Accident & Incident Discussion - Northernone - aka Cameron Donaldson

[tursiops]

It was an Google translation of a news article so you should expect some errors.

GIGO

 

[RayfromTX]

Cameron Donaldson (northernone) a requiem

 

[RayfromTX]

Cameron's new scooter was a Silent Submersion uv18

 

[johndiver999]

I just spoke to Bonnie, Cameron's mother. She confirms that they separated about 10 minutes into the dive as per usual which is the typical time it took them to swim out to the reef from shore in that area. That is what Henry had shared. I'm not sure where the 40 minute number came from but it never sounded right to me. She also shared that they had a new scooter to replace the one that was lost. She said it was very strong and much stronger than the old one. It had 6-8 hours on it. It was purchased from Kristoff in Playa del Carmen.

So what did she say the dive plan for him was? Are we to assume that it takes 10 minutes to get to the wall and from that point, he goes over and down the wall with a scooter? What does she plan to do? - Does she hang out in that area (or a designated area down current) and await for his arrival from the deep excursion? Or do they just part ways and both assume they will meet up in X minutes on the shoreline? Do they BOTH ride the scooter to the break and does Cameron take it over the wall?

There MUST be some type of plan or typical routine or something that they follow- possibly it is rigid and well defined or maybe it is extremely casual, but there is something they typically do or planned to do on this day.

The threads have been so chopped up into multiple threads and people have apparently made so many assumptions (myself included), that we know next to nothing about the planned dive. Can someone provide the relevant information?

 

[RayfromTX]

They were planning a dive similar to the hundreds they had done before. They scooter out to the reef with a plan for how long of a deco or how long of a dive they want to do. She stays on the reef near the top of the wall while he explores deeper. He would typically have twice the tanks as her. She has been diving for perhaps 40 years? She would watch his bubbles as he descended and would find them again as he ascended unless he was on his rebreather. This time he descended more quickly than normal and without any bubbles which she took to mean there was a strong down current at that time.

I'm not so sure and we can never really know but I believe he may have had a medical event which would explain both of those things.

Midweek a diver on CCR discovered damage to the reef at 50 meters down current from where they had separated at 22 meters. It was reported that it looked like anchor damage but of course that was not a place for an anchor and the depth is far too deep for anchorage by any boat that would have been in that area. Boats don't anchor in that area even shallower because of the current.

This may have been caused by Cameron. We can't know. The diver that saw it said it could have been caused by a diver but not sure and he would have had a limited time to observe it in the current.

One thing I have learned from my experience here on Scubaboard is that people don't know what happens in these situations and they guess wrong....a.....lot.

I've been in a position to know details about some incidents that can't be divulged and people with no evidence become convinced that they know what is dangerous and what must have caused it and who must be to blame or what have you.

Trust me folks. We don't know and almost never will we know for sure but when we do, almost never will that become common knowledge. There is another missing diver in Cozumel and we can't even agree if he went in the water.

A&I has a valuable function as a place to discuss what might make us safer in the future. As a place to find out what happened? not so much.

I think he blacked out from a medical event unrelated to diving. If I'm right we will never know. I'll say this. He was safer doing anything that he has ever done than a fresh ow student dropping in off a boat with a guide that is there to point out the pretty fish and thinking that they are there to serve the role of instructor. Also safer than some of the elderly overweight smokers that I have dropped in with. All of us are at risk when we drop in and we all try to mitigate those risks but sometimes it comes down to deciding if we are going to dive or stay on the boat and sometimes we choose to dive even though it was a day to stay at home.

 

[johndiver999]

Thanks very much for the synopsis. I can understand a plan like that, and the fact that they had done similar dives many, many times. This provides clear evidence that the planned dive was workable.

This is the first I have heard of not seeing bubbles. I guess that means a very strong down current or the cessation of breathing. His mother must have been very worried, almost immediately and obviously there would be nothing she could do to help, since he would be out of reach within moments.

It sounds like the situation went "south" almost immediately after he went over the wall. With a working scooter and two nearly full tanks of air that we can assume were working, and no decompression penalty which would delay his ability to ascend, he would have had a good bit of time and resources at his disposal to make it back safely - even if the currents were adverse or unusual. A medical event sounds very plausible to me.

I personally don't think the plan of heading over the wall, solo with a scooter and two tanks to be reckless or at all unreasonable for someone with Cameron's abilities.

A terrible accident and I'm very sorry for all the people this has impacted.

 

[RayfromTX]

Thanks very much for the synopsis. I can understand a plan like that, and the fact that they had done similar dives many, many times. This provides clear evidence that the planned dive was workable.

This is the first I have heard of not seeing bubbles. I guess that means a very strong down current or the cessation of breathing. His mother must have been very worried, almost immediately and obviously there would be nothing she could do to help, since he would be out of reach within moments.

It sounds like the situation went "south" almost immediately after he went over the wall. With a working scooter and two nearly full tanks of air that we can assume were working, and no decompression penalty which would delay his ability to ascend, he would have had a good bit of time and resources at his disposal to make it back safely - even if the currents were adverse or unusual. A medical event sounds very plausible to me.

I personally don't think the plan of heading over the wall, solo with a scooter and two tanks to be reckless or at all unreasonable for someone with Cameron's abilities.

A terrible accident and I'm very sorry for all the people this has impacted.

She wasn't overly concerned because a down current isn't a crisis situation for Cameron. She just took note of it and remembered to mention it later. Down currents in that area are not uncommon.

 

[Dan]

I've been to a fierce down current in Crystal Bay, Bali, Indonesia, in search of Mola Mola (as shown in my Avatar). The DM warned me to not venture out too far away from the slope because of the well known down current there that had claimed many diver death from drownings. First thing I felt was a sudden blow on my back. Then I noticed my bubbles when to the abyss. When I turned around, my mask was flooded. Fortunately I could still partially see where the slope was. So I finned like mad and got behind a boulder to hide under.

If my mask was completely flooded or even worse, got ripped off my face, I would have started blindly grabbing whatever I can get hold of on the slope and probably stumbling over the slope a few times before landed on some less currently crevices.

 

[jstrang]

One thing I have learned from my experience here on Scubaboard is that people don't know what happens in these situations and they guess wrong....a.....lot.

Ray, all of us owe you a great big thanks for all you have done in this crisis. Even just discussing what you think might have happened helps those of us that are not there understand it better. If just one of can emulate the passion that Cam and his friends have shown for life we will all be better off.

Thanks Ray!

 

[RayfromTX]

HWCP

Whenever we think of arguing on scubaboard about something we are passionate about just remember. How Would Cameron Post?