Hotel elevator falls, injuring 12 people

Tennessean ^ | 08/05/03 | ZACH MILLS

[bedolido]

Twelve people attending a gospel music convention at the downtown Ramada Inn and Conference Center on Broadway were injured yesterday after the elevator they were riding in fell at least three stories, Metro fire officials and hotel officials said.

''It started to come down, and all of a sudden it took off,'' Clifford Robinson, 76, said about what he described as a ''free fall.''

[anniegetyourgun]

Okay, I'll admit it. This is my worst nightmare and fear.

[Delta 21]

Alls you have to do is jump just befor it hits the bottom and you will be ok. Simple.

[RightWhale]

Saw a construction elevator fall 10 storeys. One man got on at the eighth floor and rode to the tenth, the top floor under construction, where the elevator free-fell to the ground. He was about 50 years old.

[RoughDobermann]

The San Diego ''die-hard man'' said the hardest part of the fall on his body was when the elevator suddenly stopped.

The obvious statement of the day...

[RoughDobermann]

Alls you have to do is jump just befor it hits the bottom and you will be ok. Simple.

Ah, yes. The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Manuever!

[battlegearboat]

Just how fast does the elevator have to fall before the emergency brake engages? sheesh!

[tracer]

"The San Diego ''die-hard man'' said the hardest part of the fall on his body was when the elevator suddenly stopped."

Go figure......

[pitinkie]

Mine too!!!

[Semper Paratus]

Alls you have to do is jump just befor it hits the bottom and you will be ok. Simple

That will only buy you a millisecond, but who knows what could happen in the meantime.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Saw a construction elevator fall 10 storeys. One man got on at the eighth floor and rode to the tenth, the top floor under construction, where the elevator free-fell to the ground. He was about 50 years old.

How old was he before the fall?

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Ten People to the hospital? Weight limit of 2500 pounds on the elevator? Sounds like the elevator might have been a little over loaded.

Perhaps the gospel groups might remember the gospel song. "On the Jericho Road".......there's room for just two.

[mhking]

Gotta watch that deceleration trauma...it'll stop you in your tracks...

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Nita Nupress]

Alls you have to do is jump just befor it hits the bottom and you will be ok. Simple.

Puts new meaning into the phrase, "Timing is everything."

How do you know when to jump?

[AppyPappy]

I've been in an elevator that "fell" but we got it stopped on the 5th floor. I'm still squirrely about them. I guess I need to do the Tower Of Terror ride at Disney to get over it. I rode chairlifts to get over my fear of heights.

[gortklattu]

ONe of my friends died when his parachutes entangled. His tibia and fibula pierced the heels of his boots. Deceleration trauma at its worst.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Just how fast does the elevator have to fall before the emergency brake engages?

I thought it was lack of tension on the cable that caused the brakes to release. The cable that supports the car also retracts the brakes. As soon as the tension falls below a certain critical value, the brakes should pin the car in place. I wouldn't want to have my signature on the inspection certificate for that elevator.

[bedolido]

It's not the fall that'll kill you; it's the sudden stop. Been there, almost did that, almost got the t-shirt. I take the stairs now, always.

My wife is very claustrophobic (however it's spelled) and we take the stairs most of the time. When you said that it remended me of the picture of the twin towers where there are people hanging out of the windows before the collapse

[lowbridge]

''They're investigating whether it was an overloading problem or a brake failure,'' she said. A report is expected in the next couple of days. ''There could possibly be citations issued,'' Reierson said. The elevator, a Westinghouse with a capacity of 2,500 pounds, was most recently inspected in April with a permit issue date of April 10, she said. Elevators are inspected every six months, so the permit was good through November.

This is all the fault of the fast food chain, McDonalds.

I'm wondering how much each and every person weighed. When I get onto a crowded elevator, I mentally calculate the weight of each and every person and compare it to the capacity of the elevator. And I'm 300 pounds. Obese America strikes again.