Many people have a fear of heights, fear of the dark, or some other phobia. A common fear held by many is a fear of being stuck in an elevator. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to a 41-year-old New-York woman. An elevator accident occurred at her Manhattan office building and investigators have discovered that the accident occurred due to a bypassed safety circuit that mechanics had disabled during earlier maintenance. This explanation has now been developed following a two-month investigation. The woman, advertising executive had stepped halfway onto the elevator before in shot back up and crushed her to death. Apparently, mechanics from Transel Elevator, Inc., who had been working on elevators before the accident occurred, did not place caution tape across the elevator door to alert the city buildings department to inspect the elevators before restoring service. This caused the woman to see no visible reason to not use the elevator. Due to the incident, the buildings department suspended and attempting to revoke the elevator company owner’s license after issuing 23 violations. The technical explanation as to what really happened is even more shocking.
During earlier elevator maintenance, workers used a “jumper” wire to bypass safety circuits that usually prevent elevators from moving while their doors are open. However, they failed to remove the “jumper” wire before putting the elevator back online, causing the elevator to shoot right back up. From the outside view of the elevator, a person would not see or hear anything wrong with the elevator. Incidents like this make me question certified technicians. With something as serious as elevator operations, you would think that there would be no room for errors or mistakes as big as forgetting to remove a jumper. I understand that with most hands on jobs, there may be room for error but this was a major one. That mistake caused someone to experience a gruesome death and I feel that the technician’s license should be revoked and he should be arrested. When people agree to take on important jobs in an area such as elevator operations, they should be aware that they must follow all protocol because one mistake could end someone’s life. I do feel that it is a good thing that this incident occurred so that the elevator company could be caught and not harm anyone else with their poor technician abilities. After learning about this story, I think I’d rather take the stairs from now on.