they saw when they hit the surface. there were a lot of lights. you know, there weren t a lot of cameras at cue creek. we had one press camera that provided coverage for everybody else. but i think once they were taken to the hospitals and the calls started to come, i m quite sure that they were quite surprised by what they were facing. and in this case where you have had these folks in this mine for well over two months, i can only imagine what awaits them when they hit the surface. shepard: the difference between this one, dave, and the one in pennsylvania. in pennsylvania their quarters were much tighter. they were much tighter and also, we were nearing the time when we thought we could actually get them out alive. there was a period when just like here in copiapo, there was a period when we didn t know for sure whether or not they had survived. and for the first 17 days that happened here at this mine in copiapo as well there are some
similarities in that sense. in cue creek there was a period when the atmosphere in the mine was becoming dangerously low on oxygen and even the miners themselves were having difficulties breathing when the drill hole actually broke through and gave them some relief there are some differences that way. shepard: dave lauriski the man in charge of the cue creek rescue back in 2002 here in the united states. dave, all the best, i know we will be checking in with you throughout the night. thanks. i want to show you this animation our graphics department has put this together for you. this is the capsule that will go down. the rescue capsule to evacuate each of the 33 trapped miners in the san jose mine. they are wheels on shock absorbers as it goes down the side. they will run against the tub to try to help reduce friction because friction could cause some sort of collapse. don t even think there are not dangers along the way. there are. the capsules is equipped with audio and video links
nine miners from the pennsylvania flooded cue creek coal mine. i said 2002. same rescue cage they are using in chile. the man in charge of that entire rescue was a man named dave loreski. he currently runs a company called safety solutions international. and he is live with us today. dave, i m sure you remember the moments before this was about to happen at the cue creek mine in pennsylvania. i will never forget these cages coming up. oh, i sure do shepard. a time that stays with you forever. exsilver rating but also quite nerve-racking i have to tell you. shepard: what happens to make sure this happens right list. making sure they have contingencies in place in case something does go wrong that they can deal with that certainly knowing that the capsule or cage that they have is going to make a clean dissent and a clean assent from the mine