Cause of airport escalator failure remains unknown

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2000 | 9:42 a.m.

With the reason for last week's escalator accident still unknown, McCarran International Airport officials said Tuesday the remaining three escalators in the D gates terminal were shut off.

Now passengers must trudge up 65 stairs or use one of the two elevators to get up to the gates.

Last Thursday 30 to 40 people ended up in a heap at the bottom of one of the escalators when it stopped and then the steps folded, creating a slide.

The contractor, Montgomery Kone elevator-escalator, sent some of the parts of the broken escalator to labs in Los Angeles and Cleveland to determine what caused the accident, airport spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said.

"Since all the escalators used the same parts, we decided to shut down all of the escalators in D gates until we get an answer," she said.

Grey said airport officials may learn a cause for the accident Thursday.

Officials at Montgomery Kone declined to comment, referring all questions to airport management.

Six people were transported to local hospitals for minor injuries last Thursday, and another 10 escalator riders were treated in the airport by paramedics and released. The other people on the escalator did not wait around for paramedics to arrive and just continued on their way.

Montgomery Kone installed the four escalators in the terminal that opened in June 1998, airport officials said.