CNN/AP: Sago mine survivor: Our air packs failed

[DeepModem Mom]

(NOTE: There is information worth reading in this entire article.)

Sago mine survivor: Our air packs failed
"We were worried and afraid, but we began to accept our fate"
Thursday, April 27, 2006


Randal McCloy, on the day he went home, wrote a letter to the families of his dead colleagues.

BUCKHANNON, West Virginia (AP) -- Trapped deep below ground by poisonous gases, the Sago miners realized at least four of their air packs did not work and were forced to share the devices as they desperately pounded away with a sledgehammer in hopes of letting rescuers know where to find them, the sole survivor says.

Then, resigned to their fate, the men recited a "sinner's prayer," scrawled farewell notes to their loved ones, and succumbed, one after another, some as if drifting off to sleep.

"As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else," Randal McCloy Jr. wrote to his co-workers' families in a letter dated Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press. (Read the full letter)

McCloy's two-page typed letter offered the most detailed account yet of what happened in the mine after the January 2 explosion, along with criticism that the mine's operator, International Coal Group Inc., let them down....

***

The air packs -- referred to in the letter as "rescuers" -- are intended to give each miner about an hour's worth of oxygen while they escape or find a pocket of clean air. But at least four of the devices did not function, McCloy said....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/27/mccloy.letter.ap/index.html

[stop the bleeding]

1. whoah

they will be looking at why those air packs failed

[atreides1]

9. Yes they will look into why.

And after spending a few hundred thousand, they will come to the conclusion that is was operator's error not faulty equipment!!!!

[skids]

18. Already happened. But that doesn't get them out of the woods.

The ABC report had them saying that a look at the air packs showed them to be working but that they could be difficult to operate. Which means what?

It means employees died due to inadequate training.

[OhioChick]

2. That's terrible.....

Hopefully, the failure of the air packs truly will be looked into, for the sake/safety of all miners.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I'm sure it will be given as much attention as the other safety

violations at the Sago mine were given.

Reports show Sago Mine had past troubles
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/04/mine.safety/index.html

[Fierce]

3. If one more person tells me unions are irrelevant,

...well, hell, I'll hand 'em an air pack.

[Blue_Tires]

19. welcome to the site!

[Fierce]

20. Thank you!

nt

[hedgehog]

4. Even so , would most or all of the miners have survived

if the rescue operation had hit the ground running? Assuming the other miners were sitting alongside Randal McCloy, they must have died just minutes before rescue. I'd like to see an honest timeline comparing the cluster that went on on the surface to the estimated time of death for the other miners.

[SoCalDem]

17. He said one died in the accident, so there were 12 living and 8 airpacks

to share 12 ways..(he said there were 4 non-working packs) Assuming the air pack of the dead man was damaged, I wonder if more would have survived had they had their own airpack and did not have to share.. :cry:..

[etherealtruth]

5. Where does the Chimp and his evil cabal weigh in on mine safety?

"The Bush administration is reviewing air packs and other safety equipment used in the nation's mines after previously scrapping similar initiatives started by the Clinton administration."

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Bastards

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Yep -- they scrapped the Clinton initiatives. They don't govern...

and they don't give a damn.

[LSparkle]

13. They don't govern because they think government is the PROBLEM

How can we entrust the government to a party that has (at least since the Reagan era) pointed to government as being the SOURCE of problems, not the SOLUTION? They have no respect for government and don't have the skills or desire to see it working effectively.

[tabasco]

8. Just like they scrapped initiatives against Al Qaeda before 9-11.

These idiots just react to disasters and don't even attempt to prevent them.

With 32% approval. :crazy:

[antiblazer]

11. Of course B*sh protects big business

while literally killing off the average joe.

What hypocrisy by the "pro-life"!!!

[WildClarySage]

7. The airpacks failed because

The cost of violating mine safety regulations is less than the cost of following them, thanks in part to deregulations and the loss of union protections. It's still cheaper to pay the fines and compensations than to actually follow the safety protocols. Until the state and federal governments put some teeth into enforcing regulations designed to protect miners, this will continue.

[benburch]

16. I have heard they were purchased used.

And never actually tested.

[underpants]

12. I just read it(short article) very sad.

I don't really have anything to say. I can imagine it but I don't want to.

[Ian David]

14. If Gore were President, the miners would probably all be alive

The Bush administration is reviewing air packs and other safety equipment used in the nation's mines after previously scrapping similar initiatives started by the Clinton administration.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/27/mccloy.letter.ap/index.html

[glitch]

15. Added to the list of outrages.

I bet Sago hoped no one would survive to tell the story.

[Beware the Beast Man]

21. The last paragraph of that article is very telling.

[DeepModem Mom]

22. And why isn't it a story on its own, running on cable news? nt