State Fair: Sky Glider Nightmare

Pig Races, 6:00 PM

It was a perfect day to be at the Wisconsin State Fair, unless you happened to be on the Sky Glider after 8:00 PM and were literally left hanging.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

More than 100 people were trapped for several hours on the Wisconsin State Fair Sky Glider on Thursday night.

The Sky Glider ground to a halt around 8:25 p.m. when the motor stopped working, affecting pinions on wheels that carry the 160 cars on cables across the grounds, said State Fair spokeswoman Patrice Harris.

West Allis firefighters brought lifts and other equipment to evacuate people sitting in the seats high above the ground.

Roughly 40% of the Sky Glider was filled with passengers at the time - about 130 people. The last passengers were helped down from the Sky Glider about 11:15 p.m. Thursday.

Announcements were made throughout the fairgrounds to tell people to stay away from the Sky Glider so firefighters could bring in equipment.

It's not unusual for the Sky Glider to come to a stop. It is unusual for it not to start up again quickly.

At dusk, I was about to enter the Expo Center and passed the south end of the Sky Glider. It wasn't moving. I saw several police officers standing there. I wondered what happened but didn't think it was a problem with the ride.

After spending a lot of time (but no money) in the Expo Center, it was time for cream puffs. It now was dark. There was a fire engine, lights flashing, parked in front of the Expo Center on Main Street. A lot of people were standing around.

Then, we saw the cherry picker and knew immediately that the Sky Glider had a major malfunction.


The view from the Central Mall

Thankfully, no one was injured, but the experience had to be quite stressful.

The Journal Sentinel article says that "announcements were made throughout the fairgrounds to tell people to stay away from the Sky Glider so firefighters could bring in equipment."

I didn't hear any announcements, and I was in the relatively quiet confines of the Expo Center when the equipment came.

It was a bizarre scene. People lined the Central Mall, eating cream puffs, listening to the bands play, while staring up at the Sky Glider, watching the painstakingly slow process of passengers being rescued and lowered to safety.

When emergency personnel freed a twosome, there would be applause. It was a weird mix, a crisis playing out as the usual State Fair fun and festivities went on.

For the first time in years, we considered riding the Sky Glider to cross the fairgrounds but opted to walk.

That turned out to be a really good choice.

Another good choice according to a reliable source -- The Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger.

I couldn't bring myself to taste it, but I'm told it was delicious -- beef, cheese, and a Krispy Kreme doughnut serving as the bun.

Some say, "Why?"

Others say, "Why not?"