How can a falling elevator kill you

If you've ever watched a disaster movie, listened to that old Aerosmith single or nervously glanced at a maximum load placard, you've probably pondered what you would do if you were ever trapped in a falling elevator.

Statistically, elevators are quite safe, as long as their safety features function properly and passengers remain fully inside the car.

Most elevator-related injuries and fatalities happen to construction or maintenance workers, followed by people who fall down shafts or are crushed after being caught in elevator doors or between floors.

Modern elevators incorporate safety features to help prevent fatal falls. Traction elevators , which move cars up and down using steel cables, pulleys and counterweights, have a speed-sensing governor. If the car zips downward too quickly, the governor activates brakes on the elevator's travel rails. Traction elevators also locate switches along the elevator shaft, which detect cars as they pass and initiate slowdowns and stops at the appropriate points in their travel, whether during a normal stop or because the car is moving too fast.

Each of the four to eight steel cables in a traction elevator is strong enough by itself to hold the car. Hydraulic elevators , which lift and lower elevator cars using a piston jack similar to the one auto mechanics use to lift automobiles, generally lack the safety features of traction elevators unless the builders install special aftermarket safety brakes.

Although they are unlikely to fail, if they do, they are more likely to fail catastrophically than traction elevators. On the plus side, it's impractical to build a hydraulic lift higher than six stories, so you're only going to fall 60 to 90 feet. Then again, that means you'll hit the basement doing a brisk 48 to 53 mph. So, you're in a falling elevator. But there are two main problems with this idea.

And second, you need to have a very strong jump. So a more realistic option might be to lay your body against the floor. Even that can be tricky. But if you manage to do that, then the impact will be distributed more evenly across your body.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. You Ask We Answer. Please enter your comment! Please enter your name here. You have entered an incorrect email address! Popular articles. Why do Dead Whales Explode? Brown Snake is Fatal? All Facts about it. Maybe you chose to brace yourself? When the elevator hits the bottom of the shaft, your body will seem much heavier, depending on the length of your ride to the bottom.

Even your own head would seem too heavy for your neck to hold up. Your best chance is to lie down with the chubbiest side of you on the floor and make sure to protect your head.

That will distribute the force of the impact all over your body. Plus, the bottom pad of the elevator shaft would help reduce the impact. Survival is possible. In , when a bomber hit the Empire State Building, one woman happened to be in an elevator. She plummeted 75 floors to the basement and got out of there with a few broken bones.

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