Trapped in an elevator

What would you do? http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/2008/04/21/080421_elevators

First I'd have checked for cell service. Then if that didn't work I'd have found out which was tougher, cinderblock wall or Vic. SwissTool.

You'd think that with security cameras in place that there should be some security watching them. How come no one raised the alarm sooner.

Most European lift wells are concrete, not breezeblock (cinderblock) otherwise after 40+ hours there would be a good size hole in the wall.

ALL and I repeat ALL of the elevators where I live and travel have emergency phones, but no video. If that were me I would have.

1. Use the emergency phone if there was one.
2. Checked for cell service, tried 911 if that service was available.
3. Opened the inner doors and looked to see if I was within shouting distance to the next floor, I know when I stand waiting for an elevator I can hear people talking on the elevator as it comes to my floor.
4. Tried the roof hatch,if there was one.
5. If all that failed, then I would sit down and wait.
6. Use shoe to bang on walls, to try to draw attention.


Stokie & UTA mentioned trying to chip through the block wall, that would be an option.

Just a question, we all know from Holliwood that every lift/ elevator ever used in the movie's has a roof hatch that is conveniently accessible to all those "trapped" inside. No special keys or tools, just bang and it opens.

Of all the lifts I've ever taken the only one that had such a hatch was in a mine shaft and it was a wire cage affair that rattled your teeth every inch of the way down to about 600 ft.

So apart from the movies do these hatchs exist and how accessible are they?

This is why as a diagnosed claustrophobe I have four flashlights and enough batteries to keep it all running for 12+ hours on me. *shudders* Without lights, an elevator isn't much bigger than a coffin. Or a peanut butter jar.

I'd have used the emergency phone. And after about six hours, I'd be playing with their camera to get someone's attention- say a red micro strobe taped to the lens.

Like Ironraven I found out I was slightly claustrophobic when a very crowded elevator made an emergency stop because it was overloaded. Fortunately it only stopped for a couple of minutes, but I haven't forgotten the experience! I never get on elevators that has more than a few passengers and I always have a Photon Micro-Light II just in case.

"...You'd think that with security cameras in place that there should be some security watching them. How come no one raised the alarm sooner..."

That's my thought. I wouldn't watch the video (damned slomo aircard), so I don't know the details of this, but you would think that they would know if one of their "cars" didn't move for almost two full days...

Waiting for someone to rescue you only works for a few hours, at that point you have to come to the conclusion that you are responsible for getting yourself out of the situation as long as you don’t make the situation worst by getting hurt. I would use the above mentioned ideas to get out. Going through the top of the elevator to see if you can open a door on the next floor up seems best (that and making a lot of noise to get attention.) But if it was a weekend, you could expect to be on your own till Monday morning.


While no fun, this situation would not be life-threatening. 2-days in a temperature controlled room (even without water) will not kill you. This would be a good thing to keep in mind before you try to climb up the wall of the elevator shaft and risk a fall that may in fact kill you. no point is making your situation worst by risking injury (or death) from a fall that would leave you without help for up to 2-days.

That was my first thought until I read through the accompanying article but it won't work. The hatch is bolted shut such that it can only be opened by rescue personnel from above. I've been in one case where it wasn't but this was on an elevator down into a mine shaft & we were there to inspect the structure around it so it might have been unbolted ahead of time.

Not sure but they may be behind drop panels with the light fixtures. According to the article w/ the video, they're only accessible from outside the car (bolted shut).

Makes you wonder if he had a cell phone. The obvious assumption is no, or we wouldn't have heard about this. Another reason I consider my cell phone is part of my EDC and more than electronic handcuffs!

(Now if I can convince my wife to take hers everywhere!)

Hmm,

I wonder if thirteen rounds of 45 acp is enough to perforate the roof panel such that I can brute a hole out the top regardless of what's bolted and how? Maybe that and the can opener blade on my Leatherman Wave?

Other than that, I don't often bring a breaching charge with me in public.

In any case, were I stuck in an elevator, I pity the fool who has to come and repair it after I am done with the thing. Also, more pity for the butthead that either decided not to include a monitored alarm system on the car, or the one who chose to ignore my gesticulations for two days.

