How to Survive a Falling Elevator
Many people have a fear of falling elevators. This is absolutely normal - this phobia appeared with the lifting mechanisms and will most likely exist as long as they are used. It is difficult to come to terms with the idea that your life depends on a cable, even a very thick and strong one. But are elevators really that dangerous? And can you save yourself if the cabin starts to fall from a great height?
Movies often feature scenes of falling elevators. This makes many people believe that such incidents are common. In fact, the probability of a free fall of the cabin is extremely low, even if the cables break. However, let's imagine the worst-case scenario: all systems fail, and the elevator begins to fall.
In such a situation, the elevator will be affected by gravity, and the greater the height, the higher the speed of the fall. The person inside moves at the same speed as the cabin itself. Is it possible to escape injury or death by jumping at the moment of impact with the bottom of the shaft? Unfortunately, this method, which is often shown in films, does not work.
Firstly, it is almost impossible to accurately guess the moment of impact, because we do not see what is happening under the elevator. Secondly, even if a person jumps, he will not be able to significantly reduce the speed of the fall. But there is a great risk of losing balance and ending up in an extremely unfortunate position, which will only worsen the consequences of the impact.
Experts advise staying calm and taking the safest position to soften the impact. It is best to lie on your back on the floor and protect your head with your hands. This will help protect it from debris or cables that may fall after the cabin. If you remain standing, the impact will fall on your legs, and its force will be so great that it can lead to serious injuries.
All this is useful to know, but most likely this knowledge will hardly ever be useful. The fact is that for many years now all elevators have been equipped with special safety mechanisms. They are triggered if the cabin starts to descend too quickly. The pads of the devices move apart and create friction against the metal guides in the shaft. Thanks to this, even a cabin falling from the 30th floor usually does not reach the ground, but stops right in the shaft.
For an elevator to actually fall, several factors must coincide: a broken cable, a power outage, and a failure of the safety systems. But even in such an unlikely case, the impact with the bottom of the shaft will be softened by special shock absorbers installed at the bottom. It turns out that we are afraid of things that are not really dangerous.
According to statistics, many more people die when entering and exiting an elevator. For example, when, due to a malfunction in the automatics, the cabin starts moving with the doors open. In such cases, a person's body can literally be torn in half. It is also dangerous to get out of a cabin stuck between floors - the elevator can suddenly move and seriously injure or even kill an impatient passenger. It is also important to make sure when boarding that there is a cabin behind the open shaft door. The number of ways to die in an elevator is impressive, but they are rarely associated with a cabin falling.
If the elevator is broken and the doors won't open or the cabin is stopped between floors, the safest thing to do is stay inside. You need to contact the dispatcher via the intercom or call the service department - the phone numbers are usually listed in the cabin. Help usually comes quickly, and everything ends well.
Let's return to the question of survival in a falling cabin. History knows of a unique case when a person survived in an elevator that fell from the 79th floor. Betty Lou Oliver worked as an elevator operator in the Empire State Building in New York in the 1940s - at that time the tallest building in the world. On July 28, 1945, a US Air Force B-25 bomber, flying through thick fog, crashed into the building between the 78th and 80th floors.
A heavy plane blew a huge hole measuring 5.5 x 6.1 meters in the outer wall of a skyscraper. Fourteen people died that day – three crew members and 11 people in the building. Many were injured, including elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver. Rescuers decided to evacuate the injured woman using the elevator.
But as the elevator began to descend, it broke loose on the 75th floor and plunged into the shaft. Betty flew with the elevator for about 300 meters and crashed into the floor of the shaft at the base of the building. Although the elevator's safety systems were not activated due to the plane crash, the woman survived.
Later, experts found out that the impact was softened by two important factors. First, the air in the narrow elevator shaft created a cushion effect, slowing the fall of the cabin, like a piston in a pump. Second, the broken cables fell to the bottom of the shaft before the elevator and formed an additional cushioning layer. Betty Oliver received several serious injuries, but survived. In one day, she managed to escape death twice. Thanks to this incident, she got into the Guinness Book of Records as a person who survived the highest fall in an elevator.
Betty Oliver's story is impressive, but most fears associated with elevator falls turn out to be unfounded. The real danger often lies elsewhere - in automatic failures, inattention of passengers, or incorrect actions in case of malfunctions. What is your attitude towards elevators? Do you feel anxious when using them or do you trust them completely? Share your opinion in the comments!