In Texas, licensed inspectors must check elevators annually. The service elevator at the Crockett Hotel was installed in 1981 and its last annual inspection was in December 2010, according to the most recent records on file with the licensing department. Elevator inspector William McPherson did not note any concerns in his report.
In a 2008 inspection report, McPherson wrote that the service elevator needed a door restrictor — a device that prevents elevator doors opening when an elevator is stuck between floors. It prevents occupants from falling out of the elevator down the shaft, and from being injured if the elevator moves while they try to climb out.
The state’s chief elevator inspector will investigate a fatal incident at the Crockett Hotel, where a housekeeper fell six stories down the shaft of a service elevator Wednesday evening.
Brendel said the elevator was regularly maintained and inspected. He told police that the hotel “had been having problems with the elevators,†but they had been serviced and were working properly, according to a San Antonio police report.
The death stunned Rodriguez’s family, who described her as a warm, kind-hearted woman. She left behind four children, 10 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Family members say they have not received any explanation from hotel management about the cause of the death. Gloria Rodriguez’s daughter, Sara Ochoa, said the elevator had frozen with an employee inside it a few days ago, and it had gotten stuck in the past.
Lawrence Taylor, chief inspector for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees elevator safety, was traveling to San Antonio on Thursday to investigate, department spokeswoman Susan Stanford said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a federal agency that enforces safety standards for workers, also is investigating the incident.
Brendel said he couldn’t remember if the restrictor had been installed. But in a 2009 letter sent to state officials, he wrote that the hotel was planning to install one. More recent inspection reports did not find any problems regarding the door restrictor.
