NYC balks at skyscraper escape pods
By Evan Blass 
posted Feb 24th 2006 8:30AM
posted Feb 24th 2006 8:30AM
It's been almost four-and-a-half years since
the tragedy of September 11th, and yet the city whose two greatest structures were toppled has done very little to
address safety in existing skyscrapers, and has even denied building permits to an Israeli company looking to test
their innovative escape pod system in Manhattan. Escape Rescue Systems, spurred by the ineffective building evacuation
methods as demonstrated on 9/11, invented an apparatus wherein a roof-mounted crane lowers five collapsed pods down one
face of the structure to await the arrival of emergency personnel. Once firefighters arrive on scene, the stacked pods
are expanded one-by-one and climb back up the side of the building, rescuers in tow, to pick up folks evaculating
through windows in 150-person waves (5 pods x 30 people/pod- for a video demo, follow the "Read" link). Even
after successful trial runs in Tel Aviv, NYC's Office of Emergency Management claimed that the system has too many
faults--possible confusion by rescuers and chaos by evacuees, spreading fire due to open windows, and risk to pod
passengers of being burned on descent--to warrant a permit. Company CEO Jonathan Shimshoni admits that the city's
concerns have merit, but argues that the only way to address them and make some progress on this largely-ignored
problem is to initiate a pilot program and work out the kinks from there.[Via CNN]
Being burned on descent is BETTER than being DEAD on descent. Take your pick.
Murphy's Law is obviously not on this things side, simply too many things could go wrong.
Yeah, better to let them burn to death stuck inside the building, you know, the old-fashioned way...
who cares if Murphy's law is against it....it is a step in the right direction....I think they could at least give them a permit to run a trial and fix a lot of the problems that could arise.....
All people in buildings more than, say, 10 stories tall, need jetpacks for escape. It's really that simple. Jetpacks have been around since, like, the 1800s!
Who needs a pod when you can have your own 'chute?
http://www.executivechute.com/products.html
While this is certainly some neat stuff. I wonder if it's really any better than the good old staircase. They talk about the high throughput, but it doesn't even start moving people until the fire department arrives, and they don't really go into how long the whole loading, unloading, and transport process takes.
It's true that a staircase can be disabled by fire, smoke, or debris, but this probably can be too, and most large buildings have multiple stairways for just that reason.
Yeah, jetpacks sound like a really "simple" solution.
This works as long as the roof has not been compromised. I should probably RTFA, but have they done any simulations based on the 9/11 towers and reached an estimate of how many lives could have been saved?
I don’t know if this idea is brilliant or crazy, but does anyone else find it disturbing that bureaucrats are stifling potentially life-saving innovations? What other inventions will we never know about that might have saved lives on 9/11?
Still like this idea
http://www.executivechute.com/
"...does anyone else find it disturbing that bureaucrats are stifling potentially life-saving innovations?"
That's probably the best point to bring out of all of this.
Pretty interesting, especially how the fold-out staircase has a built-in wheelchair ramp.
-- Elias
When I heard escape pods the first thing I imagined where these little capsules that would be jettisoned from the side of the building. Kinda like when an Imperial star ship is about to blow up. Now that would be a helluva ride!
How about a pod with the inflatable airbags that protected the mars rovers on landing (also used in the movie Red Planet). Of course its not terribly safe for gawkers down on the street. Take a look at:
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/tl_entry1.html
That's the most ridiculous solution I have ever seen when it's played out. There's a fire, or a bomb, or something horrible is happening. Got to get out fast! Solution: wait for the compacted pods slowly descend to the bottom of the building. Wait for the fire department to show up to deploy the pods back up the building. Note that a crew of fire fighters must operate and be send up with the pods, instead of fighting a fire. Rise back up to the top levels, letting other levels wait till you get around to them.
Now firedrills are usually judged by how fast people exit the building. Don't you think this seems like a ridiculously time consuming method? Granted people on the top floors are in more danger, but then maybe have an employee operated emergency elevator system always present on the top floors that can be used immediately in case of an emergency.
I'm all about my glass cutter, rappel gear, and 1000' feet of rope!
#10, I was thinking the same thing! Honestly, I was a little disappointed to see the real concept. :)
Let's face it though... when you stack thousands of people on top of each other in a tall thin box and somebody rams a jumbo jet into it at 500Mph, there's going to carnage. I've seen the documentaries, and I don't see how this or any other solutions could have saved all of the folks in that building.
What's wrong with parachutes? Hundreds and hundreds of them. Why don't planes have parachutes?
I want a parachute if you're sending me 50+ stories up every day. I need assurances that I have some sort of control in such an event.
Heck, I'll buy my own and sneak it into my desk on a weekend. Hell, then they'll probably think I'm a terrorist and fire me.
Wouldn't a parachute just get stuck on the side of the building?
Forget about low-tech jet packs. Why not use transporters and beam them out? Duh.
