Not an elevator expert by any stretch, but aren't these cars supposed to have emergency phones? Alarm buttons? Accessable escape hatches? Or some other safety features to prevent this? And what if he was a diabetic, or had some other ailment that needed consistant medication?
Seems to me that this fella has grounds for a HUGE and HEFTY friggin' lawsuit against the building, the elevators' manufacturer and/or anyone else connected with this travesty.
canuck once again agree with you thats gotta stop happening - anyway my dear Dad was a diabetic and I know 40hrs could or even would be fatal without food and meds.
PS: I was a little surprised and even disappointed to hear that you're not a expert on something.
It's a long article with a lot of rabbit trails, but here's the facts...
- He was in an express elevator, no access from floors 1-30
- There was an escape hatch that he tried
A vertical-transportation axiom states that if an elevator is in trouble the safest place to be is inside the elevator. This holds even if the elevator is not in trouble. Elevator surfing%u2014riding on top of the cab, for kicks%u2014is dangerous. This is why the escape hatch is always locked. By law, it%u2019s bolted shut, from the outside. It%u2019s there so that emergency personnel can get in, not so passengers can get out.
- He pulled the alarm, and it was ringing for most of the time he was in the elevator (he only turned it off when it started messing with his ears/head)
- He filed a 25 million dollar lawsuit, but eventually only got a small sum (under 6 figures) that he apparently isn't allowed to disclose.
- He ended up locking himself in his apartment, didn't return to work. Lose his job and his apparentment, and spend all his money.
A fairly sad story...on the whole...elevators are considered to be more safe than driving a car...
Two years ago one guy here in Berlin got stuck in an elevator in a hospital. They did not notice for three days, he was dead when they found him. This is a shitty emergency system.
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German retiree and former elevator repair man had to survive on just a packet of biscuits while he was stuck in a broken hospital elevator for three days.
Karlheinz Schmidt, 68, who had turned up for a routine appointment at a Berlin hospital, slipped out of his wheelchair during the 80-hour ordeal in which he repeatedly pushed the elevator's alarm button without anyone hearing his call for help.
"I was lying on the floor and the elevator went up and down for a bit. I pushed the alarm button several times, but nothing happened," the daily Bild quoted Schmidt as saying. "I thought to myself ... 'Karlheinz, that's it. You're on your own now'."
Schmidt, who appeared on German television looking pale and weak, was finally discovered Monday after a nurse reported the broken lift. Schmidt's son had launched a hunt for his father but rescue workers after scouring the hospital grounds had concentrated efforts on dredging a nearby canal.
You are right, he did not die. There was another incident at the same time same hospital (Benjamin Franklin Clinic in Berlin/Steglitz), where one gux did get lost in the building, trappen himself in a room and did actually die.
Sounds like a bad joke for two such thing happening at the same time at the same hospital but it is true.
Japan
Hachioji, Tokyo, August 30, 2006 - A carpenter doing interior design work in a building in the Tokyo city of Hachioji plunged to his death after stepping into an empty elevator shaft, mistakenly thinking that the elevator had arrived, police said. The elevator involved was installed by Hitachi (not confirmed yet). Source: Mainichi Shinbun
Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, June 2006 - a 16-year old high school student was killed as he was backing out of an elevator with his bicycle when the elevator suddenly rose with the doors still open, crushing his skull.
Further information: Minato Ward 2006 elevator accident
Hokkaido, Tokyo, September 20 - a 52 year-old man working for a "fire prevention center" fell down the shaft to his death. Using a special key, the victim opened the 1-floor landing door while the elevator was not in the first floor. This case involved a Hitachi Elevator installed in 1974 and maintained by Hitachi. Information source: Hokkaido Shinbunsha September 21, 2004 (morning edition).
Meguro, Tokyo, Japan, September 15, 2004 - the victim (no detail about his identity) fell down the shaft to his death. This case involved a Toshiba Elevator installed in 1993. Maintenance company is not mentioned. Source: Japanese Elevator Association.
Canada
Toronto - five people receive broken ankles and other minor injuries, as an Otis parking garage hydraulic elevator in a National Life building on University Avenue plummets five floors. [7] [8] [9]
U.S.
