It’s been almost 2 weeks since the Disney Skyliner accident at Walt Disney World. Multiple gondolas were reportedly seen crashed into each other and numerous guests had to be evacuated after over two hours stuck inside of the gondolas.
Out of a lack of ways to otherwise communicate with Skyliner ground ops, guests that had been stuck inside gondolas began calling 911 on their cellphones to seek help. According to a report by WESH 2 News, recordings from the 911 calls have since been released, with many passengers reporting medical emergencies.
Here are some of the transcribed 911 call recordings obtained by WESH:
>> “911, what’s the location of the emergency?”
>> “We’re stuck on the Disney Skyliner. It’s going on two hours now and we’re not really, we’re getting some automated message saying that we’re moving shortly…”
>>”Is anybody having a medical emergency in your car?”
>>”No everybody is OK. We just, I mean.”
>>”I understand. I know you’ve been in there for probably over two hours right now. We do have help on the way. They are trying to get it up and running and we have our units standing by,”
While some guests seemed merely frustrated about the lack of communication, one caller reported that a man had passed out inside of a gondola, while another mentioned that a woman inside the gondola had lost consciousness. Guests were hospitalized after the accident, with many requiring medical attention.
Disney Parks has since released an official statement regarding the Disney Skyliner accident, where they addressed communication issues with guests while onboard the gondolas:
“Following a complete review with the manufacturer, we’ve made adjustments to our processes and training, and we are improving how we communicate with guests during their flight with Disney Skyliner.”
The Disney Skyliner gondolas have since resumed operation, albeit with modified hours to accommodate for system updates. Originally billed as merely “unexpected downtime”, Disney claimed the accident a “malfunction” of the Epcot line.
