Diver sucked into power plant pump - Kentucky

[DandyDon]

LMPD: Search becomes recovery mission for missing diver at LG&E power plant

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The search by emergency crews for a diver who was reportedly sucked into a pump at an LG&E power plant has now become a recovery mission, Louisville Metro police said.

Firefighters from several departments were called to the plant at 14600 Dixie Highway shortly after 1 p.m., MetroSafe dispatchers said.

LG&E spokeswoman Chris Whelan said a two-person contract diving team consisting of a monitor and a diver were doing routine inspections when the monitor lost contact with the diver. The divers are from Bulldog Diving Inc.

LMPD spokeswoman Beth Ruoff said that after arriving at the scene, officers determined the mission would be a recovery due to a workplace accident.

According to the company’s website, the Mill Creek Generation Station is LG&E’s largest coal-fired power plant. It sits on 544 acres and went into operation in 1972 to meet an unprecedented increase for energy in the Louisville area.

Rescue operations are currently underway.

This story will be updated.

 

[CanadaDan]

Condolences to their family and co-workers. I hope improvements to safety protocols of both the power plant and commercial dive company comes after a review of the sequence of events that led to their death.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

What a brutal way to go. My condolensces to family and friends.

 

[tarponchik]

Shouldn't the pump inlet be covered with a grate?

 

[Jack Hammer]

Shouldn't the pump inlet be covered with a grate?

Diver would get stuck to grate, google Delta P.

Lockouts should be in place to prevent the pumps from being turned on. And all automatic systems related to the pumps should be disabled and locked out. Unfortunately some systems are so involved even those running them don't fully understand every possible way a system can turn itself on.

This is sad and tragic.

 

[OTF]

Not just an unavoidable "sad and tragic" occurrence. This was major negligence somewhere.

 

[SlugLife]

I'm reminded of the Mansfield Dam dive-park near Austin, which is right by a large dam. It seems like an odd location for a dive-park, although maybe the dangers of being sucked into the dam are quite low.

 

[spchampion]

Supposedly the Mansfield Dam dive park is safe, but some people are actually crazy enough to leave the park and penetration dive the dam's intakes.

Dive inside mansfield dam
Diving next to Mansfield dam near the jailhouse

I have no interest in ever, ever doing anything this crazy.

 

[NothingClever]

Diver would get stuck to grate, google Delta P.

Lockouts should be in place to prevent the pumps from being turned on. And all automatic systems related to the pumps should be disabled and locked out. Unfortunately some systems are so involved even those running them don't fully understand every possible way a system can turn itself on.

This is sad and tragic.

That Delta P video was very informative.

 

[DandyDon]

He was just a kid: 19-year-old diver identified after accident at LG&E Mill Creek Station plant

He was hailed as a hero when he was 12: UPDATE: Diver who drowned once hailed as hero for saving family from fire - ABC 36 News