You should. Nothing says, "May I come in?" like a bit of C4.

-Blast

The article said he didn't. He was just taking a quick smoke break just outside the building, so he only planned on being gone a matter of minutes.

I've visited these large NYC office buildings on weekends on many occasions. They're deserted. Sure, there are some people around but they're totally scattered throughout the building. And even if someone heard the alarm when they were taking the elevator themself, I have to admit that it would be very easy to assume that the building management had it covered and just not say anything. This story reminds me that we shouldn't assume that, even in a big, fancy office building with 24-hour security in the lobby.

I'm not nearly as good at blowing things up as you are, but my common sense and logic tells me that if you are gonna touch off come C4 inside of your elevator car, you'd better put your fingers in your ears. Waaayyyy in...

Wrong adjective. I get uncomfortable if there are 20 people in a 30x20 room with me. A crowded elevator I can deal with so long as I can see that the walls aren't really pressing in on me, and I can still turn around and the take the stairs. In the dark, full of jostling people, I know that elevator is going to squeeze down size of a juice box.

Some people "know" that every airplane is going to crash and everyone will die. I "know" that elevators are really economy sized caskets.

You should know by now that I rely more on reflexes than common sense.

Oh wait, I'm forty now. Maybe counting on reflexes isn't such a good plan anymore

-Blast

This seems like one of the few instances where a pry-bar style knife would be useful in an office environment. All things being equal, it seems like it would be easier and safer to pry open the doors then to climb around on top. Still, I think its safe to say the best thing you could carry after a cell phone, would be a water bottle, a couple of gallon sized freezer bags and a book. And from the article ear plugs. He was apparently having bad experiences from the alarm bell ringing for hours on end.

Strangely, my reflexes, which have always been pretty quick, have stayed that way. I may not be able to hear the starting whistle, but with any other signal I am fast off the mark. Much faster than the norm, according to the various online reflex tests I have taken...

I guess folks didn't read the article

He got stuck LATE on a Friday night (rescued on Sunday)

It was an EXPRESS elevator - He opened the doot - he was stuck at about the 13th floor - next exit below - 1st floor, next above - 40th.

NYC law - the roof hatch is supposed to be bolted closed - from OUTSIDE - so that you CAN'T open it - but a rescue team can

He did about all he could do - ring the alarm bell, and sit tight

Ok, given that the guy did all that he could do, why still did he have to wait 40+ hours to get out?

Now THAT is a darned good question - probably a combination of apathetic security guards and other things

This guy is the perfect example of why you shouldn't stay at work past regular business hours. If your company/building can't afford to have security guards 24/7, they don't need people in the building. If they can't afford security guards, they can't afford overtime.

Last year, a man was stuck in an elevator for THREE DAYS. He made contact with security via the phone, but they couldn't understand what he was saying (didn't speak English). So, NATURALLY, they couldn't be bothered to check it out. One person, calling from an elevator for a whole day should have raised some questions.

Try not to let your life depend on stupid people. The odds are bad because there are so many of them.

Sue

Take the stairs.

Without knowing the contents of his pockets, yes. Even keys would make progress against cinderblocks.

I think there might have been a small controlled smoldering fire in a corner of my elevator car, enuff to trip a fire/smoke alarm after about 12 hours.

I was actually stuck in an elevator about 20 years ago for almost 5 hours. There was a phone in the elevator that went to a answering service. I tried to sleep, but they kept calling to make sure I was ok every 15 minutes.

Is there maybe a way to set off the fire alarm, without smothering yourself of course? That ought to get the attention of someone a little more interested then a security guard.

"...security...but they couldn't understand what he was saying (didn't speak English)..."

Not wanting to be zapped, no comment...

Hmm. Many years ago in the early 70s I was stuck in an elevator and no one responded.

I was just out on leave from the army and if you've ever been in the military you know that when you are 20 and on leave for a couple of days you are just NOT going to wait around in an elevator!

I was in uniform and had a lot of kit with me so I forced the door open and found I was in between floors but could see the bottom of the floor above and the top of the floor beneath.

So I swung down to the floor below thinking that swinging down was quicker than climbing up and I did think that it would not be nice if the lift moved and I got cut in half so wanted to get it over fast. A woman waiting for the lift was very shocked that somone would come out that way.

