The Tramway captured international attention Tuesday night when an apparent electrical glitch froze both cabins in place within spitting distance of the middle tower, then a backup power system also failed after working only long enough to move the Island-bound cabin over the East River.

By the time it was all over, more than eleven hours had passed.

The incident began between 5:15 and 5:22 p.m., with 46 passengers and an operator in the Island-bound cabin, and 21 plus an operator in the one bound for Manhattan. Something electrical – possibly a power surge like the one that stopped the system in September, 2005 – blew out three 800-amp fuses in the system, disabling the powerful engine that normally reels in the haul cable, pulling the cabins.

Within minutes, the usual contingent of a half-dozen FDNY fire-emergency vehicles were speeding south on Main Street, sirens screaming – the advance guard of firefighters who regularly train in the basket-rescue procedure set up as a last-resort method of evacuating stranded Tram cabins.

Sometime between 6:35 and 7:35, back-up power was engaged and began moving the Tram cabins, at a snail’s pace, toward their destinations.

It was apparently at this point that the FDNY units and the rescue-trained personnel left, believing their help would not be required. This decision – The WIRE has not learned who was ultimately responsible for it – apparently was a factor that later led to a long delay before basket-rescue was mounted.

Then, another glitch: The back-up method of moving the cabins – the diesel emergency engine – failed after moving the cabins only about 70 to 90 feet. Now, cabin #1 was positioned over the East River and cabin #2 over First Avenue.

A first-choice approach, at this point, would normally be to focus energy on restoring the back-up system. After all, emergency basket-rescue had never been used in the 30-year history of the Tramway. While rehearsed regularly with Tram personnel and the FDNY rescue contingent, basket rescue is a last resort – asking passengers to transfer from the relative security of an enclosed Tram cabin, through open air, into the welded-steel baskets that are pulled by an emergency cable always in place above the main haul and track cables.

But back-up power capable of moving the main haul cable and pulling the Trams could not be restored – officials would later explain that they have not yet determined why, and that a second back-up power system has been out for repair since January.

By now, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were headed to the scene and the rescue responsibility was firmly in their hands. For reasons undetermined – possibly the FDNY units had been dispatched to help with a massive brush fire in Brooklyn – the larger contingent of trained FDNY rescuers were not called back to Roosevelt Island. A Police Department emergency response unit, which had never practiced basket rescue, was in charge.

But basket rescue was the only remaining option at that point. A small number of FDNY rescuers were called back to the Island-side Tram station to help. The baskets – really steel cages – were crane-mounted on the track ropes (actually, they are steel cables) and winched up to the stranded cabins.

Not until 10:52 was the rescue basket on the way to the near cabin to begin off-loading passengers, about a dozen at a time. By then, the passengers had been waiting some five and a half hours, somewhat longer than ever before in the Tramway’s history – and now they were waiting for basket rescue – only rehearsed in the past, and never used in an actual emergency.

Fortunately, conditions were good: There was only a light breeze, temperatures had been nearly balmy most of the day, and the cabins were not jammed with the 125 passengers they can normally carry.

Basket rescue involves repeated trips in the welded-steel cages, which have a rescuee capacity of ten to twelve persons. This meant that four or five trips, each nearly an hour, would be required to evacuate cabin #1. Ultimately, a decision was made to evacuate cabin #2 using a crane rather than the basket-rescue method.

The last passengers to be rescued got their feet onto solid ground around 4:30 a.m.

RIOC President Herb Berman, who was on the scene shortly after the start of the incident, turned responsibility over to City rescue forces. Mayor Bloomberg, with Commissioner Kelly behind him, held an on-scene press conference as the crisis bubbled along: "We’re going to make sure it doesn’t go again until we take a careful review and make sure that the State agency that runs this has really looked to see why something like this could happen," he said.

As basket-rescue got under way, Berman guided a driver as he positioned a Red Bus to receive evacuees.

A growing forest of TV remote-truck antennas rose in the field behind the Red Bus turnaround area, and television reporters got out their cliche books. Phrases like "terrifying night," "high drama" (nudge, nudge), "high anxiety" (Good Morning America; nudge again), "high-wire act" (Katie Couric on Today) were all over the tube. But video coverage was outstanding, especially on Channel 7, which captured the moment when first transfers from the leading window of cabin 1 had passengers stepping into space on their way to the welded-steel rescue "basket."

The incident became a star turn on Good Morning America for 12-year-old Dax Maier, who had earlier described the experience, his parents and nanny at his side, once his feet were on the ground on the Island side. He spoke of fellow passengers dancing to a variety of cell-phone ring tones. His father, Brian Maier, told how he first heard of the problem in a cell-phone call from his son and, when the incident wasn’t over within a few minutes, "we got in the SUV and drove to Roosevelt Island." The Maier boy was headed to the Island for an after-school tennis lesson; his family does not live here. On Channel 4, Vivian Lee reported that Dax’s mother "is saying, ‘No more tennis lessons on that Island...’" On GMA, the Tram story got first position Wednesday morning, ahead of developments in the Duke University rape charges and the intended (and now apparently accomplished) "silent birth" of Tom Cruise’s daughter.

Reports on the incident and the long wait for rescue appeared in England, Ireland, Australia, Israel, and Canada. By mid-morning Wednesday, Google had nearly 600 links to TV, newspaper, radio, and web stories.

