Elevator Expert Weighs In After Incident At Philadelphia's CJC
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A confusing scene occurred on Thursday morning inside the busy Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia. Investigators say a major malfunction sent an elevator, on the 11th floor, shooting upward into the penthouse level, crashing through the ceiling of the shaft and raining down debris onto a second elevator in the basement.
48-year-old Sergeant Paul Owens, with the Sheriff's Department, was inside that speeding elevator, which is only used by staff, judges, jurors and inmates.
"He was actually doing his job in supervising that area," said Sheriff Jewell Williams. He adds that the 27 year veteran of the force is in critical condition at Hahnemann Hospital. He got out of surgery on Thursday night; a surgery that was deemed a success, although his injuries are extensive.
Clerk Beverly Smith was in the second car and is home and appears to be well.
"The elevator could not control itself and ran right through that therefore striking the overhead steel," explained elevator consultant Richard Kennedy, the owner of Kencor Elevator Company.
The question, after the ordeal, is why. "We could have a voltage problem. We could have a drive fault problem. Brake fail descent. There are a number of issues we'd have to look at and I'm sure the commonwealth of PA has dispatched their investigative team," Kennedy said.
He added that the team will conduct a thorough investigation, revealing what happened. He says in the meantime, regarding whether people should be concerned about using an elevator, "Absolutely not. Elevator travel is the safest form of transportation we have today."