How Leading Elevator Companies Respond When the Power Goes Out

When the power went out around noon on April 28, Otis mechanic Julio César was conducting an inspection in a Madrid office building. The generator turned on, and he continued working. He thought it was a local issue.

Then the building's maintenance manager informed him of the magnitude of the event: All power, and nearly all cellphone service, was out across Spain and Portugal. They didn’t know it at the time, but the outage would last about 10 hours – and up to 16 hours in some areas.

Julio César immediately completed his inspection and went to check the other units on his route to make sure no one was trapped. He prioritized nursing homes and the smaller buildings that he knew did not have backup generators.

"I went to the places first where I knew there might be more vulnerable people,” he said.

Julio César is just one of hundreds of Otis field colleagues in Spain and Portugal who rallied to support people stranded in elevators when the power went out – and later, when power was restored, worked to get elevators back up and running.

Their response was immediate and thorough: In the hours following the historic outage, mechanics worked with public authorities to visit every unit on their routes to ensure there were no entrapments, and rescuing people who were. OTISLINE customer service teams provided immediate support to those who were connected. Then, when power was restored, they set to work getting all elevators back up and running.

Consider these figures:

• Within the first 90 minutes of the outage, Otis teams across the two countries freed passengers in 266 separate entrapments.
• Calls for trapped passengers increased 400% during the three days from April 28-30.
• Calls for shut-down elevators increased nearly 500% over the same period.

Spain has the most elevators per resident in the European Union, with almost 1.3 million elevators total, according to the Spanish Elevator Federation. They estimate that 10,000 entrapped passengers were freed on April 28.

Here’s what happens at Otis when the power goes out:

• Field technicians and supervisors, who know the elevators on their regular routes, immediately begin going to each unit on that route, checking for entrapped passengers.
• Call centers can run on backup power, receiving calls as long as communications systems are operational. In Spain and Portugal, they opted to run at reduced capacity to save fuel, because they did not know how long the outage would last. Even when communications systems failed and fewer calls reach the call centers, colleagues remained on task serving as as customer care centers, assisting customers, passengers and colleagues in the field however possible, and standing by for power and telecommunications to be restored.
• When power is restored, the mission shifts from finding and freeing entrapped passengers to getting all elevators operational again. Those units that were opened forcefully by firefighters or other emergency personnel must be inspected, and often repaired. Some need to be inspected and reset after a power outage.

Going above their normal call to help others

Otis mechanics freed people trapped in elevators that were not their responsibility – elevators that are not part of the Otis service portfolio. Xavier, an Otis salesman who used to be a mechanic, freed two women in their 90s in the minutes after the blackout started.

One mechanic walked more than 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) to help as many trapped passengers as possible.

Colleagues who were not scheduled to work went to the offices to see how they could help. Those who were working voluntarily worked another shift when transit issues meant some second-shift workers didn’t make it into the office or call center.

Mechanics accompanied firefighters to perform rescues. Some Otis colleagues took people with mobility issues into their homes.

When the power came back

By April 29, once entrapments were addressed and power was restored, Otis experts turned quickly to making sure all Otis units were back online and working.

This too required a round-the-clock response from field colleagues.

Some mechanics had accumulated more than 25 calls by 9 a.m. Service was again augmented by extending shifts, and tapping people on their scheduled day off who showed up at the call centers, aware of the workload.

It wasn’t until late on April 30 that the crisis was over. Otis had zero calls on hold.

“Through their actions and professionalism, our colleagues in Spain and Portugal exemplified the core values of our company and demonstrated how to put our mission into action,” said Enrique Miñarro Viseras, President of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. “Thank you for your resilience, teamwork and unwavering focus on our customers and passengers. Your skills were in high demand and your empathy was evident as you navigated complex situations, provided reassurances and supported everyone affected. We are so proud of all you have done.”

Preparing for next time

In Spain and Portugal, the power outage lasted approximately 10 hours and up to 16 hours in some locations.

Nuno Correia, a field supervisor in Portugal with 35 years of Otis experience, said he had never experienced anything like this. "I only remember a two-hour power outage in Lisbon 20 years ago, but never a time when communications were down,” Correia said. After the initial nervousness of trying to restore communications, his technicians prioritized helping the factories they service, which were operating at full capacity at the time of the blackout.

While Otis has crisis preparedness plans in place for events like this, each one provides opportunities to learn and improve for the next time, with a focus on the Otis value of safety, and dedication to Otis’ mission to be a world-class, customer-centric, service-oriented company.

What to do if you’re stuck in an elevator

Importantly, when an elevator stops working, because of a power cut or other reason, passengers are safe inside of the elevator cabin. If communications systems are working, they will have access to an emergency call center. However, if the telecommunications network fails before the signal is activated, passengers must wait in the cabin until an emergency release system is activated, power is restored, or a technician arrives to rescue them.

Some elevators are equipped with an emergency lighting system designed to last at least 1 hour. This emergency lighting is activated automatically as soon as the power supply fails. Depending upon local regulations, elevators may also have an external alarm bell, designed to alert building occupants of an entrapment.

In some countries, Otis businesses are certified to the ISO 22301 standard, which assesses the quality of a company’s processes for providing emergency assistance in the event of a blackout.

In addition, post-blackout, Otis has received numerous calls from customers inquiring about products designed to reduce the risk of entrapments in a power cut, including a battery-powered emergency release system, and elevators capable of running on battery and solar power in the event of a power disruption. These Gen2 Switch elevators are currently available in Spain and Portugal. Customers with them reported gratitude that they mitigated the effects of the power outage on their buildings.

About Otis

Otis is the world’s leading elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation and service company. We move 2.4 billion people a day and maintain approximately 2.4 million customer units worldwide, the industry’s largest Service portfolio. Headquarters in Connecticut, USA, Otis is 72,000 people strong, including 44,000 field professionals, all committed to manufacturing, installing and maintaining products to meet the diverse needs of our customers and passengers in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. For more information, visit www.otis.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook @OtisElevatorCo.