I have never been stuck in an elevator in 34 years..I thought I was several times but always managed to extricate myself..
The closest I ever came?
Mid 80's. A co worker had just finished adjusting his 1st elevator. (A Swift 5000). He got on the radio and called everybody in the area to come ride "One Sweet Ride"..
So about 7 of us get in the "Sweet Ride" and about halfway down the rise the elevator came to an abrupt stop. We opened the car doors and were staring at concrete. (Blind Hatch)
So we sat there about an hour trying to discreetly get the attention of passerby's. Finally got the attention of the building engineer. All he could make out, evidently, that someone was stuck in the elevator. Told us "Help was on the way"
Sure enough, just a few minutes later the maintenance man's beeper went off with a 911 code. Of course he was in the elevator with us!!!
So by this time the "Adjuster" was really catching hell from everyone. We hoisted him up on our shoulders and that's when he remembered that he had already bolted down the car top escape hatch.
So then...With NO Tools but 7 guys we ripped the Stainless stell handrail off the back of the cab and after about 15 minutes, used the handrail as a battering ram to beat the top of the car escape hatch open.
Then we THREW the adjuster to the car top. From there he had to climp 3 floors of rails to get out at the next landing. Then he reset the drive and we got out. (Forgot to set his overcurrent limits...(Sheesh)...
Yeah..."One Sweet Ride"...LOL
