DOWNTOWN — A group of jam band fans trying to come down from a late-night concert on the 99th floor of the Willis Tower got stuck in an elevator for more than an hour — with the packed elevator abruptly plunging several inches every few seconds, they said.
Sylwia Borowska of Uptown was among those who went to see Electron, a jam band super group, at the 99th-floor Skydeck at Willis Tower, 233 S. Wacker Drive, on April 17.
While the sky-high show was fun, the long, strange trip back down was not. Borowska said she and about 14 other concertgoers got stuck on the elevator for at least an hour and 15 minutes after midnight.
"It was really scary because every four or five seconds the elevator would drop another couple of inches," Borowska, 26, said. "It was the first time I'd ever been to the top [of the tower], and it definitely will be my last."
Borowska said the elevator was stuck between the tower's 75th and 80th floors, and it was packed enough that its occupants were standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
The group tracked its slow descent by sticking chewing gum to a wooden wall outside their elevator while the doors were ajar, she said. And though the elevator doors were half open, the elevator was stuck between floors so its occupants could not escape, Borowska said.
When the group rang the building's security, the front desk called a mechanic, who eventually helped free the trapped concertgoers, Borowska said.
Unlike the college football team that very publicly got stuck in an elevator last weekend, the group at Willis Tower had less fun in its predicament. No photos were taken.
"Someone wanted to Snapchat someone, and we were like, 'don’t Snapchat our death,'" Borowska said.
Though the elevator was packed, its passengers didn't exceed the weight limit, Borowska said.
Perhaps more disappointing than the elevator malfunction was the building's response afterward, Borowska said.
Security didn't offer an explanation for the problem and made everyone descend the tower via a separate bank of elevators after being stuck in one for more than 75 minutes.
"I was like, 'I want to take the stairs,' but they wouldn't let me," Borowska said.
Willis Tower is planning renovations after selling to mammoth private-equity firm Blackstone Group last year. In 2014, a layer of the Skydeck's glass "Ledge" cracked, delivering a public relations knock to one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.
Representatives of Willis Tower and Skydeck did not return messages seeking comment.
According to KJA, a North American elevator engineering and consulting firm, employees who work in high-rise buildings daily face the highest risk of getting trapped in an elevator: about a 1-in-5,000 chance each month, assuming they take a few rides daily. But, save for the claustrophobic, entrapment should be a minor concern, the firm said.
"You are probably safer trapped in an elevator — barring the lack of food and water — than walking outside on the street," KJA said in a blog post on the subject.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
