2 Divers Lost in Northern CA.

[grassyknoll]

Sad news regarding two commercial divers up here in Northern California. It will likely be a few days before they know more.
My sympathies go out to their families.



SACRAMENTO -- Two divers who were inspecting equipment at a state pumping plant south of Los Banos died Wednesday, the state Department of Water Resources said.

The divers were performing what was supposed to be a routine, 20-minute inspection of the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant.

"For reasons we don't know yet, they did not come up," department spokeswoman Sue Sims said.


She said it was the first time the department had experienced such a tragedy in its diving corps.

Department officials did not immediately release the divers' names but said they were experienced and certified.

They said one had been with the department almost 19 years, and the other for six years, spokesman Ted Thomas said.

"Our deepest sympathies go out to the families of these two men," Director Lester Snow said in a statement. "Our divers routinely perform hazardous duties in connection with State Water Project operations, but they are well-trained, highly qualified individuals who approach their tasks with a safety-first attitude."

The divers went into an aqueduct shortly after 10 a.m. and were in the water about 45 minutes before a third diver on the shore lost sight of them, said Paul Barile, a spokesman with the Merced County Sheriff's Department.

That diver had pulled the bodies from the water by the time rescue divers with the sheriff's department arrived, he said.

The aqueduct is part of the State Water Project, which funnels drinking water to Southern California. Divers at the department conduct routine inspections of underwater equipment, Sims said.

The accident is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the state agency that oversees workplace accidents.

"We need to find out what occurred," said Dean Fryer, a Cal/OSHA spokesman. "We will have to look at the issues of safety precautions and safety procedures for that type of work."

The department employs about a dozen divers to inspect equipment along rivers and aqueducts and perform minor repairs and maintenance.

 

[Teamcasa]

So sad..

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/28674.html

Dave

 

[BladesRobinson]

DWR divers didn't have safest standard equipment available
SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press


SACRAMENTO - The two state divers who died in the strong currents of the California Aqueduct relied upon recreational equipment that is considered unsafe for the conditions they faced, top industry and diving experts said Thursday.

The mysterious deaths of Txx Cxxxxxxx, 50, and Mxxxxx Axxxxxxx, 44, on Wednesday shed light on a program at the state Department of Water Resources in which divers used scuba diving gear that experts said would have not have been used by trained professionals in the private sector.

Cxxxxxxx and Axxxxxxx descended about 30 feet to inspect trash racks on the floor of the California Aqueduct, where big grates catch tumbleweeds, garbage and animal carcasses.

"They were using scuba which is a No. 1 huge 'no' for clearing trash tracts," said Dxx Vxxxx, director of the Marine Technical Department at Santa Barbara City College. "That goes against all the standards we train to."

In hazardous circumstances, industry officials said diving standards require a safer method known as surface supply diving. That practice involves using sturdy helmets, rope and oxygen lines that anchor the divers to the shore and a monitoring station that gauges their whereabouts and physical conditions.

Wednesday's dive was a routine assignment for experienced divers who were part of a team of 13 divers that several times a month navigate the state's rivers and aqueducts to do maintenance and repair work that keeps water flowing to Southern California.

As is department practice, the men were tethered together and wore wet suits, masks, and air tanks on their backs. The current in that part of the 444-mile-long aqueduct at the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant is fast, the visibility is low and there are many obstacles that can trap a diver.

The scuba gear was not sufficient, said Axxx Jxxxxxx, a former dive team leader with 20 years of experience at the Imperial Irrigation District.

"They screwed up, whoever was running the show," Jxxxxxx said.

The Department of Water Resources declined repeated requests from The Associated Press on Thursday to talk with managers or members of the diving team about their choice of equipment and safety procedures.

"They don't have any specific information about what happened yesterday," spokeswoman Sxx Sxxx said. "We've got people in the middle of an investigation at the moment."

At Dos Amigos, the channel is wider than a two-lane highway and snakes through fog-laden farmland on the outskirts of Los Banos. The pumping station is about 15 miles south of San Luis Reservoir, a familiar landmark along Highway 152 that links Interstate 5 to the Santa Cruz/Monterey area.

