Longest Fall Survived In An Elevator

Betty Lou Oliver (USA) an elevator operator, survived a plunge of 75 stories (over 300 m or 1,000 ft) in an elevator in the Empire State Building, New York, USA, on July 28, 1945.

The accident occurred after a B-25 bomber accidentally crashed into the Empire State building during a particularly severe bout of fog. Sensing the dangers, the air traffic controller ordered the pilot to make a landing, but in a twist of fate, the pilot made the decision to carry on undeterred. Disorientated by the fog, the pilot believed he was flying on Manhattans West side which proved to be the crucial mistake. Flying past the Chrysler building he proceeded to bear right instead of left, the consequences of which saw him heading directly in the flight path of the Empire State Building. A final last minute attempt to rectify his mistake and climb the height of the building failed. At 9.40 am that morning, the aircraft ploughed into the 74th of the 103 floors of what was known at the time as the worlds tallest building ...

When the plane hit the building, Betty was badly burned having been blown from her position on the 80th floor. Once she received first aid treatment for her injuries, she was put into another supposedly safe elevator in order to meet an ambulance waiting at the bottom.

Unbeknown to rescue workers, the safety cables of Betty's elevator had been cut when the plane penetrated the elevator shaft at the 38th floor. Witnesses heard what sounded like a gunshot as the cables snapped on her decent. By freak co-incidence, if the safety cables had worked as they should, the car would have automatically stopped at the 34th and 35th floors which were known as blind hatches (meaning that there are no escape doors in the hatch), and would have entailed rescue workers breaking through time-consuming layers of marble and concrete to get to her. In addition, the car was on fire which also could have meant Betty suffocating from smoke inhalation in the delay.

Once the cables snapped, the elevator car went into freefall and in a matter of seconds the car had crashed to the basement. Fortunately, the impact was cushioned by the broken cables which piled in a spring-like spiral on the floor of the shaft. It is also thought that the narrow lift shaft served as a compressor for the air and therefore softened the blow. Despite the far corner of the elevator where Betty was standing, the entire car was filled with steel, bricks and parts from the airplane and she had to be cut from the mangled wreckage. Rescue workers who eventually got to Betty said that it was a miracle she was alive!

