An equipment failure stalled a cable lift in the Austrian Alps on Tuesday, stranding 79 sightseers in gondolas for two hours before rescuers could get them down, authorities said.

Officials said no one was injured in the rescue operation in Schruns, a town in Vorarlberg province. The gondolas, which operate from spring to autumn, ferry sightseers to the summit of the Montafon Hochjoch peak, popular for its stunning views.

Peter Wolfsgruber, a spokesman for Silvretta Nova Bergbahnen AG, the company that runs the service, told Austrian public broadcaster ORF that a defective signal light apparently caused four gondolas to stop abruptly just before 4 p.m.

Suspended nearly 100 feet above the ground, two of the cars were filled with people and two were empty, he said.

Rescuers used ropes and helicopters to bring the 79 down from treetop level to a slope that rises to 6,230 feet above sea level.

Wolfsgruber said the rescue went smoothly and insisted the passengers were never in danger.