How To Survive When Your Elevator Plunges (2024)

FAQs

How To Survive When Your Elevator Plunges? ›

[T]he best way to survive in a falling elevator is to lie down on your back. Sitting is bad but better than standing, because buttocks are nature's safety foam. Muscle and fat are compressible: they help absorb the G forces of the impact.

(Some have suggested lying down in the lift, because it will distribute the force of impact over your whole body. This is a terrible idea - protect your brain! Some part of your body must absorb the impact, but head injury is the primary cause of death in falls.

To request assistance, use the elevator's emergency button, intercom or phone. Keep your distance from the door at all times and do not try to force the doors open. Remember that the elevator has air circulation openings, so there will be no limit on available air inside the cab.

1. Sit tight. Unless the building suffers catastrophic damage, such as during the World Trade Center attacks of 2001, lifts almost never fall. A lift has between six and 12 independent cables and each one is strong enough to support a fully loaded lift.

On 28 July 1945, a U.S. Army plane crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City, causing an elevator to fall 75 stories (more than 300 meters or 1,000 feet). Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver was injured but survived. It remains the Guinness World Record for the longest fall survived in an elevator.

Use the elevator's alarm button or emergency contact button to get help. Stay quiet and wait for safety instructions. If the emergency contact button doesn't seem to be working, use your cellular telephone to call 911. Don't attempt to pry open the doors — wait for help to come.

Take slow, steady breaths and focus on the action items you need to take to fix the situation rather than your feelings about the situation. If there are others with you in the elevator, try to talk to them about non-related subjects to ease your uncomfortableness and distract yourself from the situation.

The leg muscles absorb the forces which would've killed our organs, spine, and brain. So, lie flat on your back if you value your legs and knees over your liver, spine, and brain, but as for best chance of survival, it's probably sitting* or standing.

Even taking all these factors into account, lying flat on your back, if you can manage it, is still probably your best bet for surviving a falling elevator. Realistically, you're just trying to survive, and the supine approach gives the best odds.

Originally Answered: Is laying on the floor of a falling elevator the best way to survive if it starts to free fall? No. It's not even a way. Since you're falling inside a box, gravity still counts and you'll be sent up into the air.

Do elevators still free fall? ›

The probability of falling in an elevator is so low that elevators are among the safest means of transportation in the world. This is due to the fact that an elevator is not only suspended from ropes, but that other safety mechanisms ensure that a free fall is impossible.

If your elevator speeds up or slows down significantly before stopping or if you notice the speed shifting, this is a strong sign of problems with cables, pulleys, and hoisting motors. To avoid a breakdown, contact your elevator technician as soon as possible.

Despite advancements in mechanics and safety protocols, elevators cause thousands of injuries per year. The above report estimates: An average of 27 deaths per year are attributed to elevator accidents. More than 10,200 people are injured yearly in elevator accidents.

Most elevators are equipped with multiple safety features that prevent them from getting stuck, but accidents can and do happen. In some cases, power outages or severe weather can trap people in an elevator. In other cases, faulty equipment or human error can cause an elevator to become stuck between floors.

Almost all falls from beyond about 10 stories are fatal, although people have survived much higher falls than this, even onto hard surfaces. For example, one suicidal jumper has survived a fall from the 39th story of a building, as has a non-suicidal person who accidentally fell from the 47th floor.

Elevator Freefalls

If they do somehow fall all the way down, there are also usually large stoppers at the bottom intended to slow the elevator's fall and protect the people inside. As such, these kinds of accidents are incredibly rare in the United States and result in injuries very infrequently.

In most cases, a sudden drop or rise of an elevator car is the result of some kind of malfunction. Physical equipment could break or become damaged.

Note that it's impossible to run out of oxygen in an elevator. Though it may take some hours for aid to get you out, you'll be able to breathe fine the entire time.