Nine miners were trapped 240 feet below ground and over a mile from the mine entrance after an accidental breakthrough occurred, allowing millions of gallons of water to pour into Quecreek from the nearby abandoned Saxman mine. Water quickly filled the tunnel leading from the mine entrance to the area of the mine where the men were working. They were able to scramble to a slightly higher section, but were trapped in a bubble of air while they watched the water level slowly rise to their precarious position. A separate crew of nine men was able to escape and sounded an alarm, bringing managers, other miners and families to the scene.

For those on the surface there was no way to communicate with the trapped miners, to know their position or even to know if they were alive. There was no hope of pumping the mine dry in time to save anyone who might be alive; the only logical approach was to drill down from the ground surface to the suspected location of the miners. The mine managers were aware of the assigned location for the men for that day’s mining and had current maps of the network of tunnels, “entries” and “crosscuts.” This is where the science of surveying played such a crucial role in the operation to save the men.