cabins.

This week's drill (Photo: Israel Fire and Rescue Services)

Commanders and firefighters from the Haifa station took part in the exercise, along with the special rescue unit from the Krayot station, the cable car's emergency teams and Magen David Adom crews. Participants practiced the initial response, decision-making in a high-altitude scenario and coordination between the different agencies. That operational readiness was put to a real-time test on Thursday.