This Is What You Should Actually Do In a Falling Elevator

Should You Lie Down or Brace Feet-First in a Falling Elevator?

The video examines whether someone in a falling elevator should lie flat or brace feet-first. It challenges the common advice to lie down, arguing that reducing the body’s deceleration may matter more than spreading the impact force across a larger area.

Key points

• Jumping is unlikely to help. A 2004 MythBusters test found that a person would need to jump much faster than a human can to cancel the elevator’s downward speed.
• Deceleration matters. An egg can remain unbroken on the outside while its contents are damaged by inertia. The video uses this example to show that spreading an impact over a larger surface does not necessarily protect internal organs. Increasing the time or distance over which the body stops can reduce deceleration.
• Drop tests favored standing. The presenter dropped instrumented dummies in standing and lying positions. Across the tests, the standing dummy registered lower peak G-forces, even though its legs buckled. The video interprets the legs as a kind of crumple zone, absorbing some impact before it reaches the torso. Tests with different leg materials produced similar results.
• Stability affected the outcome. The standing position helped only when the dummy’s legs were beneath it at impact. A dummy that fell sideways experienced forces similar to those in the lying-down test.
• Evidence from real falls is mixed with important limitations. A 2021 study of 179 patients who fell from various heights reported that people who landed on their backs had 83% lower adjusted odds of survival than those who landed feet-first.
• Elevator simulations found risks in both positions. A 2023 computer-simulation paper modeled slower elevator descents. Standing was associated with a high risk of ankle fractures, while lying flat was associated with a high risk of neck-joint injuries. The video notes that the paper’s free-fall simulations tested only the lying position and found it unsurvivable.

Bottom line

The video argues that bracing feet-first may be preferable to lying flat, but its demonstrations and cited evidence do not establish a universally safe position. Elevator safety systems and the circumstances of a fall can change the outcome.

Historical example

The video also recounts the 1945 fall of an elevator in the Empire State Building. Passenger Betty Lou Oliver survived. Investigators attributed some of the slowing and cushioning to air pressure in the shaft and cables piled at the bottom.

Researchers and sources featured

• MythBusters (2004)
• The Worst-Case Scenario Handbook (2001)
• An unnamed 2021 study of 179 patients who fell from heights
• An unnamed 2023 computer-simulation paper on injuries in falling elevators
• Korea National Transport University, addressed by the presenter in relation to the simulations
• Betty Lou Oliver, a survivor of the 1945 Empire State Building elevator fall