Editor's note: To download a demonstration video of the robot, right click on this link (demonstration video) and save the file to your computer. The video file is about 2 megabytes in size and has been scanned for viruses. The video has only been tested and watched with the QuickTime player program although other video player programs will also work.
HUNTINGTON — A camera, designed by a robotics search and rescue outfit in Florida, is being dropped down a previously drilled borehole in hopes of finding more answers regarding the fate of six trapped miners at the Crandall Canyon mine.
A seventh hole will also be drilled into the kitchen area, more than a thousand feet deep into the earth, according to lawyers that are representing the families of the miners.
The camera will be dropped through the fourth hole that was drilled from the top of the mountain because it was the one that seemed to have the least amount of rubble in the bottom and the most space for the robot to scour, said Salt Lake City attorney Colin King. A similar tethered robotic device was sent into the the World Trade Center to assess the situation after the towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001.
"It could be the miracle we're waiting for," said Cesar Sanchez, the brother of Manual Sanchez, who has been trapped in the mine since its collapse on Aug. 6.
He said his relatives, along with those of the other five trapped miners — Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Alonso Hernandez, Juan Carlos Payan, and Brandon Phillips — were told of the news by Mine Safety and Health Administration officials, who have "obviously not given up on us," Sanchez said. He said the families have been encouraging them to drill into the mine's kitchen area, "because that is where (the miners) know to go when something like this happens."
"They could be barricaded in there," Sanchez said. "They could be right there waiting for us."
Barring any complications with the robot, it could reach the mine as early as this evening, King said. The robot's traction will allow it to move across the rocks and an attached lamp will light up to 50 feet ahead, "giving us some idea of what's down there," he said.
MSHA officials did caution the group of families gathered at the Desert Edge Christian Chapel this afternoon that the idea of using a robot "could be a long shot," King said.
Sanchez and other family members remain hopeful they will see their loved ones again. Denny Erickson, a cousin of trapped miner Don Erickson, said he's grateful that efforts are still being made to bring them home.
"It makes us feel like somebody out there still wants to help," he said. He felt co-owner of the mine, Bob Murray, "hasn't done a good job dealing with the families. He didn't treat us very well and was always yelling at us."
Sanchez said today's news made him realize that MSHA officials weren't on the same side as Murray anymore. He said he thought everyone had given up.
The news came in the wake of more than 170 layoffs at Murray's three mines in the area. Early this morning, Murray announced the closing of the Tower mine, which is one of the deepest mines in the country. Former workers told the Deseret Morning News that although they thought the mine was safe, Murray said it would be closed indefinitely until he could make it safer for the workers.
E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com