Elevator at Chicago skyscraper fall more than 80 floors after cables snap

abc7chicago.com

12 points·uger··7 comments

I can't be the only one that imagined that these people were in a free fall at terminal velocity and screaming.

But from the sound of it, there were many extra cables, nobody was in danger, and it seems like even the people didn't even fully realize that the elevator was going much faster.

This is as much a story about amazing elevator safety as it is about cables snapping. But hey, I don't write the headlines.

I concur.

> the group had just left the Signature Room restaurant on the 95th floor when they heard noises and experienced a faster and bumpier ride than expected

> fire officials said it wasn't an unsafe situation, even though two cables broke, since there were many other cables still attached

I am confused why this story was posted here

If all the cables break the automatic brake kicks in.

Elevators are actually safer than people think, with multiple redundant fallback mechanisms. Free-falling elevators aren't really a thing these days.

So what exactly happened here? Clearly they didn't fell down 80 floors, because then they'd be all dead and no elevator cabin to be found. Also, for a cabin to free fall, not only do the cables need to snap but also the automatic brakes need to fail as well.

TFA says only two out of many cables snapped. Did the other cables slip, causing unintended cabin descent?

Wow that is the most egregious, sensationalized headline I’ve ever seen. It might as well just be plain dishonest.

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