It was not just about the ‘wire’

ELEVATOR MECHANIC Michael Hill says a consultant hired by the city to test the lift that killed Suzanne Hart found several bizarre conditions that could explain what happened.

Consultant Lerch Bates concluded the most likely explanation for the accident was that the safety system had been overridden by a “jumper wire.”

Hill admits using a “jumper wire” to bypass the elevator’s safety system shortly before Hart was killed, but insists he took it off long before she stepped in.

Instead, he points out Lerch Bates found other erratic behavior when it tested elevator 9 to find out how it moved with its doors open — something elevators aren’t supposed to do.

Hill says the Lerch Bates report raises several concerns:

RADIO FREQUENCY

Hill says signals from two-way radios commonly worn by maintenance workers can cause odd behavior in elevators if they’re keyed near the lift’s electronic control board. On Jan. 9, Lerch Bates pointed a device at the control box of elevator 9 and clicked the “on” switch repeatedly.

In one test, the “car lunged down” onto the buffer on the bottom floor. In two other tests, the “car moved down very fast onto buffer” with the antenna pointed up or down.

Lerch Bates said this odd behavior only occurred when the elevator was not level with the floor, and video of that day shows the car was level just before Hart got in.

But Hill says a radio frequency hitting the control panel just as she stepped in could still cause the car to jump.

COMPUTER

The elevators at 285 Madison Ave. are controlled by computers that include a chip with a panic motion feature designed to slow the car if it acts erratically.

On Dec. 29 Lerch Bates noted “the computer did not stop the car” when it suddenly dropped during certain tests. When they examined the chips inside the computer, they found the panic motion feature had been turned off in elevator 9.

They also tested elevator 12 as a control and found the same thing — the panic motion feature in the “off” position.

The report notes that when this feature was turned on, the car did not jump around.

PART REPAIRED BEFORE TEST

Lerch Bates needed to test a device called a tachometer that measures the car’s speed and relays information back to the computer.

But the device had been damaged when the fire department moved the car to remove Hart’s body, so they sent it to a shop for repairs — before they tested it.

Hill says this defeats the purpose of testing under whatever conditions existed when the accident occurred.

Lerch Bates did not return calls seeking comment. Buildings spokesman Tony Sclafani said Friday the agency stands by the consultant’s findings.