WASHINGTON — Eighty-two year old Wayne Smith and his 80-year-old wife June were taking their 11-year-old granddaughter Solana Silverman to lunch and a matinee of 'Aladdin' at the Kennedy Center Sunday afternoon when the elevator they were riding stalled.
"We weren't there 20 or 30 seconds and the elevator just stopped," Smith recalled Monday.
It was a unique circumstance because of the long distance between the lower and upper floors in the Kennedy Center.
The next floor was at least 40 feet above the stalled car, Smith said. A normal distance between floors could be spanned with a step later.
In this case, the only way out was by rope.
A team of rescuers from DC Fire/EMS dropped down from above and found the Smiths in good condition.
It took more than an hour of careful work to rig the lines, safety harnesses and helmets to lift the three stranded people out safely, according to Smith.
"The firemen were very professional. They were very efficient," Smith said. "They gave you a lot of confidence. I never felt worried at all."
"Solana, who is our granddaughter, does this rock climbing stuff," Smith continued. "She helped herself get up with her rock climbing skills."
The ordeal lasted a total of two hours and happened during the performance of 'Aladdin', so they did not see the show.
The family has been offered replacement tickets for another performance.
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs said they are not responsible for inspecting the Kennedy Center elevators. They said the U.S. General Services Administration is responsible for those inspections, but officials from that department said they are not.
WUSA9 has requested inspection documents on the building's elevators.
Tuesday, a spokesperson for U.S. General Services Administration said their understanding is the Kennedy Center has its own authority in charge of elevator inspections.
This is the second time we know of that an elevator in the Kennedy Center got stuck and required rescuing from DC Fire and EMS.
Earlier this year in April, three young adults had to be rescued from a Kennedy Center elevator after it malfunctioned and traveled to the bottom of the elevator shaft. Officials said once the elevator reached the bottom of the elevator shaft, the only way to get out was for a firefighter to rappel down on top of the car and open the emergency hatch.
No one was hurt in that incident either.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect U.S. General Services Administration's response to our requests for comment. An earlier version of this story stated the General Services Administration is responsible for Kennedy Center elevator inspections, based on what DCRA told WUSA9. GSA said later Monday that is not the case.