Quecreek Mine rescue time line

David Hurst, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Jul. 14—A time line of moments in July 2002, when nine miners were trapped underground at the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County and eventually rescued:

Wednesday, July 24

—3 p.m.: Mine marks shift change. Two crews of nine men enter.

—About 8:30 p.m.: Nine miners become trapped 240 feet below ground inside the Quecreek Mine after breaking into an adjacent abandoned mine, which flooded the Quecreek Mine with more than 50 million gallons of water.

—9:25 p.m.: The first nine miners escape.

Thursday, July 25

—2:50 p.m.: Work by Bartell Drilling begins on six-inch air shaft.

—3:30 a.m.: Rescue workers hear tapping on air pipe from the area where the miners are trapped, confirming all nine are alive. The tapping is repeated at 11:30 a.m.

—2:30 p.m.: A drill rig large enough to bore a rescue shaft arrives from a West Virginia mine.

—6 p.m.: Crews begin drilling a tunnel to reach the trapped miners. Work also begins shortly afterward to drain water, which is forcing miners to seek higher ground.

Friday, July 26

—1:15 a.m.: Drill bit gets stuck in rock about 100 feet down and breaks.

—11:10 a.m.: Digging with new equipment begins on another shaft about 75 feet from the first.

4:45 p.m.: Broken bit is removed from the first rescue tunnel.

—8 p.m.: Drilling resumes on the first rescue shaft.

Saturday, July 27

—3 p.m.: Tunnel reaches a depth of 224 feet, less than 20 feet from the chamber where miners are trapped.

—10:15 p.m.: Rescuers break through into the chamber where the miners are trapped.

—11 p.m.: Rescue workers make contact with the trapped miners with a telephone lowered down the the rescue tunnel.

—11:35 p.m.: Gov. Mark Schweiker confirms that all nine miners are alive.

—12:30 a.m.: Emergency supplies are lowered to the miners in a steel "Con-Space" rescue cage — 8 1/2 feet tall and about 24 inches in diameter — which is then used to pull the miners up one by one.

—1 a.m.: Miner Randall Fogle is the first to reach the surface during rescue operations.

—2:45 a.m.: The ninth miner, Mark Popernack, arrives at the surface.