In article ,
Frank Erskine writes:
On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 21:25:47 GMT, "Bazzer Smith"
wrote:
Lift have a built in safty mechanism such that if the cable breaks
(ie the lift freefalls, an automatic break is applied. (basically the
tension in the
cable stops some 'rods' from sticking into a 'grid' in the shaft wall..))

Known (at least in mining circles) as a "keps" (probably a corruption
of "keeps"), and usually operated by a centrifugal gizmo.

Yep -- one of these in the Empire State Building got exercised
back in 1995 with a lift car full of Japanese tourists, only
about 3 days after I travelled in it. Reports at the time said
it slipped a couple of floors before jamming.

--
Andrew Gabriel