I was reading about the death at Nutty Putty cave. What I still don't understand is, do we not have power drills like in the movies? I sort of assumed that if we _need_ to dig down, it can be done.
It could be that his life wasn't valued however much it would cost to airlift a drill, and destroy the cave.
His life was very much valued. Reading about that tragedy, I don't think there is any way a drill would have helped. He was so far down the cave, and even just the entrance to that cave is very small. There was no way to get equipment to him in time. Everyone involved tried their absolute best, but there was no solution to even ask for. If there was a solution that would have wrecked the cave and would have saved him, they would probably have taken it, but there was no way to operate on the rock above him without burying him.
Actually, rescuers did use a rock hammer drill to place anchors to attach pulleys to, so he could be extracted, unfortunately, the drill bit broke and they had to return to the surface to get another one.
Then (tragically) after they set the last anchor, one of them broke out from the passage wall, and that's when he slipped back down further than before, it was so damn SAD!
Those drills do exist, and they have been used in a number of mine rescue attempts. They take days/weeks/months to reach the desired depth and size of hole, depending on the type and stability of the rock being drilled through. That's assuming the surface is conducive to drilling - any preparation there (leveling the ground, building access roads, etc) will take even more time.
