Not every elevator ride ends up like this.
But when the steel doors close,
and seal you inside one
square meter of space,
you might find yourself
picturing a worst-case scenario.
For your peace of mind,
it's time you learned
The average office building elevator
works about 10 hours a day,
and it makes 400,000 trips a year.
That's roughly the number of
my trips to the fridge
in times of social isolation.
Getting stuck in an elevator is unpleasant.
It happens to one in every 5,000 rides.
But there's nothing deadly about that.
Finding yourself in a free-falling elevator
is quite rare, one in 10 million trips.
You have a better chance of being killed
by a bear in Yellowstone National Park.
But if you ever do happen to be
in a situation like this,
Luckily for you, we've got a list
of four helpful tips
to get you out of this alive.
There is a theory that if you jump
at just the right moment
as the elevator is hitting the floor,
you'll decrease the speed of your fall.
That, supposedly, will
give you a soft landing.
But chances that you could pull this off
are close to zero.
Pushing yourself off the floor
of a falling elevator is hard enough.
But even if you do jump at
exactly the right time,
you'll have to make an incredibly fast jump.
If you aren't some kind of Superman,
don't attempt to do this.
It might seem counterintuitive,
but bracing yourself won't save you,
quite the contrary.
This is because as you were falling
to the bottom of the shaft,
the elevator and your body inside it
will experience gravitational acceleration.
And because of this acceleration,
your body weight would multiply,
making you seem a lot heavier than normal.
Your legs won't be able to support your body.
And even your own head would become
too heavy for your neck to hold it up.
And that won't do you any good.
Okay, so far you've got some tips on
what not to do in a falling elevator.
But what should you do
to get out of the shaft safely?
This is a situation when the few
extra pounds you put on over the winter
can save your life.
Find whatever part of your body
is the chubbiest,
and press that part against the floor.
It'll act like padding,
and distribute the force of the impact
all over your body,
increasing your chances of surviving.
Just remember to protect your head
with your hands before you hit the ground.
When you hit that button
and get into the metal box,
the odds of making it safely
to your destination are very high.
Modern elevators feature
a variety of safety backups.
Even if, by some very unfortunate accident,
the motor fails, and absolutely
all the metal cables fall down,
the electromagnetic brakes will activate,
and stop the elevator from
plunging to the ground.
Remember that surviving a falling elevator
isn't impossible.
In 1945, when a bomber
accidentally hit the Empire State Building,
one woman happened to be in an elevator.
She plummeted 75 floors to the basement,
and got out of there with
a few broken bones.
But if you feel anxious, just take the stairs.
And we'll be here to help you survive
whatever awaits you.