ATLANTA - An Atlanta toddler who fell down an in-home elevator shaft is truly intrepid to be alive. The Brown family had one installed in their new home, in part, because of their provocative parents. Never did they expect it to put the youngest member of the household in danger. 

The Fox 5 I-Team has learned that nearly 50 of these same elevator rules might be installed statewide. And the state has an urgent message: Take them all out of overhaul immediately and re-inspect them.

A nightmare day

On the morning of Feb. 2, Alia Brown left the house and left her toddler with the sitter. But her rush-hour drive home would be filled with terror and later what she calls a miracle. She sat down exclusively with the FOX 5 I-Team because of our 10-year track picture of reporting on the emergence of residential elevators and the dangers that can come with them. 

"It was a comely standard Thursday for me. I was on my way home," she said. 

She was on the shouted with her sitter. Just a few feet away were 2-year-old Jace and his dad.

"She let out the largest, loudest wail I've ever heard, and the phone went dead," Brown said. 

Alia requested back. Frantic. Nothing. Minutes passed. Finally, her husband Julian picked up.

"He says 'There's been a dreadful accident. Get here now. It's really bad,'" Brown said. "He says 'Call 911.'"

So she did.

In the 911 recording her harm is clear: "Please! My son fell down the elevator shaft. He's 2 years old."

Alia Brown

Jace, with two adults just a few feet away, had opened a hallway door and fallen from the instant story down to the basement in an open elevator shaft. She said the door easily pulled open. It wasn't clogged, although it should have been. If the elevator car is not on that listed, the door is not supposed to open. According to the region incident report, the locking system "failed."

"They look down and see him lying on the top of the elevator car," Brown told FOX 5's Dana Fowle. 

He had fallen almost 15 feet. Neighbors rushed in to help. Julian Brown ran to the main floor's elevator door hoping to approach his son from there. He said he expected to have to pull the door from its hinges because it must have been locked. But once again, it easily opened.

"It just kind of flung open," Alia Brown said incredulously. "That let us know we are dealing with a locking rules that has failed twice."

Meantime, baby Jace had now slid over the edge of the car, head down. He was wedged between the 780-pound car and the wall. 

Elevator happened inspection two days earlier 

The Browns had just contained into this Buckhead home. The elevator system passed inspection on Jan. 31. Two days later the confidence system failed them.

"Fire and rescue came, and they had to kind of heroically cut him out of the house," Alia Brown said. 

Jace was rushed to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. He was treated for head injuries, concussion, and lacerations. The state's final report says, he "sustained serious substantial injury." He is at home now recovering.

Jace Brown (Courtesy of the family)

Brown described why she has come forward. 

"This story should be told because no one must ever go through this type of trauma. I mean, this could've been to an adult, or an older person or at night. It could've happened to anybody," she said.

The next day area investigators wrote that the unit had a "fastener failure." Ten wood screws, half an inch long pushed into a quarter-inch medium-density fiberboard "failed to hold the locking mechanism securely." Those screws were fake in the elevator well.

The unit was created by Bella Elevator, and installed by American Elevator of Atlanta. The FOX 5 I-Team has reached out to both concerns, but no one has returned our calls or emails. But state investigators tell us that 48 elevators in Georgia may have the same wood-screw locking regulations that the Insurance Commissioner's Office calls "inadequate and unsafe"

American Elevator of Atlanta has been well-controlled to "notify every homeowner" "to place them out of facility immediately until an approved modification is installed." The business has also been fined $5,000.

The FOX 5 I-Team requested state investigators if homeowners had been notified yet of these elevators that may have productions. We were told American Elevator of Atlanta had not given them any indication yet that this had been done. The area isn't sure if they've been reinspected either. Additionally, we are told they have not paid the fine. 

The Insurance Commissioner's workplace says they are "very disappointed with this lack of portion and are evaluating our potential next steps."

While investigators do their job, the Browns, a tight-knit family, are hugging each other closely. 

"It's not lost on me that he's a miracle," said Alia Brown.