WHAT was meant to be a birthday celebration ended instead with a visit to the hospital for a 10-year-old boy.

In an e-mail message to The Straits Times, a passenger known only as 'Wuatyen' told how the ordeal of being trapped in one of the Singapore Flyer's capsules for more than six hours on Tuesday night made her son sick.

'My son started to panic at the fourth hour. He shivered and complained of dizzy spells,' wrote the parent.

Flyer stays shut as probe continues

THE Singapore Flyer is likely to stay shut until at least the New Year as investigations get underway into what caused the six-hour breakdown on Tuesday which required rescuers to lower 11 stranded passengers to the ground by rope.

Yesterday, tourists and locals hoping for a sky-high view of Singapore from the world's largest observation wheel were turned away as the Flyer stayed shut by order of the Singapore Police Force.

The Flyer requires a public entertainment licence to operate. As the licensing authority, the police said they will allow operations to resume only after the Flyer's structural and mechanical systems are certified safe by an internationally recognised body.

Team trained in flyer rescue

DRESSED in dark blue overalls, the men who plucked stranded passengers from the Singapore Flyer on Tuesday looked like elite rescue workers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

But they were actually from a private company, and more used to spending their days cleaning windows on high-rise buildings or repairing ships.

The team from Dive-Marine Services, however, is the only group trained in rescuing passengers from the 165m-tall observation wheel.

High-flying rescuer

SUSPENDED eight storeys above the ground, Mr Mohamed Affee Endra found himself playing both the role of a rescuer and a counsellor on Tuesday.

He was one of four rope access technicians charged with plucking stranded passengers from the wounded Singapore Flyer.

One of those marooned was an eight-year-old boy, who was in a capsule with his parents, brother and grandmother when the ride ground to a halt.

Flyer facts

THE 165m Singapore Flyer is owned by Singapore Flyer Pte Ltd, a 75:25 joint venture between German engineering group Melchers Project Management and consulting firm Orient & Pacific Management.

Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and Takenaka Corporation were the contractors for the Flyer; the engines that caught fire were made in Japan.

The Flyer is currently run by the Great Wheel Corporation, which is also involved in 20 similar projects around the world - two of which will dwarf the Singapore Flyer.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.