PEACH SPRINGS, AZ — Grand Canyon Caverns, a popular tourist attraction, is being cited for safety violations after an elevator malfunction stranded a family underground for hours last year.
The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or ADOSH, issued three citations and $6,250 in fines on Thursday to Grand Canyon Caverns and Inn.
ADOSH said a steep staircase leading out of the caverns lacked proper handrails.
“It’s cumbersome to get out of there,” ADOSH Director Jessie Atencio said.
A family from Kingman, Arizona was on a 45-minute tour of the caverns in October. They were about 20 stories underground when the elevator broke. Some of the family members were unable to walk up the steep, narrow stairs. Rescuers had tohoist them out through the elevator shaft.
Atencio said the elevator underwent repairs and only recently began running again.
