What Caused The CJC Elevator Failure That Critically Injured A Sheriff's Deputy?
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- State investigators are back at the Criminal Justice Center, where an elevator malfunctioned yesterday, critically injuring a sheriff's deputy.
One expert is weighing in on what possibly could have gone wrong.
Investigators will be trying to figure out why an elevator car crashed upward through the 15th floor ceiling, raining debris down on the second elevator in the shaft.
CBS3 talked with elevator consultant Rick Kennedy who owns the Kencor Elevator Company in West Chester. He says the CJC has a cable-driven elevator run by computerized controllers that monitor where the cars are and how fast they're traveling.
Kennedy says in order for the car to crash through the overhead steel going up, the safety features were either not working for some reason, or the car was traveling too quickly.
"It's too early to say. We could have a voltage problem. We could have a drive fault problem, or a drive problem. A brake failed to set. There's a number of issues that we'd have to look at."
Kennedy says elevators are inspected every six months by the city and state. He says failures are extremely rare, and elevator failures that cause injuries are even more rare.
