AMAX COAL'S Bucyrus Erie 1450 SLIDE-IN Dave's Note: This shot clearly shows the dipper of the Marion shovel, that the 1450 landed on. Photo's and details by: Fred Monger  More help showed up pretty quickly, and we set up a rope to help rescuers get down to the cab and got him on a stretcher and up to a waiting ambulance. The operator was the only one on board, and after about two months, was back to work operating another dragline. Here’s what we think happened: As the machine was walking, he had felt it start to slide toward the pit. His only thought was to get the bucket swung around and anchor it in the dirt (north of the machine) to stop the machine from sliding. We think that the attempted swinging motion caused the tub to rotate and slide even faster, and he was unable to get the bucket landed before the tail dropped over the side. I believe he did say the swing was not responding normally, and he had no way to know that was because the tub was spinning around instead of the machine. The machine did finally get swung around so the boom was to the north when it went over.   NEXT