Accident at Cave Excursions

[SmokeAire]

got wind through an attorney

Pepto Bismol usually takes care of that problem.

Where did he get his info? First hand from Bill? Be careful about passing on hearsay.

 

[Debraw]

<SNIP> Luxfer will do nothing for the end user who has a tank that fails inspection. <SNIP>

Actually Luxfer did a trade -in during all of 2003. You could ship it back and get a $50 trade-in voucher on a new tank from your local scuba shop. That deal ended December 31, 2003. I have seen many of these "bad" tanks show up on Ebay and plenty of people buying them. Every now and then I take the time to e-mail the 15 or 20 people I see bidding on then on send them the press release from the website. I am surprised your local LDS did not warn you of the voluntary recall while you were getting them filled last year. Will they work a deal on a new one since you need to have them replaced?

 

[RBachman]

From Cave Excursions Web Page

On July 27, 2004, a tragedy occurred at Cave Excursions. Sara “Fran” Slaughter was killed and 3 customers were injured as a result of a high pressure cylinder explosion. At this time, the cause of the accident is unknown.

To assist with mounting expenses, members of the Cave Diving Community have offered to collect monetary donations for Fran’s youngest son Patrick. If you are able to assist Patrick, please make your check payable to Patrick Slaughter, and mail it to the address shown below. I am certain that any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Patrick Slaughter
C/O Cave Excursions
20338-180th Trace
Live Oak, Fl. 32060

I extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to Fran’s family and friends, and wish those injured a healthy recovery.

Bill Rennaker.

 

[Calusacat]

New to the board here and thought I would just add to the news article. I dive the area often and was told by several reliable sources that Fran was filling a 40 cf O2 tank that she was holding during the filling process. OSha determined it slipped from here hands and landed on the valve, which caused the catastrophic tank failure. A very sad accident indeed and hopefully a lesson here to be learned.

 

[Dryglove]

New to the board here and thought I would just add to the news article. I dive the area often and was told by several reliable sources that Fran was filling a 40 cf O2 tank that she was holding during the filling process. OSha determined it slipped from here hands and landed on the valve, which caused the catastrophic tank failure. A very sad accident indeed and hopefully a lesson here to be learned.

So just to clarify. She was holding the bottle while it was being filled meaning the whip was attached and both valves were open filling the tank with O2 when it slipped from her hands? There seems to be so many stories floating around.

 

[madeline]

according to Bill at Cave Excursions, It was not being filled,. If the transfer was being done, there would have been much more damage. the valves were not open

 

[roakey]

Luxfer press release on explosion:

http://www.luxfercylinders.com/news/releases/20040809.shtml

Roak

 

[Boogie711]

It's interesting though - Luxfer is claiming the cylinder was NOT O2 cleaned. That's a big deal if it's true.

 

[DEEPLOU]

It's interesting though - Luxfer is claiming the cylinder was NOT O2 cleaned. That's a big deal if it's true.

the quote from Luxfer is: "which was not prepared by Luxfer for such pure oxygen service"

this just means Luxfer didn't O2 clean it, doesn't mean that it was not O2 cleaned.

 

[novadiver]

the quote from Luxfer is: "which was not prepared by Luxfer for such pure oxygen service"

this just means Luxfer didn't O2 clean it, doesn't mean that it was not O2 cleaned.

There is a picture of the tank that exploded on the cave divers forum. What a mess ! I hope they find the reason this tank came apart like it did.