Henk were left ‘terrified’ after fierce winds tore open a hatch on the roof of their pod.
Gusts of up to 70mph battered the capital on Tuesday, downing trees and other structures and causing widespread travel disruption.
David Nock, from Bournemouth, said it ‘didn’t feel that windy’ when he and his family were walking around the city during a visit.
They noticed water being whipped up from the Thames but it was only after they boarded the 135m-tall ferris wheel that problems started.
David told BBC Radio Solent: ‘We got on, started to move and it was stop starting on the way up. As we got to the 12 o’clock top it stopped for a good five minutes. The wind really started to howl.
‘The wind was so strong it actually ripped an access hatch off the top of the pod we were in.
‘You can imagine, it got very noisy and the wind was blowing and it was slightly terrifying.’
The access hatch remained attached to the roof of the pod but was open to the skies, added David, whose party included six children and a grandmother in her 70s.
He continued: ‘The concern then is, that if the hatch comes off, you’ve then got quite a large object flying from a very very tall structure.
‘There was one chap there who was saying his prayers, he was very nervous.
‘It started moving again and things were kind of on course.’
But the detached part of the hatch started ‘crunching’ and ‘getting caught in the mechanism’ as the pod rotated, making the group ‘more nervous’, David said.
He pushed an emergency button, stopping the ride and allowing him to communicate the problem to staff.
The ride was then completely evacuated and closed down while the issue was investigated and rectified.
David said the wind felt ‘noticeably stronger’ on the way out the landmark, giving him the impression they had been ‘in the eye of the storm’.
He added: ‘It’s a huge great thing, it’s well engineered and you would imagine that those running it are keeping an eye on the weather and you’re in their safe hand.’
