From here:
Memphis Toddler dies after falling down elevator shaft May 2, 2006 04:36 PMA three-year-old boy died Monday night after falling down an elevator shaft at The Pinnacle, located at 305 South Bellevue in Memphis.
Officials at the scene said when the boy leaned back against a pair of elevator doors in the apartment building, the doors opened from the bottom. The child fell nine floors to the basement. The boy's grandfather climbed down cables in the elevator shaft to reach the child, and handed him to a building engineer.
Emergency crews transported the boy to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
First thing: My condolences to the family of the young man who lost his life. This type of accident should be impossible... not that it'll matter a bit to them.
Second: Thank goodness that this elevator is not serviced by the company I work for. I shudder to think that any of my contemporaries could be responsible for the death of the little boy.
Last: The only way that this incident could have occurred is for an installer or servicer to have either removed/never installed the door "gibb's" (the little guides that ride in the sill grooves), or someone damaged the hoistway door through vandalism or whatever means. (I really hope it was the latter instance). Hoistway doors are designed in such a fashion that they will not fall off in the event of a fire (there are metal tabs that ride in the sill-track, along with angles that hold the top off the door to the track), so this event should be impossible. I wish I knew what caused these doors to fail, so I could put my mind at ease, and ensure nothing like this will ever happen on one of my elevators.
Posted by Johnny - Oh at May 2, 2006 07:03 PM | TrackBackBased upon what you said and what I know of my environs, I'd bet someone removed them to sell as scrap metal.
Here, they do it with lightpost plates, guard rails, fences, and railings. Anything that can be sold as scrap metal.
If a crack-head knew something of elevator design, he would know those could be removed and no one would know.
...Just what popped into my head...
Posted by: _Jon at May 3, 2006 10:13 PMAgreeing with _Jon. I'm not sure what kind of neighborhood 305 South Bellevue is in, but if it's low income housing, then it was some sort of vandalism.
Posted by: Harvey at May 4, 2006 06:46 AM