METAL/NONMETAL MINE FATALITY - On April 1, 1997, a driller with nearly 10 years of mining experience was killed at a limestone mine. The employee was drilling blast holes using an air-track drill in preparation of removing an additional 25 feet of the floor from the existing drift when a ground fall occurred from a pillar, crushing him. This is the 19th fatality reported in calendar year 1997 in the metal and nonmetal mining industries. As of this date in 1996, there were ten fatalities reported in these industries. This is the 3rd fatality classified as fall of face in 1997. There were no fall of face fatalities during the same period in 1996.

MSHA's Fatal Accident Investigation Report [FTL97M19]