Category Archives: Minor Injuries

Atlanta, GA – Two firefighters injured battling escalator blaze at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport

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Two firefighters suffered minor injuries on Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013, around 5:30 a.m., while battling a blaze on an escalator that caught fire at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The fire broke out around 5:20 a.m., and was contained by 6:30 a.m., according to airport officials. Initial reports indicated that the firefighters may have slipped on water that was being used to fight the fire. At the time of writing there was no indication of what caused the escalator to catch fire, although NBC 11 Alive reported that officials believed the fire started in the escalator’s motor. Both firefighters were treated for their injuries at the scene. Watch the report by NBC 11 Alive below:

Sources reporting this story include:

Harlem, NY – Woman suffers seizure on escalator, injured after hair became entrapped

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A 32-year old woman was injured on July 3, 2013, around 3:30 p.m., after she passed out on an escalator at the subway station at 125th Street and Broadway in Harlem, NY. The victim is reported to have suffered from an unspecified medical condition and was suspected to have suffered a seizure moments before losing consciousness. She then dropped to the still-moving steps, at which point her hair became entrapped between the steps, causing her to lose a significant amount of hair and possibly a portion of her scalp. A nearby police officer reportedly activated the emergency stop button shortly after, and FDNY emergency medical technicians were able to free the woman upon arrival. The victim also suffered cuts to her face, legs, and arms, and was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital for further treatment.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

Sources reporting the story included:

Duluth, MN – 4 small children, 1 woman injured in escalator pileup

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Four young children and woman suffered injuries on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, around 1:05 p.m., after an escalator accident occurred at the Wells Fargo building in downtown Duluth, Minnesota. According to local news reports, a group of 20 children and their daycare providers boarded the escalator traveling downwards. One of the children was apparently afraid to step off the escalator, creating a pileup behind them. Further complicating the situation, the children were apparently tied together or otherwise connected to a rope, causing a “chain reaction” when the pileup began. One of the children suffered a severe ankle injury; the remaining four were treated for minor cuts and bruises.

Remember to step off immediately when reaching the end of an escalator. Never let feet “slide off” the end of an escalator; step over the comb teeth, and move away from the end of an escalator so that others behind you have room to exit.

Sources reporting this story include:

New Delhi, Delhi, India – Nine people injured after apartment building falls one floor

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Nine people suffered minor injuries around 2:50 p.m. local time, June 18, 2013, when an elevator in an apartment building in New Delhi, Delhi, India apparently “slipped” one floor, falling from the fourth floor before stopping suddenly at the third floor. The victims were all taken to a nearby hospital, where they received first aid and were released. No information was available regarding the cause of the malfunction.

Based on the the description of the incident, it appears that the elevator may have descended uncontrollably, causing the elevator to overspeed downwards, causing the overspeed governor to apply the car safety. Typically, when an elevator exceeds its rated speed, the overspeed governor will first trip electrically, sending a signal to the elevator controller to stop the car. If the controller is unable to stop the car and the car continues to accelerate downward, it will then trip mechanically. When the governor trips mechanically, jaws on the centrifugal governor grab the governor cable. The energy of the descending car then causes the governor cable, which is now fixed, to engage the car’s emergency brakes, which clamp down on the guide rails, stopping the car.

In the United States, the ASME A17.1 “Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators” provides that when the overspeed governor trips mechanically, the car should not decelerate at a rate greater than “1 G”, the rate of normal gravitational acceleration, or 9.8 meters per second-squared. It should be noted that a downward acceleration of “1 G” would cause an elevator rider to experience a relative weight twice their normal weight. That is, a passenger would “weigh” twice their normal weight relative to the elevator floor below their feet, so it is not difficult to understand how a passenger would be thrown around and injured when an elevator stops during a high speed mechanical safety application. However, had the mechanical safety not been provided or malfunctioned, the elevator would have continued to decelerate until it reached terminal velocity and crashed into the pit at the bottom landing, so despite that these passengers suffered minor injuries, they should consider themselves lucky that the safety devices worked as designed, allowing them to escape potentially fatal injuries.

Sources reporting this story locally include:

Schaumburg, IL – Three elderly victims suffer minor injuries in escalator mishap

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According to the Chicago Tribune, two women and one man, all in their 80s, suffered cuts and abrasions during an escalator accident that occurred at 11:08 a.m., Saturday, March 23, 2013 in the Nordstrom department store at the Woodfield Mall.

For an unknown reason, not currently attributed to any mechanical malfunction, the male victim started to fall and attempted to grab his wife to regain his balance. Unfortunately, his wife then fell and toppled onto the third victim. All three victims were taken to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries. A police spokesperson stated that none of the injuries were life threatening, and that police had reviewed surveillance video of the incident. Read the full story at ChicagoTribune.com, published March 23, 2013.

Assuming that there was no specific mechanical deficiency that led to these injuries, this incident highlights the everyday dangers of riding an escalator. Persons with limited mobility, or other conditions that could lead to loss of balance (such as vertigo), should avoid escalators and use elevators instead.

Although many able-bodied people are able to safely ride escalators (and even walk on them while they are in motion without incident), trip and fall accidents associated with escalators are quite common, and unfortunately, they are often more severe than trip and fall accidents involving stairs due to the nature of escalators. Escalators often have sharp, collapsing steps with higher step heights than a comparable staircase. This can also make it difficult for a falling rider to right themselves.

