Empire State building elevator horror

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elevator falls 40 stories brakes seconds before a certain death for the two occupunts.

http://www.megastar.co.uk/news/index.html

-- BRAKES!!!!!!!!! (falling@fast.com), January 25, 2000

Answers

Awwwww come on...You know the pollies old us that no elevators would fall! And that no planes would fall out of the sky, due to Y2K.. (Of course they won't mention that about a year ago, out in California). The FAA held a light plane in an "orbit" pattern over an air port, while they tried to fix a "glitch" (not PC to say Y2K you know). The pilot held his circling pattern untill he ran low on fuel..The FAA then consented to direct the poor man to another air feild. Only by that time the plane didn't have enough fuel to make it. The plane crashed, killing the pilot.

While Y2K didn't effect the plane's performance, it was the "trigger" for a person dying....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shakey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- Shakey (in_a_bunker@forty.feet), January 26, 2000.


Journalistic license?

My understanding of elevators is that the safety mechanism is some spring-loaded brakes kept off by the tension between the cable and the cage. So if the cable breaks, the brakes come on IMMEDIATELY. It's a completely passive safety mechanism: nothing electrical or electronic to go wring, and precious few moving parts.

So dit it really plummet 40 stories? Or did it descend 30-odd in the usual way, after which the cable failed under the maximum stress (ie while slowing down), and the emergency brakes came on?

The former implies something very strange about the mechanism. I suspect the latter, plus journalists talking up the story (or shocked passengers being understandably unclear about the fine detail).

-- Nigel (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), January 26, 2000.


In 1978 my ex-wife and I were on the elevator of the 60-story United California bank building (the same one used in the movie EARTHQUAKE) and the elevator fell 55 stories before was stopped from crashing at the 5th floor. My ex's hair was standing straight up from so much wind blowing inside the compartment and we were both screaming. The 15 extra floors we experienced compared to the one in New York-well I can't imagine the difference. If you crash you crash.

-- Richard Markland (newsman@bright.net), January 26, 2000.

Good point Shakey. This problem does indeed appear to be Y2K related.

-- (kevin@dirmect.org), January 26, 2000.

Isn't falling 55 stories and having the brakes go on the same as falling 55 stories and hitting the bottom? What law of gravity changes? Aren't YOU still falling? Don't you smoosh on the bottom of the car? Or do the brakes go very very slowly?

-- kritter (kritter@adelphia.net), January 26, 2000.


See "Elevator Falls 40 Stories" thread from yesterday.

...when thread collide...

-- Andre Weltman (aweltman@health.state.pa.us), January 26, 2000.


Nigel, I think it depends on the elevator. An elevator in a very old building in my city crashed last year after the cable broke (the occupants were jumping up and down in the elevator just prior to the cable snapping-tells you what kind of neighborhood it was), and it just fell into the basement. Thank goodness no one was killed.

-- Die Fledermaus (shadow@alliance.org), January 26, 2000.

I agree with Nigel, there is something missing from this story, big time.

The primary reason we have tall buildings is : Elevators with "mechanical and automatic" safety systems.

Prior to the invention of the automatic safety brakes for elevators, no one would ride on them for fear of the cable snapping and the occupants falling to the ground floor.

In a highly publicized event, the inventor (forgot who, don't feel like draggin out the EB..) got in his mockup elevator and cut the cable holding it.

The elevator dropped a few inches before the brake system kicked in.

The brake system is held back by the cable pulling on the car. Remove the cable and the brakes are free to spring out and clamp against the sides of the shaft in some manner.

From the story:
Empire State spokesman Howard Rubenstein said the incident was the result of a sheared cable.

"The safety system worked the way it was supposed to, slowing and stopping the car, and we're very pleased nobody was hurt severely."

If the braking system was not maintained properly, then there may have been a delay while the sticky brake mechanism worked its way out.

still waiting for the *GONG* of Fate to sound....

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), January 26, 2000.


One possible scenario:

IIRC, the story was that the cable broke near the _counterweight_.

If so, it would mean that the cable was still wrapped (several turns) around the windlass at the top of the elevator shaft.

So, while it would indeed _slip_ over the windlass, the fact that there were several loops wound around it would create friction -- perhaps _sufficient_ friction to maintain sufficient tension at the cable/cab interface to prevent the brakes from releasing.

Then, when the end of the cable whipped around the windlass, the friction -- and resistance -- disappeared, and the brakes engaged.

-- Sluggo (sluggo@your.head), January 26, 2000.


off off

-- (off@off.off), January 26, 2000.


ow!

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), January 26, 2000.

Sluggo - everything you say makes perfect sense. The unfortunate occupants of the lift weren't in any great danger, except of having a cardiac arrest because they didn't know this. No, I would NOT like to have been one of them!

-- Nigel (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), January 27, 2000.

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