Experts: Brakes potentially malfunctioned in post-Beyonce concert MARTA escalator emergency

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - On Tuesday, two different escalator experts said the brakes potentially malfunctioned in the escalator emergency that injured 11 people following last Monday’s Beyoncé concert.

“What I do see is the brake doesn’t hold, the unit rolls back, and that in turn sends these people down to the bottom of the unit as you see, and quite often creates a pile,” said Dennis Olson, an escalator and elevator expert at Robson Forensic.

Olson said he has inspected, tested, and serviced more than 1,000 escalators, including some of MARTA’s escalators, in more than 35 years in the industry.

In his professional opinion, Olson said as crowds walked onto the escalator, something caused a safety switch to activate.

Olson said when such a mechanism is activated, the escalator’s brakes will typically set, allowing the escalator to stop, keeping those on board stationary.

“What’s apparent here is the brake did not hold,” Olson said.

Another escalator expert, Tony Boom, agreed with Olson’s analysis.

“The way that this was (the escalator) oversped in the down direction for more than a few seconds, so that’s indicative of the brake not working properly,” said Boom, who was a senior electrical engineer on the escalator division at KONE, from 2009 to 2022.

Seven people were taken to area hospitals.

RELATED: Atlanta leaders call for investigation, riders want accountability after MARTA escalator emergency

The analysis contradicts what MARTA officials said caused the escalator to speed up.

After the incident, MARTA said a “stampede” of concert-goers overloaded the escalator, causing it to speed up.

“There was nothing wrong with the escalator in and of itself besides that it was overloaded and that caused the reaction that it had,” said Rhonda Allen, MARTA’s interim CEO, at a board meeting last week.

Olson, who reviewed the surveillance video of the incident, said the weight of the riders would not have been enough to overload the escalator.

“I do not see this as an overload situation, no,” said Olson.

Atlanta News First reached out to MARTA about this analysis. A spokesperson did not respond on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire said it is investigating the escalator incident.

There have been at least two other emergencies involving crowds on MARTA escalators.

RELATED: Police, surveillance videos of MARTA escalator emergency show chaos after Beyoncé concert

In 2007, a crowd heading to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl lost their footing when an escalator suddenly went in reverse.

In 2011, a Fulton County jury awarded an Alabama woman $1.4 million in a settlement against MARTA.

A jury found MARTA and one of its contractors did not properly maintain the escalator.

In 2010, at the Lenox Square station, people were forced to jump off a crowded escalator after witnesses said the descending escalator started to speed up.

In response to the latest incident, MARTA officials said the Vine City escalator had received a routine maintenance inspection on July 10, just days before the incident.

“Everything had been done properly there and signed off on,” said Allen, last week.