PRESS RELEASE:

How do elevators work? Why are many people afraid of them? Are they safe? Across North America, elevators move 325 million passengers daily. NOVA: Trapped in an Elevator reveals the secret life of these ubiquitous machines and investigates personal stories of those who have been caught inside when they fail. NOVA: Trapped in an Elevator airs Tuesday November 2 at 7:00 p.m. on KUED.

NOVA cameras ride the world's fastest elevator to the top of the world's tallest building, Burj Dubai, and test whether the Burj's elevator system is ready for the task of moving people to unprecedented heights.

On the other side of the world, NOVA follows one of the thousands of elevator maintenance crews in Manhattan that keep New Yorkers moving up and down every day. Then, at the Otis Test Tower-a 28-story high-rise that's the most over-elevatored building in the world-viewers experience a few heart-pumping moments as a test elevator is sent into free fall.

Once simple, and often rickety, machines, elevators are getting a new high-tech makeover in today's world. Computer controls, like those in the elevators at the Marriot Marquis in Times Square, are getting passengers to their destinations faster and more safely than ever before. But will the elevator-wary be comfortable handing over the reins to computers?

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