Accident at Blue Springs, Jackson County FL

[SandCrawler]

Caught this story today. Apparently occurred early this morning.

Media General News Service
Published: June 9, 2008

A 41-year-old Oakmans, Ala., man drowned during the early morning hours Monday during a cave diving accident at Blue Spring State Park in Jackson County Florida, said Sheriff John McDaniel.

Joel Mitchell Tubbs, who lived on Highway 69 in Oakmans, which is in Walker County northwest of Birmingham, was diving with a female friend at the park when the accident happened.

“All indications are it’s a drowning accident,” McDaniel said. “I think it was an acquaintance, and they were diving together as friends.”

Two divers had registered with the sheriff’s office for diving at Blue Spring before their Sunday night dive. The two divers apparently started what was supposed to be a cave exploration sometime during the night, the sheriff’s office reported.

Upon entry into the cavern both divers had signaled that they were “okay” and proceeded to extend a safety line from the entrance to the spring. After a short distance, the lead diver turned to check on her partner and found his underwater scooter sinking to the bottom of the cavern, according to the narrative in the sheriff’s office press release.

The diver noticed her partner had risen to the ceiling of the cavern and was unresponsive. She immediately pulled him to the surface and brought him to shore, according to the press release.

Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and 911 was called.

Jackson County Fire and Rescue and the sheriff’s office responded to the call at 12:37 a.m.

The medical examiner’s office has assumed jurisdiction and will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death, the news release stated.

Cave Diver Dies at Blue Springs

Alabama cave diver dies at Blue Springs near Marianna

Anyone have any details?

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

No details, but thanks for the heads up.

 

[stangd1909]

Anything new on this? That really sucks!






R.I.P.

 

[Merjester]

Here is a more up to date article. We are still waiting for autopsy results. He was my aunt's brother so hopefully I'll have information soon.

A late night dive turns tragic for an Alabama man cave diving in Jackson County. Last night at about 10:30 Joel Tubbs and his dive partner got to blue spring they descended downward to Jackson Blue Cave, but something went wrong.

According to Edd Sorenson of Cave Adventurer's Tubbs and his partner were going into the cave following a dive line when something happened to Tubbs. The woman he was with looked back and saw his underwater scooter sinking and saw Tubbs at the ceiling of the cave with his regulator out of his mouth. Sorenson says he was already dead by the time she got to him.

Sorenson inspected the gear Tubbs was using and says it was functioning properly. He adds at this point it appears Tubbs suffered a heart attack and drowned.

Sorenson says if someone has not gone diving in a while or is using new gear it can lead to panic which he believes may have happened here.

"Anything that goes wrong you have to fix it or get out before you're not breathing anymore," said Sorenson.

Tubbs died near the mouth of the cave so his partner was able to pull him out of the cave. Sorenson later recovered the body. He says he considered Tubbs a friend and says he's been diving for almost 20 years. He says this was just a tragedy.

Jackson County caves draw crowds from all over the world and people frequently dive in the caves at night after getting a key to Blue Springs Park from the sheriff's office which is available 24 hours a day.

WTXL ABC 27 Tallahassee, Thomasville, Valdosta - Your Local News in HD | Man Dies in Jackson County Cave

 

[sehinson76]

Joel was like a brother to my late uncle, Jackie Smith who also met his fate while diving on 1/1/06. Though we all thought so highly of Joel, it was Jackie who shared a bond with Joel that was so strong it seemed they had known each other for a lifetime.

I feel certain that they are diving a wreck or cave somewhere now on the other side.

My sincerest condolences go to his family and friends.

Peace my friend,

 

[infxnrn]

My husband, Jackie Smith, died 1-1-06 while diving and there were numerous "reports" spread on these websites by divers who knew absolutely nothing about the accident.
I ask each and every one of you to hold your egos in check and not to analyze the accident until the medical examiner completes the autopsy. Even then, it will be several weeks (up to 6) for all toxicology reports to be finalized. People have NO idea what words on these websites can do to a family member. I do. I have been there and now I am having to go through it again by supporting Joel's wife. Do the same and don't make assumptions. Thank you. Lisa Ratcliffe Smith

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

My husband, Jackie Smith, died 1-1-06 while diving

Hi Lisa,
Welcome to the board. My dive buddy Deb Fletcher has often spoke of Jackie with great fondess. It sounds as if he was not only quite a diver, but a remarkable man too. When Jackie's name has come up with various folks at Jocassee, it has always been with the upmost respect. I have heard more than one person speak of him with great admiration as well as sadness as he is missed. I am sure that pales in comparison to what you feel. I am sorry for your loss.

Leah

 

[Jocasseegirl]

My husband, Jackie Smith, died 1-1-06 while diving and there were numerous "reports" spread on these websites by divers who knew absolutely nothing about the accident.
I ask each and every one of you to hold your egos in check and not to analyze the accident until the medical examiner completes the autopsy. Even then, it will be several weeks (up to 6) for all toxicology reports to be finalized. People have NO idea what words on these websites can do to a family member. I do. I have been there and now I am having to go through it again by supporting Joel's wife. Do the same and don't make assumptions. Thank you. Lisa Ratcliffe Smith

Lisa, I know you all are devastated by this. I heard about it this a.m. from JT. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. I left Charles a message this a.m. on his phone. I know that you will be a strong support for Joel's wife.

 

[Dive-aholic]

If history holds true here, the ME's report will report drowning and possibly embolism. It will likely not indicate what happened to cause the drowning and embolism.

Lisa, I don't know any specifics about your situation, but I do know that we try to learn from accidents by discussing them. While some people may not be the most tactful in what they post, I believe most are just trying to understand what happened in their own way. I don't think much will come of discussing Joel's death. JB is my home cave and I have as accurate account on what happened as anyone can get who wasn't right there. It sounds like a medical event lead to his death. Unfortunately, I don't think there will be any kind of confirmation of this from any ME.

 

[Jocasseegirl]

Lisa, I don't know any specifics about your situation, but I do know that we try to learn from accidents by discussing them. While some people may not be the most tactful in what they post, I believe most are just trying to understand what happened in their own way. I don't think much will come of discussing Joel's death. JB is my home cave and I have as accurate account on what happened as anyone can get who wasn't right there. It sounds like a medical event lead to his death. Unfortunately, I don't think there will be any kind of confirmation of this from any ME.

What Lisa is saying is not to "speculate" on what happened, but wait until the autopsy results are in. In Jackie's case, the autopsy revealed nothing, and Jackie's rebreather was in perfect working order -- but he knew something was wrong and surfaced from 60 feet, leaving his buddy who was testing some equipment. Jackie would NEVER have left his dive buddy - especially without proper signaling - unless it was an emergency. Jackie was known as one of the safest and best divers on the planet (literally). If you would like to see how well he was thought of, go to my website and click on the dive flag on the home page (be sure to have your speakers on).

I'm sure that Joel's wife will share any information that would help other divers. Other than that, we really don't need to know.