Craig Hall, the driller on the job, recalls what happened next: "So he stepped off of it, turned and looked back and when he did, [the rig] took off and fell six feet straight down. The whole back of the rig was level with the top of the dirt. If he had not moved, 30 seconds later, I may not have a helper. He took off running to get away from the machine, and over the next 15 minutes, it sunk another four or five feet into the ground."