There are systems in place that prevent a "free fall" of an elevator, but even dropping a few feet can cause injuries (like mine this morning). The power was only off for a sew seconds, so it wasn't that bad. However, a few years back a squirrel shorted a main grid switch in the downtown area of the city, taking down power to a 30 block area. They didn't get the switch back online for four hours. Since the fire department was inundated with "rescue" calls for people in stuck elevators all over downtown, we had folks who were hung up for almost the whole duration of the outage. Can you imagine being in a pitch dark lift for four hours with no way to communicate (the emergency phones were out too)? You could hear the people yelling and screaming, but there was nothing we could do. Our building maintenance people are not allowed to work on the lifts because of the liability. Only the FD or elevator vendors can use the shaft ladders and such. That day was in early February and the building heat (steam) was on. Above my office was a pressure valve designed to allow steam to slowly escape as pressure builds. When the steam started to cool and condense, the valve opened and several gallons of water flooded onto the accoustical tile above my desk. I had just left my office when the whole ceiling collapsedonto my desk, computer (ruined) and chair. Glad I didn't get clobbered that day! -Kyle -----Original Message----- From: Barber, Kenneth L. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 12:05 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Just when you thought it was easier to take the lift than the stairs.... it is likely that people have died on an elevator. accidents do happen. -----Original Message----- From: Michael H Collis [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 12:03 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Just when you thought it was easier to take the lift than the stairs.... Oh boy, Kyle, how scary... The entire scene must've been surreal... Your episode today with a lift reminds me of an episode another acquaintance of mine had with a lift. She couldn't reach the buttons when she got on the lift and was stuck on it for at least 15 minutes... Her daughter finally pushed the call button in order to go up and look for her. The acquaintance asked me a question that is relevant, "People don't die in elevators, do they?" -----Original Message----- From: St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cleveland, Kyle E. Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 9:54 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Just when you thought it was easier to take the lifet than the st airs.... It's been a rough start this morning: I came to work around 7:15. My morning ritual is to open up my office, plug the laptop into the docking station and head to the cafeteria for a cup o' joe and a bagel. My office is on the 9th floor, cafeteria is on 16. I got on the elevator (alone) and as soon as it started up, the lights failed an emergency buzzer sounded and the car suddenly dropped about two feet and bounced a bit on the end of the cable. Woudn't you know it, but my spine got a bit squashed and I also lost my balance and fell. After a second or two, the lights came back on and the elevator "reset" to the first floor. Now my back and left leg are killing me. Shoulda stood in bed...:-( -KC