Accident at Vortex Springs 8-20-10

[Cave Diver]

Sure. Ben was a very experienced diver who would dive any chance he got and had many certificates. Diving was a passion of his especially after his brother's passing. Every picture he has taken in the past year is of his dives. He was also a scuba diver instructor ( he recently was able to teach others in beginning to scuba dive). I do not know in detail about his certification levels as I am not a diver. I hope this helped.

Now cave diving, I do not know if he was certified but I can tell you he was always cave diving any chance he got. His pictures are just fascinating to look at from his dives.

In your line of experience with cave diving what do you think went wrong with this situation?

Based on what has been posted so far, it doesn't sound like he has formal cave training. Unfortunately open water instructors are probably among the most at risk for accidents in caves. Because they train other people how to dive, they wrongly assume they have the skills to handle situation in an overhead environment. I can't say with certainty this is what happened here, but it's been a common theme in the past.

 

[The Kraken]

I, too, am an instructor with certification in wreck diving instruction, but still, to this day, I WILL NOT dive a cave.

Cogito ergo sum . . . otherwise, I am not.

The Kraken

 

[ElleDrewinTN]

I understand that I have been advised not to read any further but fact of the matter is that I won't be turning away from this thread until Ben is found or the search is called off. I have pretty thick skin and am not an irrational person. I know that Ben was being way too cavalier by diving alone in a cave. Hell Ben knew that. All I can say is Ben was being Ben. It's easy for people to call him selfish and careless for what he did, that he is now also putting other people's lives in jeopardy in an effort to search for him and please know that all of us close to him know this and are very thankful for these men out there looking for him. But also please know that Ben was not a selfish or careless individual. He was the exact opposite. People do stupid things. People do things out of character. It doesn't define the person, it means they made a bad judgment call and a mistake. Unfortunately my friend paid the ultimate price for his. But we are all human, we all make mistakes, we all mess up, A LOT, in this life we are traveling, whether it be above land or below it.

I know where you're coming from and have a pretty good idea what information you've heard that makes you say this. I only ask that we wait for word from those directly involved before using terms like criminal actions. This is only going to serve to inflame comments until everything comes to light.

I was going to respond to the criminal comment but this statement was a lot better worded than anything I would have written.

All I can say is that there is a lot going on behind the scenes that is not posted on this board and with the delicacy of the situation and because I don't feel it's my place I won't be posting it unless I'm given the okay to. That being said, there are always two sides to every story (which I'm sure all are aware of) and I just kindly ask that everyone refrain from posting any kind of hearsay on here and just wait until the facts come into light.

 

[The Kraken]

So aptly said, my friend:

"People do stupid things. People do things out of character. It doesn't define the person, it means they made a bad judgment call and a mistake. Unfortunately my friend paid the ultimate price for his. But we are all human, we all make mistakes, we all mess up, A LOT, in this life we are traveling, whether it be above land or below it."

A GREAT tenet by which, I think, we should ALL live.

the K

 

[ElleDrewinTN]

Sure. Ben was a very experienced diver who would dive any chance he got and had many certificates. Diving was a passion of his especially after his brother's passing. Every picture he has taken in the past year is of his dives. He was also a scuba diver instructor ( he recently was able to teach others in beginning to scuba dive). I do not know in detail about his certification levels as I am not a diver. I hope this helped.

Now cave diving, I do not know if he was certified but I can tell you he was always cave diving any chance he got. His pictures are just fascinating to look at from his dives.

In your line of experience with cave diving what do you think went wrong with this situation?

He wasn't a CERTIFIED cave diver but I wouldn't call him inexperienced in cave diving. I'm fairly certain from what S told me last night that he had some formal training in cave dives but no certification.

He was also huge into wreck diving as well.

 

[scubadog1969]

have they found him ?

 

[LinetteH]

I wanted to sign up to post a simple answer to a question someone posed.

Someone questioned if the water flow could have taken Ben out of the caves and into the Spring Run. We were there yesterday as Vortex Springs is also a recreational swimming area and we used kayaks and floats to play throughout the day. The Spring Run itself is not very long and we took kayaks to the end of it and back. The water is extremely clear there and if his body was in the spring run it would have been seen. We found out about the missing diver when we met up with our friends there and everyone who was there yesterday knew what was going on and even the kids were keeping their eyes open for any signs of equipment or even the diver's body.

I am not sure who the divers are but they are doing an amazing job and seemed extremely diligent in their efforts to bring closure to Ben's family. Our thoughts and prayers are with the divers as well as Ben's family.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Yarbrough, I don't think anybody was trying to say that a better OW class would prepare one to survive a cave. I think they were saying that, if more emphasis were placed on warning students NOT to go in caves, some people might not do it.

For what it's worth, When training OW students, I have them write, date & sign the following statement in their logbooks before their first open water dive: "I have been briefed and will not go into any cave or other overhead environment."
It isn't a guarantee they won't do it, but it is a guarantee that they've been told not to, and an acknowledgment that they know they are to stay out.
Rick

 

[cmufieldhockey8]

The place Ben went is the worst possible place he could have.

We are certain he went a certain place or are you talking about the cave in general?

Edit: and yes I have gotten the crap scared out of me, but it was momentary because I knew I had completed training designed to handle the situation. There was no thinking necessary; I did what I was taught. Without that, it would have taken effort not to spiral into a panic.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

We are certain he went a certain place or are you talking about the cave in general?

Yes they are certain.