State elevator investigators were at Stradley Hall on the Ohio State campus Monday morning. Workers are trying to determine why a dormitory elevator began to descend with the doors still ajar, killing an OSU freshman from Erie, Pennsylvania.
State elevator inspectors were at Stradley Hall unloading heavy equipment used to investigate the incident that killed 18-year-old Andrew Polakowski. Polakowski was the last person to get on the dorm elevator when it unexpectedly descended, pinning him. Columbus Fire Battalion Chief Doug Smith, who has never heard of this kind of incident, said there were 24 students on the elevator when Polakowski was killed.
"The elevator itself is approximately six by six. So they were packed in there pretty good," Smith said.
Smith estimated the elevator was definitely over it's weight capacity.
"There didn't seem to be any football players or any real large people in the elevator at the time. But if you would just take the weight of the average, and just say it's 140, which might be a little low, that would bring it up to over 800 pounds overweight," Smith said.
Officials are not saying if the extra weight of the students was the cause of the accident. Elevators are inspected twice a year. The elevator that killed Polakowski was tested in July for safety, and passed inspection. A full load test, which is required every five years, was done in August 2003.
But to some students, testing does not mean the elevators are trustworthy. Freshman Sam Hullete lives in Siebert Hall, across the parking lot from where the student was killed. Hullete said the elevators in dorm are repaired frequently.
"You hear the alarms going off a lot. You always see repairmen coming in and fixing the elevators. They just got done a repair a week or two ago," Hullete said.
While Hullete said he can usually catch a ride on an elevator when he needs one, he said the cars are often packed with students.
"Some times people crowd on, and do that sort of thing. But it's not been that bad really," Hullete said.
Freshman Joe Strongoli also lives in Siebert Hall, and said the elevators can be erratic.
"Sometimes when I'm going up to my floor the doors will open before it's completely stopped," Strongoli said.
Strongoli said he was disturbed by Polakowski's death, and will be more careful when riding elevators.
"A couple times when I was late to class, I'd, the elevator would be closing and I'd run to it and I was able to hold the doors open, and watch the other ones close and it would go down. So it's kind of scary now that I think about that kid dying. Like that could have easily been me, so. I don't know, it's kind of scary," Strongoli said.