On May 22, 2012 the opening day of the Tokyo Sky Tree, the world’s tallest communications tower, the operators were forced to shut down its elevators due to strong winds. This left some of the visitors stranded at the 450 meter high observation deck.
As expected thousands of visitors flocked at the 634 meter tower in Tokyo, as it became the newest attraction opened for the public for the first time. The visitors expected to catch some spectacular views from the top of the tower.
At around 6 pm the operators shut down two of the elevators linking an observation deck at 350 meters with another at 450 meters for around 30 minutes due to safety concerns. Maki Yamazaki, the spokesperson at the Sky Tree, was not able to say how any people were actually affected by the closure.
The spokesperson added that were later able to return to the lower level once the elevator service resumed. Even the weather hampered the proceedings as the visitors said that they were not able to enjoy the tower’s far stretched views. The tourism sector of Japan is expecting that the tower will boost the number of visitors from abroad especially after the massive earthquake last year.
