# Optimal Strategy in a Free-falling Elevator **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587 "2016-01-19T17:22:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/41 "2016-01-19T23:55:54Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Absolutely. When the Mythbusters tested the elevator free fall, they disabled all of the safety stops before they cut the cable. They showed the uncontrolled descent in real time (vs. slow motion). One of the most terrifying things I have ever seen! So I have to concur with **running coach** : Bend over, and kiss your ass goodbye. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/42 "2016-01-20T01:10:27Z")
If there were something on the ceiling that you could grab and hang onto with your arms and legs, you might have a chance. The elevator itself becomes your shock absorber. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/43 "2016-01-20T21:06:14Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > If there were something on the ceiling that you could grab and hang onto with your arms and legs, you might have a chance. The elevator itself becomes your shock absorber. You don’t have the strength and your body doesn’t have the resilience for this to make much difference. Like those movie stunts with one person holding onto another when there’s only one parachute. The holdee is dead meat. May as well just let go at the start and the holder will suffer fewer arm injuries. The idea of pressing your back against a wall is interesting. You’re still going to collapse quite fast but it might reduce the odd injury or so. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/44 "2016-01-20T21:35:24Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > It may be safe in TV and movies, but in real life there has never once been a teleportation that _didn’t_ end up with the person mixed up with a fly. As I’ve said before – if I ever build a teleporter, my first public demonstration will be teleporting myself and a fly at the same time. And people in movies don’t always end up mixed up with a fly. One guy in _Son of the Fly_ got mixed up with a guinea pig. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/45 "2016-01-20T23:32:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You want to distribute the impact over as much of your body as you can. Therefore, lying down flat is the absolute worst possible thing you can do. Start off vertical, and you can distribute the impact over the entire length of your body. Start off horizontal, and you’re distributing it over perhaps an inch or two. Or horizontal over another: > [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > One last romp, hey? Sure hope it’s Jennie from HR and not Marvin from Accounting I’m in there with. As [Jason Bourne demonstrates](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhpJ11dNp2o). ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/46 "2016-01-21T00:03:56Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Absolutely. That’s also part of the shock-absorbing effect of standing up when you land. Paratroopers learn to land in ways that minimize injuries and they start with their feet. I wasn’t a paratrooper, but Drilll Sergeants always called our ass the “fourth point of contact”, and I’m assuming points 1-3 were feet, ankles and knees. I think this, the [parachute landing fall](http://www.defence.gov.au/health/infocentre/journals/ADFHJ_oct06/images/73-2.jpg), is the best bet. (or however close you can get to that while in free fall). Hundreds of thousands of people in the military have spent decades using it and no one has come up with anything better so far. It uses as much of the body’s non-vital parts that it can to absorb as much shock as possible. I don’t know how you could improve it. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/47 "2016-01-21T02:01:49Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > How do you lay on the floor when you’re weightless? I know the OP specifies freefall, but in reality, it’s impossible for it to be perfect freefall. At the very least, the elevator shaft is full of air. The elevator is also going to touch the edges of the shaft at least a little bit; that’s how the braking mechanisms work and the contact will still be there even if the mechanisms aren’t stopping you. So the result might be greatly reduced apparent gravity, but it should be enough to make maneuvering possible. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/48 "2016-01-21T16:47:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Take the stairs. Terribly dangerous! Stairs are a leading cause of injury and death. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/49 "2016-01-21T17:17:12Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Absolutely. When the Mythbusters tested the elevator free fall, they disabled all of the safety stops before they cut the cable. And there’s also the fact that many elevators use hydraulics instead of cables. I’d _guess_ that they’re even less likely to fail catastrophically. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/50 "2016-01-21T22:18:20Z")
A cable elevator free falls up not down, the counter weight free down. The only way a cable elevator can free fall down is the cables (normally 4 to 8) all fail at the same time and the cables on the emergency break also fail. If you are in a cable elevator and it starts to free fall your best bet is to get on the floor and try to protect your hear. When the car hits the end of the shaft it is going to stop NOW. You will continue to move and fly up and hit the top of the passenger area of the car. The number of floors the car moves up, the weight of people in the car, the weight of the car, and the weight of the counter weight will determine the speed when the car comes to a sudden stop. Now a hydraulic elevator can fall down. Until around 2000 most hydraulic elevators did not have any free fall safety break. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/51 "2016-01-21T22:24:27Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > And there’s also the fact that many elevators use hydraulics instead of cables. I’d _guess_ that they’re even less likely to fail catastrophically. With multiple cables the chances of a catastrophe failure is slim. With a hydraulic the piping from the valve to the jack can fail at any fitting. If it is an old style jack it is possible to have a failure where the end of the jack has the cap is welded. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/52 "2016-01-21T22:40:03Z")
Hydraulic elevators are considered so safe they don’t need additional brakes. Regular elevators usually have safety features that make sure they won’t fall even when all the cables break. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/53 "2016-01-21T22:44:04Z")
If you’re still connected to the counterweight, you’re not free-falling. And the counterweight is designed to be approximately equal to the average weight of the elevator car when it’s in use, and so whether the car would be pulled upward or downward in such a situation depends on whether it’s loaded more or less than average. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/54 "2016-01-22T14:12:26Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Hydraulic elevators are considered so safe they don’t need additional brakes. Regular elevators usually have safety features that make sure they won’t fall even when all the cables break. But they are not safer because of the lack of safeties. For a cable elevator to free fall would take several systems failing at the same time. A hydraulic elevator can free fall one of several parts fail. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/55 "2016-01-22T15:04:36Z")
A big steel pipe filled with oil doesn’t really have too many failure modes. If it springs a leak somewhere, the oil will rush out and the elevator will drop, but considering the speed of oil rushing, that’s a far cry from anything that can possibly be considered free fall. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/56 "2017-03-02T07:35:23Z")
[‘There was a bang and we were gone’](http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/there-was-a-bang-and-we-were-gone-444087.html) Forget it. From now on, I’m taking the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/57 "2017-03-02T15:56:46Z")
The most insane thing about this thread is why someone did not post the famous "Need answer fast?"meme ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/58 "2017-03-03T00:52:56Z")
This topic jogged my memory. One of the book accounts of the world trade center disaster talked about elevators plunging into the basement, killing the passengers onboard. Apparently[this happened](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-04-elevator-usat_x.htm) - those safety brakes are not perfect. A number of other people were killed because the elevators have a mechanism that locks the doors and they will remain locked if power is lost. This is less than ideal - it should be possible for someone trapped in an elevator to escape. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/59 "2017-03-03T01:44:29Z")
Well of course the WTC elevators plunged into the basement. The whole building plunged into the basement. What would you expect, an elevator car remaining suspended on a single cable sticking straight up into empty air? ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587/60 "2017-03-03T01:58:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well of course the WTC elevators plunged into the basement. The whole building plunged into the basement. What would you expect, an elevator car remaining suspended on a single cable sticking straight up into empty air? If you skimmed the linked article, it refers to two of the express elevators plunging and killing 40 people from the deceleration at the bottom. This was long before the building collapsed - the cables were cut by the aircraft impacts, and the safety brakes failed to work properly. 4 people survived. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimal-strategy-in-a-free-falling-elevator/743587.md?page=4)