2002-09-04 Elevators were disaster within disaster

2002-09-04 USA Today \Dennis Cauchon\Martha T. Moore \9-11\citizen empowerment\safety\bad design\World Trade Center http://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-04-elevator-usat_x.htm Elevators were disaster within disaster &ldquo;The World Trade Center had one of the world's great elevator systems – 198 of the biggest, fastest elevators ever built. [USA TODAY]] estimates that at least 200 people died inside World Trade Center elevators [on 9/11], the biggest elevator catastrophe in history.&rdquo; &ldquo;The World Trade Center had one of the world's great elevator systems – 198 of the biggest, fastest elevators ever built. On the morning of Sept. 11, this technological marvel turned against the people who worked there. USA TODAY estimates that at least 200 people died inside World Trade Center elevators, the biggest elevator catastrophe in history.&rdquo;  The World Trade Center had one of the world's great elevator systems – 198 of the biggest, fastest elevators ever built. On the morning of Sept. 11, this technological marvel turned against the people who worked there. USA TODAY estimates that at least 200 people died inside World Trade Center elevators, the biggest elevator catastrophe in history. Some people plunged to their deaths after elevator cables were destroyed by the hijacked jets that crashed into the buildings. Others burned to death as flames shot down shafts. And some who were trapped inside stalled elevators died when the buildings collapsed. ... To comply with building codes, the World Trade Center since 1996 had been adding locks that made it impossible for passengers to force open the doors of stalled elevators. These locks, called "door restrictors," had been added to about half of the 198 elevators in the twin towers. Nobody is known to have escaped from an elevator locked by a door restrictor. The World Trade Center followed a long-established approach to elevator rescues: Leave people inside stalled elevators until professionals can perform rescues. The elevators had three mechanisms, including the restrictors, designed to prevent people from accidentally falling down elevator shafts. An untold number were still trapped when the buildings collapsed.   