Rescuers search for missing students at Airman's Cave
By Corrie MacLaggan
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, October 14, 2007
<img src="http://images.news8austin.com/news8austin_media/2007/10/14/images/lgs_cave.jpg" align="left">Rescue workers have been searching since early this morning for four people believed to be inside Airman's Cave, a narrow limestone cavity that runs parallel to South Lamar Boulevard.
The people - three women and a man believed to be University of Texas students - set out to explore the cave at around 9 a.m. Saturday, officials said. The cavers told friends to call for help if they weren't back by midnight Saturday. At around 5 a.m., the friends called 911.
Rescue workers with EMS and the Austin Fire Department are searching with the help of local caving groups.
"We have no reason to believe that they're injured," said Frank Urias, an EMS division commander, said of the missing people. "At this point, we're just treating them as overdue cavers."
Officials did not release the names of the missing people.
The trek from the cave's entrance behind the Barton's Lodge apartments on South Lamar Boulevard to the end - 1.5 miles south, past Ben White Boulevard - would take an experienced caver about 12 hours, said Warren Hassinger, an EMS spokesman.
He said some of the missing cavers may have had little to no experience.
"It's definitely not someplace where an amateur or novice wants to be," Urias said of Airman's Cave. "It has very, very narrow passages. It has several areas where its very easy to get lost or disoriented in."
The most challenging part of the cave to navigate is a 16- or 18-inch wide section near the beginning called the keyhole, said firefighter D. J. Walker, who was inside the cave this morning.
He said he had to put one arm above his head and the other arm by his side to wiggle his way inside. Walker, who weighs 155 pounds, said he was chosen to go in because of his size. "If you're over 170 pounds, it's hard to get in," he said.
Rescue workers found water bottles and a cell phone near the entrance to the cave, which seems to indicate that the people are still inside, Walker said.
The fire and EMS workers are using Vietnam War-era phones to communicate with the dozen or so rescuers who are inside the cave, Walker said. The rescuers have brought a spool of telephone wire into the cave because radios and cell phones don?t work inside. The wire - along with glow sticks they're placing along their path - will also help the rescue workers find their way out, officials said.
The entrance to the cave is a 10-minute hike down a rocky trail in the greenbelt behind the apartment complex. This morning, several rescue workers congregated outside the cave's entrance, which is under a rocky overhang. Some had light brown dust all over their bodies from their time inside the cave.
"It's not a fun cave," said Kevin Harner of EMS, who tried to enter the cave this morning but said that although he could have physically fit through the keyhole, it was too much for him psychologically.
"You really have to like caving," he said.
<a href="http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/10/15/1015cave.html">via Austin American Statesman</a>
<b><a href="http://www.news8austin.com/shared/video/player.asp?destlist=46741&AdShown=">Video Report</a></b>
"Airman's Cave is approximately 12,000 square feet..."