#225 In the wake of 2006’s Sago Mine disaster, lawmakers in West Virginia and Ohio proposed legislation requiring mine workers to wear emergency tracking devices.
Very interesting. I am sure someone would have checked to see if the trapped miners had cell phones on them in order to triangulate their positions.
well...soon...just not yet
http://www.sycoleman.com/news/releases07.html
7.24.2007 - National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Awards L-3 SYColeman Contract to Develop Cutting-Edge Underground Mine Communications System Responding to the Requirements of the 2006 MINER Act
SYColeman Corporation (SYC) of Arlington, VA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of L-3 Communications, today announced that it has received a contract from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to develop a robust and reliable wireless communications system for underground coal mine safety applications.
The passage of the MINER Act by Congress has highlighted the need for improved safety capabilities in the nation’s underground coal mines. These safety capabilities include not only improved breathing apparatuses and emergency shelters, but also the systems necessary for mine operators and mine rescue teams to communicate with and locate miners in both everyday and emergency situations.
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There isn't even cell service outside in that area, let alone deep underground.
The reporters are all jonesing for their cells, and they have to use an occasional satellite phone to get a call off.
Considering that cell phones can start to lose signal inside buildings, I'm pretty sure they'd be totally useless under a 1000 feet of rock.
If they could be "triangulated", the cell-phone user could just call and say "We're at grid location xyz".
“Very interesting. I am sure someone would have checked to see if the trapped miners had cell phones on them in order to triangulate their positions.”
How would those work that far underground? Mine doesn’t always even work in the countryside.