On Wednesday afternoon, Berman held a press conference, assisted by Operations Vice President Catherine Johnson and Tram Supervisor Armando Cordova; Cordova’s immediate boss, Red Blomer, who arrived on the Island the morning after the incident, stood by. Berman spent little time on the question of why the complete rescue operation took nearly twelve hours, but explained in a prepared statement:

"Our secondary power source in an emergency situation is a diesel hydrostatic drive... However, it also became inoperable. We are investigating why. The third phase of our emergency procedure is an additional hydrostatic drive that operates the rescue car [the basket]. This was in place and operational and successfully deployed."

Berman also explained, "In addition to our emergency response procedures, Roosevelt Island has a redundant electrical drive. However, this drive, while not part of our emergency procedure, is currently being repaired. Had this been in place it may have helped, but it may have been compromised by whatever caused the primary loss of power."

Berman and his Vice President for Operations, Catherine Johnson, emphasized several times that the stranded passengers all were ultimately rescued without injury, saying "the system worked."

Asked repeatedly, Berman would not speculate on when the Tram might be back in service. But he spoke warmly of the Tram’s role as a Roosevelt Island icon and as a vital commuter link, perhaps to belay worries being expressed by residents that RIOC might attempt to use the incident as an excuse to take the Tramway out of service permanently. Indeed, by Wednesday afternoon, reporters could be heard asking residents and politicians, "So you think the Tram should continue to operate?"

City Councilmember Jessica Lappin, not fully satisfied that the State will investigate its own agency’s management of Tram operations and handling of this incident, announced that the City Council will hold hearings, probably in May, probably off-Island.

Lappin and the four other Democratic politicians who represent Roosevelt Island showed up here on Wednesday (Lappin had been here Tuesday night, as well) to talk with homeward-bound residents at the subway station, passing out a letter to the Governor:

"Last night’s dramatic events on the Roosevelt Island Tram, with over 70 people, including young children, stranded for as long as twelve hours, highlights the dearth of emergency preparedness by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. We know that you share our relief that no one was injured during this ordeal. The fact that this happened was bad enough, but the failure of the backup power supply and the manual retrieval system is inexcusable, and people should be held accountable for these mishaps."

"As you must know, this was the second major breakdown to hit this vital transportation link in the past seven months. While the causes of the power failure that led to this incident must be investigated and rectified as soon as possible, the threat of an indefinite shutdown of the Tram highlights the consequences of your administration’s elimination of capital and operating support for RIOC. This, and inept or inattentive management installed by your administration, have compounded the consequences of RIOC’s failure over the past decade to institute a multi-year capital plan, including maintenance and upkeep of the Tram, and identify revenues to carry it out.

"Yesterday’s accident might well have been avoided had proper attention and resources been focused on insuring the safety and reliability of the Tram’s power supply and back-up system. Yet, repeated offers to assist RIOC in securing funds for needed capital projects have been met with silence. If nothing else, last night’s near-disaster has exposed the myth of the mandate of self-sufficiency imposed by your administration on the agency responsible for operating and protecting the Island community.

"We call on you now to immediately convene a task force, including members nominated by the Island community, and assure the funding necessary to undertake an expedited, in-depth investigation of the causes of last night’s breakdown, its swift return to service, and the status of RIOC’s preparedness to deal with emergency situations affecting Island residents.

"This review must be an open process that includes public hearings. At the same time, your administration must act now to identify and address any and all problems associated with the Island’s aging infrastructure to assure that another accident does not end in tragedy.

"We request a meeting with you as soon as your schedule permits to discuss the steps needed to implement these reviews. We look forward to a prompt reply."

While it’s likely the Democrats’ letter to Pataki will be seen as political posturing among Republicans in the governor’s administration – and perhaps by Pataki’s Island appointees at RIOC, as well – the latest incident does raise questions about RIOC operations that many Islanders consider worthy of public hearings in addition to a behind-the-scenes investigation:

• What was learned – or not learned – by the last major shutdown of the Tramway in September, 2005, that might have prevented this most recent parallel, incident?

• Why did the first line of defense, the diesel drive, fail?

• Are key personnel from Doppelmayr, RIOC’s contract operator of the Tramway, on scene in a supervisory role, often enough?

• Why did basket-rescue-trained FDNY personnel leave the crisis scene before diesel power, which failed, had completed the return of cabins to their berths? Were they dismissed by Island personnel, or did they make their own decision to leave? (At least one FDNY official later told The New York Times that the back-up system had worked on earlier occasions, making FDNY involvement unnecessary.)

• Why were those FDNY rescuers not called back to the scene immediately, to begin basket rescue, when it quickly became likely such an effort would have to be mounted?

• To what extent was the dismissal of FDNY personnel responsible for the five-hour delay in mounting a basket rescue?

• Why are there no emergency telephones in Tram cabins to allow communication with outside rescue forces?

• Would the presence of a trained console operator in the booth have mitigated this crisis? (Console operators were eliminated early in the first Pataki administration, under RIOC President Jerome Blue, as he sought ways to fulfill Pataki’s declaration that Roosevelt Island must become self-supporting and the accompanying removal of State subsidies contracted for in the City-State lease under which the State manages Roosevelt Island.)