New York 2004. Fatality involving malfunction of Schindler freight elevator. [10] [11]
Texas, August 16, 2003. Decapitation of doctor in old Otis made elevator. [6] Internal investigation concluded that a wire in an electrical panel was incorrectly connected. Kone, Inc., which had recently been servicing the elevator was later dismissed. [12]
New Orleans, July 2003. Fatality involving malfunction of elevator at the Kenner Regional Medical Center. [13]
Michigan 1999. Woman age 56 on gurney became lodged between elevator car and shaft wall and dragged four floors. [14]
The Bronx, New York, January 6, 1995. Runaway elevator in office building decapitated 55-year-old James Chenault as he tried to help fellow passengers out of a malfunctioning car. [15]
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, April 22, 1997. Explosion in pit of a Kone elevator during modernization in a Post Office injures 2 elevator workers.
[16]
Ohio, October 20, 2006. A student at The Ohio State University was killed while riding an elevator in a dormitory. The elevator began to descend while the doors were still open, and he became pinned between the building and the car while trying to exit the crowded elevator, causing asphyxiation. Brake tests were run on the elevator, which involves loading the car with 125% of it's rated load capacity. The elevator in question (as well as many others on campus) failed this test. [7] [8][9]
Mexico
Cancun, June 2006. A teenager vacationing with his family at the hotel Royal Solaris in Cancun fell to his death in an elevator shaft. The shaft was completely empty. Mitsubishi[citation needed] was about to do a modernization job in this shaft.
England
London, June 2006. A 47-year-old man was killed when he plummeted eight floors during a refurbishment job in an office High Holborn, London. The lift was being modernized by a company called Guidelines. (Source: Construction News)
Russia
Omsk, June 2006. An eight-month-old baby died when an elevator in an apartment building fell six stories. The elevator in question was not installed by a major elevator manufacturer. (Source: Nowosti)
I was thinking about that...went between frames no doubt, at 1:55 he looks like he's taking a leak at the open door.
Lots of time to think, to think of, in no particular order....what if there's a fire, I'm missing my big job interview, I was supposed to be in court, my dog has to go out, I'm getting married in two hours, two floors above is my dentist who was going to fix my open nerve busted tooth, my two week vacation to the sun is tomorrow, I have a cab waiting with the meter running, everyone is gone I'm the last person alive, was that a demolition crew I saw out front, did I leave the stove on, I'm missing Mythbusters, why did I eat that many burritos for lunch, I have my cigarettes but left my lighter in the car, do I smell gas, is this placed moving, that f-ing light hums, I was winning a bid on ebay, the sprinkler is on, there's a battery charging in the garage, what time is it, what day is it, is it day, I stink, this elevator stinks, is that a piss stain in the corner, I'm hungry, so is my dog, so are my cats but fuck them, elevator mechanic must be union, I can't sleep without my blankey.....
I am just wondering if the music in the elevator was working the entire time? 41 hours of Greensleeves and The Way We Were. That would definately add to my bottom line for the lawsuit!
No real harm done to the guy - granted I would be tired, hungry, and totally PO'd. But I would bet he would get no more than a minor amount of damages when he sued, like $15000 or so. Except in the USA - then it was probably about $2 million.
So did he sue? Go on a rampage at the Otis head office? What?
Try being buried alive under an earthquake for 12 days. That happened to a friend of mine in Turkey. When the sniffer dogs eventually found him, one of them bit him on the nose! Fantastic!!
He lost nine pounds, now has a hellish skin complaint, breathing difficulties and sporadic menatl problems. He got no compensation at all.
this vid was easier to watch than to think about having been stuck there for so long. I suppose no one was watching the cameras. How much $ did he get?
#1. No body should ever play that "bad day" song again, thank you very much.
#2. If the guy didn't smoke, this wouldn't have happened to him.
#3. On the other hand, I'd gladly trade places with him. Here he was just sitting around for 41 hours and he gets six figures. Here I am working my @$$ off all my life and I don't even have a pot to pee in!
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