*Inflammatory comment removed*
>> Wouldn't a parachute just get stuck on the side of the building?
If jumping out of a building with a 'chute is my best option, I can assume that I am in seriously deep sh*t and likely willing to take that chance of getting hung up or worse.
I have a few comments on this, mainly some alternative ideas:
1. Catapults and giant slingshots. Fling the people into nearby lakes and rivers.
2. I second the idea of rapel gear and mandatory classes. "On belay!"
3. Jetpacks are so old fashioned. go to gizmag and search for 'first human landing without a parachute'
4. Big 'moonwalks' that inflate fast out of the side of a building. For big buildings have a series on the way down. People can jump out and bounce their way down.
5. Get rid of 2 or more story buildings. Just build nice long flat buildings everywhere. Put trams in so people can get around faster. There! now they don't fall down, the roof just collapses
6. Hang gliders
7. Fast ropes - issue nice thick gloves or those descender thingies
8. Only build tall buildings shaped like pyramids, people can slide down the sides
9. Put swirly slides on the buildings . around and around and around all the way down. Expand the fire dept to include a bio clean up crew for all the pukers at the bottom
10. BALLOONS! that inflate upon need. carry 20 people, they just float away.
11. Zip lines from one building the next. People can zip across to safety.
12. I like the airbag suit idea. Just be sure to jump out BEFORE you inflate the bags.
13. Train giant condors to grab people from windows and fly them down
14. Spider bot suits.
I'll stop now
#19, I suppose life preservers capitalize on drowning? Antibiotics capitalize on anthrax? Smoke detectors capitalize on fire? I'm not even going to touch the rest of the crap in your comment.
All hands abandon ship, er, I mean building!!
The best solution is the simplest.
A very long Fire Poll.
It is easy to make.
Dosen't Cost much.
It would be fun to just slide down that thing.
Who needs stairs after that? ^_^;
Although the pod systems appears to have it's faults, being able to try/demontrate a novel idea will often motivates others into action - to address a need. Cynicism is not constructive nor a solution. I've enjoyed reading the idease here...keep them comming!
So how does the pod climb up the side of the building if it's just had half of it blown up/aircraft destroyed?
For a disaster even, that thing (and the rescue folks) sure are taking their swee time...
It would be a good if architects,engineers and fire departments could get together to design a universal system for rescue workers to travel up the sides of tall buildings. The system would have to be unobtrusive for asthetic reasons. And window cleaners could use it too.
Until then, My personal solution would be Ropes for the lower floors, and a Reserve Parachute and harness with a static line for the higher floors.
Hey TED, Smoke detectors don't cost $500 a piece just so that they'll tell you that your house is already on fire. They DETECT (smoke) and they do it pretty darn well. I'm not going to pour my hard earned tax money on some idiotic experimental product that ASSUMES that a pod is safer than the staircase in the event of a fire when that fire is blazing out the window and the building is collapsing. If anything, people are going to panic and fight over who's going to get on the first pod. Chaos ensues. Good luck with the rest of your naive views.
The only skyscrapers that have ever collapsed because of a fire in modern history were all part of the World Trade Center complex, although it is likely the Sears Tower itself will suffer the same fate sometime in the next two years.
Want to stop people dying inside burning buildings? You can't go better than helicopters & fire escapes combined with decent sprinkler systems inside the building. Such escape pods are friviolous, and will only help save lives in the event someone decides to perform a controlled demolition in a building filled with people aka 9/11.
For more:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5137581991288263801&q=loose+change
http://www.loosechange911.com/
Having escaped from the WTC with co-workers during that unforgetable Chaos, ANY technological hope should be developed to its fullest.
But there are two sides to every story, so pehaps their opposing point of views are a result of very careful analyses.
"The best solution is the simplest. A very long Fire Poll."
Yeah, its called a "Fire Escape" and they have been built on NYC building exteriors for decades.
Seeing as the only buildings that used the flawed building method used in the construction of the towers are now gone (to my knowledge), what is the point of this?
Any reasonably constructed building will easily withstand a plane crash, and the resulting fuel burn, the FM-200 Fire Suppression System can easily handle any fire situations with minimal impact to the occupants and assets (some electronics may not work after being doused with FM-200).
The WTC collapse was an anomaly.
"...does anyone else find it disturbing that bureaucrats are stifling potentially life-saving innovations?"
Ever heard of the FDA?
I think we'll see it yet in the near future. But is it a sign of paranoia...!? I'm not sure, but with the rising popularity (again; the first time was WWII) of gas masks, chem tents, security fences, safe rooms/houses...its hard for me not to start feeling reticent about all these expensive security effects. One wonders if we might have better ways to spend our time and money--and concerns--than in constant worry about every concievable way we could perish.
The WTC was indeed an anomaly. And high rise fires resulting in death are also rare. Yes! we are paranoid after all.