Fatality near Ketchikan, Alaska

[DandyDon]

Troopers Investigating Death of Diver Near Ketchikan

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of an injured diver near Ketchikan.
Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., a ship called the FV Ostrich placed a mayday requesting help for a diver in need of assistance.
The U.S. Coast Guard responded and transported the diver to a hospital in Ketchikan, where he was identified as 32-year-old Levi Adams of Leawood, Kan., and pronounced dead.
Adams' next of kin has been notified, but the cause and circumstances of his death remain unclear.

Tuesday diving accident leaves one man dead | KRBD

One man is dead following a diving accident Tuesday in the Mountain Point area.

According to Alaska State Troopers, at 10:30 a.m., a mayday went out from the FV Ostrich reporting an injured diver. The U.S. Coast Guard responded and assisted.

Troopers learned that after arriving at the hospital, 32-year-old Levi Adams of Leawood, Kansas, was declared dead. The cause and circumstances of his death are under investigation.

South Tongass Fire and EMS also responded. Fire Chief Steve Rydeen says that two men had been diving from the boat in the Mountain Point Area. Rydeen says an autopsy likely will be required.

 

[ecobber4]

Levi was in my pool diving class for PADI Scuba Certification a couple of weeks ago. He was such a nice guy. My thoughts are with his family, friends and girlfriend.

 

[DandyDon]

Levi was in my pool diving class for PADI Scuba Certification a couple of weeks ago. He was such a nice guy. My thoughts are with his family, friends and girlfriend.

Welcome to SB. Was he there as a student or dive pro? Either way, I hope you don't let this affect your feelings about diving & risks excessively. It's got to be tough to have known the diver, as a diver.

 

[ecobber4]

He was there as a commercial fisherman diving for sea cucumbers. He was a new diver and completed his PADI pool classes on September 17 in Merriam KS. I believe he left for Alaska on September 23. This has not changed my feelings toward diving.

 

[GDimery]

Upadte: Ketchikan fisherman gets 3 years in prison for negligence in death of diver | Alaska Dispatch News

KETCHIKAN — A commercial fisherman found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a Kansas diver who drowned while harvesting sea cucumbers was sentenced to three years in Prison.
The Ketchikan Daily News reports a judge on Monday suspended two years of the sentence for 33-year-old Joshua Wodyga of Ketchikan. A jury in January convicted him on the lesser charge but found him not guilty of manslaughter.
Prosecutors argued that Wodyga's negligence in maintaining an air compressor and air filter led to the death of 32-year-old Levi Adams, of Leawood, Kansas. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning and drowning while he and Wodyga were diving in October 2013 in waters off Mountain Point.

 

[soccerrefjason]

That's a damn shame... Obviously the man had a plan and worked toward a goal and now he is gone because someone failed to properly maintain the life support equipment. RIP and May your family be given strength and peace during this nightmare they must be going through.

 

[infieldg]

He died of carbon monoxide poisoning and drowning

So unnecessary... I do enough trips away that every time I've seen DandyDon's footer I've made a mental note to buy a CO tester, but haven't been able to nail one model down yet and some of the recommendations I've found don't seem to be available.

I eventually decided to order the little single-use balloon ones as an interim but didn't get around to it - suddenly feeling a bit more motivated

 

[wgw04024]

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say, but going from a ow class, to diving commercially in a week, seems like a pretty tall order. It's very unfortunate, but I would not trust anyone running that kind of equipment if I wasn't qualified to check it out myself. That's just too much trust for me.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Was this diver diving scuba, or hookah? In Alaska, apparently, a lot of the commercial divers use hookah.

SeaRat

 

[Herb-alaska]

Was this diver diving scuba, or hookah? In Alaska, apparently, a lot of the commercial divers use hookah.

SeaRat

John this was a Hookah diver who was diving a compressor that wasn't even a true hookah compressor. The diver if I remember correctly wasn't fully certified and this simply was a man who wanted to make a quick buck in AK harvest diving and found a Captain to partner with. The diver probably had no clue what was wrong with the gear becasue he wasn't trained in it. It was a sad case and widely discussed among the industry but I doubt it changed anything .

Herb / Alaska
actually in Sitka 180 miles north of Ketchikan