Elevator death ruled preventable

BELLEVUE, Wash. – An elevator accident in which a man died at a new shopping and entertainment complex was preventable, according to a report by the state Department of Labor and Industries.

Five people in the North Tower at Lincoln Square went to extraordinary lengths to escape an elevator car stuck between floors, including prying open two sets of doors and wiggling their way through a 10-inch opening, state regulators said in the report released Friday.

Agency investigators found that the group of three men and two women caused the elevator to stop Feb. 20 by inappropriately jumping in the car.

They used an intercom to call for help, waited 18 minutes, then used significant effort to pry open both the elevator and hoistway doors.

They then crawled through the 10-inch opening and dropped to the lobby floor.

The parking structure with the elevator is about five stories tall.

Jeremy Lynn Johnson, 25, of Kirkland, was the last to crawl out of the elevator car.

He was lowering himself out when he misjudged where his feet should land and fell 40 feet down the shaft. He died at the scene.

“This was a preventable and unfortunate accident,” the report concluded. “The passengers did not demonstrate clear-mindedness and good judgment.”

Johnson and his friends “did not seem aware of things that most people would be terrified to do,” said Elaine Fischer, state labor department spokeswoman.

Lincoln Square, downtown in this suburb east of Seattle, is a $500 million complex that includes shops, restaurants, theaters, a hotel tower and underground parking.

The elevators were new. But a safety device meant to keep the inner doors closed was installed incorrectly, though Johnson and his friends would have been strong enough to escape anyway, Fischer said.

The elevator company, Otis Elevator, had promised to install a four-foot piece of metal that helps prevent people from falling down open shafts, but instead had installed a 22-inch model, according to the report.

“It cannot be determined, considering the unknown state of mind, the physical adeptness, and other attributes of Mr. Johnson at that time, whether a 48-inch toe guard would have helped him in any case,” the report stated.

Both safety devices have since been installed on all four Lincoln Square elevators, as required by the state.