Tourists Rescued After Being Stuck Underground at Grand Canyon Caverns Overnight

A family of eight tourists who visited the Grand Canyon Caverns in Peach Springs, Arizona, on October 23, were trapped underground for hours when the elevator stopped working.

Video recorded by Felicia Jimenez captures the moments when she and her extended family realized they were stuck 200 feet underground in the caverns, as the elevator had broken-down and her young daughters and elderly grandparents were unfit to exit through the approximately “22 flight” emergency stairwell.

“We basically said no, we can’t climb up those flight of stairs,” Jimenez told Storyful. “I have a 5-month old I would have to hold, and a 2-year-old I would have to hold, and I don’t trust myself to hold onto a railing and have my baby on the one side that is completely open to the bottomless elevator shaft.”

Jimenez said that she and her family arrived at the caverns for a short tour at 11:30 am on Sunday and the elevator had broken down around noon. By 7 pm, the elevator was still not working, and she had run out of diapers and needed baby formula. Jimenez said the fire department arrived soon after and assisted her and her husband in escorting their daughters out of the caverns, but firefighters were unable to help four other family members out from underground. Those four family members instead were able to access and spent the night in a hotel room located underground in the caverns.

One of the family members who spent the night underground was able to walk up the emergency stairway the following morning, while the other three were lifted up the elevator shaft by the Coconino County search-and-rescue team using elaborate, person-powered pulley system, as seen in video filmed by Michael Jimenez, Felicia’s husband.

Local media reported that John Paxton, a spokesperson for the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, said those remaining in the cavern “were all lifted to safety and reported no medical problems by 7:30 p.m.” on Monday. Credit: Michael David Jimenez via Storyful

Video transcript

- [CLICKS TONGUE]

- Hi, big girl. HI, big girl.

- Michael, what do you think about if you had to carry a kid up there?

- No, no way.

- Yeah.

- No way.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

- Dude, I'm sorry. Like there's no way.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

- I'm sorry.

- --eight hours ago that we were carrying the babies out of there.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

- I'm so glad we didn't.

- Huh?

- I said, would you bring your kids up in that? She'd say, the only reason-- the only time I would bring the kids up there is [INAUDIBLE].

- Is if she had a strap.

- Yeah.

- There's no other way.

- That's what I said.

- It's irritating to find out after eight hours that nothing has happened. I'm sorry, guys.

- And we've been told like-- what? Do you want to get up?

- No, I don't want.

- Like my kids are ready for sleep [INAUDIBLE].

- It's cold as hell.

- It's cold. And they're not saying a word.

- Well, still, we could be in an RV, Michael, home. We would have been home.

- Torn up because she's going [INAUDIBLE].

- Are you sure?

I've never done anything [INAUDIBLE]. I typically just [INAUDIBLE].

- Well, I would hope so.

- [INAUDIBLE]

- [INAUDIBLE]

[MACHINERY HUMMING]

- [INAUDIBLE]

[CLICKING]

[METAL CLANKING]

- Give me your left hand. Or your right hand.

- [INAUDIBLE]

- OK, stop.

- Stop. Stop on main. Down slow, slow on main.

- [INAUDIBLE]

- Down on the [INAUDIBLE].

- Down on the [INAUDIBLE].

- Down slow on main.

- Down slow.

- Put your feet down and stand, sir.

- What was the time on that one?

- Clear.

- All right.

[MUTED]