On Wednesday, one of the six pumps at the plant was active about 50 feet from where the pair were working, but was normal and non-threatening, according to Dxxxx Rxxxx, an engineer with the State Water Project. Nevertheless, the water was still moving and cloudy.

"Given the current, the amount of debris and the lack of visibility, that's probably an unsafe mode of diving," said Pxxx Nxxxxx, executive director of the Houston-based Association of Diving Contractors International. "This was probably a very unnecessary loss."

Jxxxx Axxxxxx, a former member of the dive team and a friend of both men, said the department gave him and other dive team members whatever equipment they needed, although they didn't have the industry-preferred equipment.

"We knew there was a risk involved. We always trusted each other and we took care of everything we had," said Axxxxxx, who was on the team for eight years but left last year. "I think it was just a tragic accident. I'm 100 percent sure they did the best they could for each other."

In a 2001 story published in an internal department magazine, DWR People, Crawford acknowledged the dangers of his 20-year career of diving for the department. He described a time he and a fellow diver almost didn't make it out of the water while doing a field survey at a pumping plant.

"We hit concrete which meant the canal section had been cleared of silt, but when we moved in another direction we ran into a 10-foot wall of silt," Cxxxxxxx said. "It could have easily collapsed and buried us."

Little was known Thursday about why the pair failed to come back to the surface after what was supposed to be a 20-minute task.

At the shore, investigators reported that neither diver's wet suit or tank showed signs of damage, meaning it was unlikely they struggled or became trapped. And both men had air left in their tanks, said Txx Mxxxxx, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

Those early signs point to an equipment failure, contaminated water or air, experts said.

The Merced County coroner's office was expected to perform an autopsy late Thursday or Friday, spokesman Pxxx Bxxxxx said.

The aqueduct is part of the State Water Project, a system of 22 dams and reservoirs that funnels drinking water more than 400 miles to residents in Southern California. It feeds into municipal water systems and irrigation canals, and is also used to flood a nearby wildlife refuge, where thousands of migratory waterfowl gather each winter, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the state Department of Water Resources.

 

[Ocean One]

Prayers and condolences go out to the divers families.
Perhaps statewide safety and equipment standards needs to be established?

 

[CrawfishDiver]

two divers with air left in thier tanks? wow sounds like air contamination to me. so sorry for the family .

 

[DeepSeaDan]

I don't believe these unfortunate gentlemen could be deemed "Commercial" divers as I doubt they were commercially trained. The fact they were using scuba to conduct such work tells the story.

I've cleaned a few trash racks in my day, all related to water control structures.

It is not an environment for scuba.

This work requires standard commercial surface air diving procedures. Anything less is sheer folly.

Yea, I get right pissed when this type of incident happens, because it dam-well shouldn't!

DSD

 

[Mr.X]

Very sad. Condolences to the family.

This type of work does require specialized training, equipment and standardized protocols. What's interesting was the quote where the employer said they could have been provided the "right" type of gear. Geez, I don't know too many divers who would not prefer to dive with the right pieces of kit.

Very sad.

X

 

[pipedope]

Very sad. Condolences to the family.

This type of work does require specialized training, equipment and standardized protocols. What's interesting was the quote where the employer said they could have been provided the "right" type of gear. Geez, I don't know too many divers who would not prefer to dive with the right pieces of kit.

Very sad.

X

Without commercial training they would not know all of the risks and what equipment and procedures would be proper for the job.
Even with training divers (and employers) often want to cut corners to get a job done quick and cheep. It is only by really working hard to do it right each and every time can we avoid these kinds of incidents.

I would like to see the written safety analysis and dive plan for this job. They are *required* for *every* commercial dive.

It is very sad. These thing not only don't have to happen but they should *never* happen.

Diving is dangerous and stuff happens but with a diver on surface supplied air with a comm link the surface crew can tell the diver is in trouble while there is still time to do something about it.

 

[Thalassamania]

Thread already open on this accident

 

[grassyknoll]

The latest news account states that they were tethered together. Now I don't know much about commercial diving practices, but with poor vis, current and entanglement issues the thought of being tethered to my buddy kind of gives me the willies. Can anyone comment on how common this practice is?
(the possibility that they were not adequatley geared is another issue altogether).