Nowadays, I'd just sit quietly in the lift I suppose like the old man I am.

That building had security guards. The article says that 8 of them had a chance to notice the security monitors, but none of them did.

The guy smoked some cigarettes, so presumably there was no smoke alarm. There was a manual alarm but no-one heard it and eventually he turned it off. There were engineers working in other elevators but they didn't check his. Although it was late Friday night, he had some work colleagues who expected him back, but they thought he'd bunked off deliberately.

He didn't even have a watch, so he didn't know what time it was or when other people were more likely to be about.

I think Sue is saying that it was the stuck passenger that didn't speak English, not security.

I was at an interview a couple weeks ago, and got stuck in an elevator with 15 other people -- and this wasn't a big cargo elevator. The interviewer asked if anyone was claustrophobic, and I said that I was, so everyone said, "Oh! Quick! Move her to the front of the elevator." Great. Now I'm stuck near the front of an elevator with 15 other people instead of being stuck near the back of the elevator with 15 other people. As Dr. Henry Jones Sr. says, "Our situation has not improved."

I asked the interviewer if she knew the phone number for security, and she didn't, so I asked her if she knew the main number, which she also didn't. She called her secretary, who called security. Meanwhile, the people on the other side of the elevator were trying to get the elevator phone to work. Someone answered, and said they would call security, who would call the elevator maintenance people...

I figured that if I wasn't out of there in five minutes, I was calling 911 and telling them I was about to have a baby in the elevator.

I told someone to pull open the doors, which they did, and he was able to open the door about five inches before it snagged on something metal and wouldn't open further. We weren't between floors, so I told him to pull harder, but was vetoed by the other people in the elevator who didn't want to break anything.

A few minutes later, someone on the floor where we were stuck apparently pressed the elevator call button, and Ding! the elevator doors opened. We all poured out of the elevator and took the stairs to our destination.

If it had just been me in there, I would have been out of that elevator in about 30 seconds flat by forcing the doors, but it's a more delicate situation when there are other people present, and one of them is there to interview you.

Breaking out of an elevator is inherently dangerous. Falls, getting ground between elevators or an elevator and the shaft, getting entangled in gears, belts or cables, exposed electrical gear and the chance the car moves when your halfway through the door are all possible outcomes of trying to get out on your own.

Sometimes staying put and waiting for rescue isn't an attractive option. Rescue can take hours. Time you might not have if the building is on fire or you suffer from one of the many time dependent diseases like diabetes.

On 9/11, according to the firefighters who survived and at least one photograph I have seen, several elevator cars were occupied. These had been directed to the ground floor. But in some cases the doors wouldn't open. The firemen, operating according to standard protocols, considered freeing the trapped people a low priority. They were thought to be trapped but otherwise safe. The building fell on them before they were freed.

These situations are pretty rare and the default has to be to wait but a person has to be aware of the limits of normal behavior and situations. And when it is best to eschew normal limits and to take risks in an attempt to save yourself.

Looking at a few elevator installations all of them had hatches in the ceiling. Often concealed above a false ceiling and lights. usually somewhat toward the back of the car. All these hatches had latches that were operable only from the outside. But don't be discouraged. All of the locks I saw were cheap, lightly constructed and attached with nothing but a few small screws. I have no doubts that a determined shove or kick would quickly overcome them.

Getting to the trapdoor in the ceiling is the hardest part. If the car has hand rails you can use those and the geometry of the corner to get into position. A little assistance from fellow passengers would also help.

What you do after that is too varied to make many recommendations. I will suggest that you be careful. Take it one step at a time. And that if you do get the outer doors open that you move as quickly as possible through the doorway to limit the chances of getting guillotined if the car should move.

I believe Ripley demonstrated the best method. Just hold your cigarette lighter up to the sensor.
When in doubt, look to James Cameron.

Meh... I would've went for it, interview or no interview. "Well, she did damage company property, but she appears to be an unstoppable problem solver!"


My only thought is that I want to see Bear handle this scenario on Man vs. Wild.

Yeah, a practical demonstration of leadership skills and "out of the box thinking."

;-)