The Galveston Fire Department said it was dispatched after several reports on Thursday that the cart aboard the 100-foot vertical lift roller coaster suddenly halted once it reached the peak. The owners of Pleasure Pier said the ride malfunctioned and stopped as it was supposed to in situations like this.
RELATED: 8 students rescued from roller coaster that was stuck for hours at Pleasure Pier
The department said the rescue "required them to do something they'd never had to do."
As shown in SkyEye13 video, the firefighters took turns in the bucket of the 105-ft ladder to check on the students. The crew told ABC13's Chaz Miller that the students were in great spirits but nervous.
The crew said the training they've undergone for situations like this required a piece of equipment that helps people get down from high areas, which was broken on Thursday, prompted them to pivot to other maneuvers.
"We were starting to look at what rigging we needed... how we were going to address it, but, luckily, everything fell perfectly," Galveston FD Capt. John Featherington said. Normally, officials said the crew would have to harness them and securely fasten them to something, and then triple-check the process.
Featherington said that, even then, the rescue went perfectly, as the students sat for nearly four hours waiting in the sun.
"The goal was to harness them, but you also have to tether them to something secure. You need something to stop them if they fall off. Every step of the process you have to check, double check, triple check," Featherington said.
HISD confirmed the students were on a field trip organized by Energized for STEM Academy Middle School and STEM Academy High School.
"We are grateful that all students, staff, and chaperones are safe. School administration is in direct contact with the families of all students who were on the trip," HISD said in a statement Thursday evening.
One of the riders told ABC13 that it was her first time on a roller coaster and that she "never wanted to get on one."