The Quecreek Mine rescue took place in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, when nine miners were trapped underground for over 77 hours, from July 24 to 28, 2002.

The Upper Kittanning seam locally ranges in thickness from 38 to 62 inches (970–1,570 mm) and dips 1.7 to 2.3 degrees (3 to 4 percent) to the northwest.

Back on the surface, Pennsylvania State Police were guarding the Quecreek mine site by 10:30 p.m., and instructed reporters to go to the local church for a press conference scheduled to occur later that night.

Robert Barnes Jr. also telephoned families of missing miners asking them to come to the Sipesville firehouse for more information.

Around 11 p.m., Barnes also asked a local United Methodist pastor, Barry Ritenour, if he could spend the night at the firehouse with the families.

In addition, calls were made between 11:30 p.m. and 12 a.m. to find a drill that could bore a hole big enough to raise men from a mine.

The borehole was drilled to allow air to be pumped into the mineshaft where the miners were presumed to be, at the most up dip location near where the Saxman mine was breached.

A four-member team started working about 3:15 a.m. Thursday, and its drill cracked through what turned out to be 240 feet (73 m) of rock, and into the mine shaft 1 hour and 45 minutes later.

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), proposed creating a pressurized air pocket for the miners.

Urosek's plan had never been tested in the United States, but despite some skepticism, calculations were made, and the hole was sealed around the air supply.

The drill operator then used his rig's air compressor to pump and maintain 920 cubic feet per minute at a temperature of 197 °F (92 °C) at 90 pounds per square inch (620 kPa).

The sound due to the high rate of pumped air deafened and hurt the miner's ears, but provided hope by the knowledge that rescuers knew where they were.

Back underground, rising water covered the air shaft, preventing the miners from tapping on the pipe, though for a time they used a hammer to bang on the rock ceiling, detectable by seismic equipment which was brought in by Federal mining officials.

Dennis Hall's lunch pail was discovered floating and was retrieved, with the still dry corned beef sandwich his wife had made him, and a bottle of Pepsi, while Thomas Foy found two Mountain Dews on one of their machines.

Normally, such a job would be done in three or four days, but a 95-member machine shop in Big Run, Jefferson County, was able to build the tool in approximately three hours.

Many were returning to stay at the same Somerset hotels they had previously occupied while covering the United Airlines Flight 93 crash site, located ten miles (16 km) away, less than a year earlier.

A new 30-inch (760 mm) bit arrived from West Virginia at 7:00 p.m. Friday, but due to its nominally larger size, the hole had to be enlarged from the surface.

At 3:30 a.m. a decision was made to change to a 26-inch (660 mm) bit since there was one available 7 miles (11 km) south of the mine in Somerset, and it would accommodate the rescue capsule.

One possibility that was feared at this point was that of breaking into the chamber too quickly, resulting in the water in the mine rushing upward and drowning the miners.

In preparation for these possibilities, an airlock was fashioned to go on top of the escape shaft, and on Thursday evening, 10 portable hyperbaric chambers arrived at the drilling site.

1 broke through into the mine, rescuers signaled the trapped miners by tapping on the 6-inch (150 mm) drill steel with a hammer, and a faint response was heard.

The miners had been taking turns walking every 10 or 15 minutes 250 feet (76 m) down the passageway from their high ground location to check the area where the drilling sounds were coming from.

At 10:53 p.m. a special pen-shaped, two-way communication device was lowered into the 6-inch air pipe, with a child's glow stick attached to it for visibility in the dark mine.

Due to recurring chest pains, foreman Randy Fogle was chosen to be the first rescued miner, and arrived on the surface at approximately 1:00 a.m.

Governor Mark Schweiker convened an investigation committee in the days after the rescue was completed, paying particular attention to the actions of the Black Wolf Coal Company, which had been previously cited 25 times for violations.

Fogle’s decision and Hall’s persistence to immediately notify the miners in 2-Left section was life saving because of the rapid inflow of water.

Additionally, the 1-Left section crew’s decisions to stay together, work as a team, and go to the highest ground were crucial for their survival.

The fast actions of company officials in calling for assistance of expert personnel and appropriate equipment, and the rapid response of those contacted played a major role in the success of this rescue."

[4] In 2003, rescuer Bob Long died from suicide, a reminder that depression often follows the event among those involved in high-profile rescues.

[7] The Dropkick Murphys song "Buried Alive" on their 2003 album Blackout is a tribute to the Quecreek Mine rescue.