A study published in 2008 found that nearly 40,000 adults age 65 and older were injured on escalators between 1991 and 2005. However, the author of the study also noted that escalator-related injuries still comprised only a small proportion of the total number of injuries to older adults.

Upper West Side, NY – One-year old boy trips, get hand stuck in escalator

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According to WABC 7 Eyewitness News, a 21-month old boy got his hand stuck between two steps in an escalator after he tripped and fell around 10:48a.m., Friday, February 22, 2013. The boy was riding with an adult on the escalator, located inside a Barnes & Noble bookstore at the corner of Broadway and 82nd Street when the incident occurred. According to an unnamed employee, the escalator automatically stopped shortly after the boy’s hand became entrapped. The boy was able to free himself shortly thereafter. Firefighters arrived and treated the boy at the scene for a hand laceration. Read the full story published February 22, 2013.

This young boy was incredibly fortunate in that the step-upthrust safety device apparently functioned as designed. The step-upthrust device automatically stops an escalator when an obstruction is detected in the lower-curve area, which would cause a step to be elevated higher than usual, which in turn would cause an impact with the comb plates at the bottom landing. Although the child did suffer a cut to his hand, his injuries might have been far more severe or even fatal if the escalator had continued to run while his hand was entrapped. This incident also highlights an important but basic elevator safety rule: always hold a child’s hand when riding an escalator. Never allow children to play around or run on escalators.

Jersey City, NJ – Malfunctioning PATH escalator runs backwards, injuring six

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Multiple news sources are reporting that at around 9 a.m. Monday, January 7, 2013, an escalator at the Exchange Place PATH station malfunctioned while numerous commuters were on board, leading to several injuries.

The incident, which was partially caught on video and posted to YouTube (below), depicts one of the station’s escalators, which was running upwards, suddenly reversed direction, as passengers piled up at the bottom and others tried to walk upwards to avoid getting dumped at the bottom landing. At least one man in the video appeared to have jumped on and clung to the balustrade between the escalators.

Reports regarding the number of victims were inconsistent, but it appears that between four and six victims suffered mostly minor injuries such as cuts and bruises, although at least one victim was hospitalized. The end of the YouTube video appears to depict a woman screaming in pain, although she was not seen on screen and the extent of her injuries remained unclear. Also, it appears that at some point after the malfunction started, the escalator stopped. It was not clear whether it was stopped because the malfunction tripped a built-in safety device or if someone activated the emergency stop switch.

The station has three 150-foot long escalators that provide access to and from the subway platform 75-feet below street level. The escalators are maintained by Schindler.

The station was badly flooded during Hurricane Sandy, although it was not known whether flood damage may have been a factor in this incident. One of the escalators was still out of service at the time of the incident, which now leaves the station with one functioning escalator.

Read the reports, published December 7, 2013, by the Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, and My FOX NY.

Bellevue, WA – Bellevue Square Macy’s escalator rips itself apart, injuring 4

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The Seattle Times and Q13 FOX News are reporting an escalator malfunction in the Macy’s at Bellevue Square shopping center, in Bellevue, Washington.

According to the Seattle Times, “Four people fell when an escalator inside Bellevue Square shopping center malfunctioned tonight, according to the Bellevue Fire Department. A man, woman and two 3-year-olds were taken to local hospitals after the 7:21 p.m. malfunction at Macy’s. The man sustained minor injuries while the three others were taken as a precaution, said Bellevue Fire spokesman Troy Donlin.”

According to Q13 FOX News, the state inspectors have been notified about the incident. The cause of the incident remains unclear at this time. Interestingly, both articles include a photo posted on Twitter by an apparent witness. That photo, which was allegedly taken immediately after the incident, clearly depicts the escalator with some of its steps removed, a bystander at the top landing actually holding a step, and with bystanders crowding around the broken escalator. A stroller is seen laying on its side at the top of the frame, behind a crowd. The articles note that a 3-year old was hospitalized as a precaution after the accident, however, it was not clear at the time of writing whether the stroller was involved with the accident.

Escalators are required to be equipped with numerous safety switches that detect potentially hazardous conditions and safely stop the escalator to prevent injuries and equipment damage, for example, a comb impact device, which detects when a step is impacting the comb teeth at the landing.

Read the full story by the Seattle Times, and the full story published Q13 FOX News, both published December 6, 2012.

On December 7, 2012, Bellevue Patch published an article with some additional information. According to that article, the Macy’s was built in 1982 and the escalator was first inspected in 1983. The violation history for the escalator was apparently rather tame, citing only burnt out demarcation lighting and broken comb teeth over the last two years. Both violations are extremely common and not necessarily indicative of anything. That article also notes that Schindler was the escalator contractor at the time of the incident.

The Patch article also notes that the ground floor escalator, which was apparently running in the up direction, malfunctioned “[causing] the top of the steps to pile up.”

Buford, GA – Child injured on escalator after falling from stroller

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A young child was injured Wednesday, December 28, 2011 around 7 p.m. at the Mall of Georgia in Buford, Georgia. According to a fire official, the child fell out of a stroller while the stroller was on the escalator. The child was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries.

This story is an unfortunate example of the very real dangers of boarding an escalator with a stroller. Although it is not directly required by the ASME A17.1, “Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators,” escalator manufacturers and building owners frequently place prominent signs near escalators warning riders not to board with strollers, walkers, or carts. Other accidents involving strollers include strollers being dropped down the escalator and strollers becoming entrapped with the escalator.

This story was originally reported by the Lilburn Mountain Park Patch on December 29, 2011.