Accident on Southern Cal Oil Rigs Dive

[Sidemount_c]

On Power Scuba's facebook page: Power Scuba (aka Scuba Diving in San Diego County )

I was actually in town for a long weekend on Saturday and did some boat dives with Catalina Divers Supply. Was a great day, although the mood was obviously somber on the ride back to port as we had got wind of this incident over the radio. My deepest condolences to everyone who knew this diver, who by all accounts sounds like a great dude.

Henry was a very experienced diver, we have dove the rigs many many times. I wish people would wait for the autopsy and consider the ‘assume’ factor and the consequences. This is a very difficult and tragic time for his family friends and our scuba family here in La Jolla... Great dude indeed a fantastic human being who always had a smile on his face and a great disposition and I can say with much certainty he was a very competent diver. RIP BUDDY!!!

 

[Kevrumbo]

Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner - Coroner - Case Detail

Standard LA County public preliminary announcement, nothing objective nor substantive yet pending further investigation as usual. . .

. . .

Ken has done a nice job explaining why we should not be speculating on the likelihood of anything with the scant information we have now. . .

Really @boulderjohn ? What do we learn here right now in this Accidents & Incidents sub-forum from the same useless nagging and annoying admonishments on speculating by @Ken Kurtis , and the general vague pro forma statement from the County Coroner above??

It really looks like any "blamestorming" has been exhausted and we need to wait for exam and investigation.

Nobody here is "blamestorming" -just sharing common experiences & opinions on this particular dive site, and deducing a hypothesis on what may have happened based on third party information, and search, rescue & recovery accounts by the LA County Sheriff Paramedics/Air 5/Special Enforcement Bureau Dive Operations.

If you really want the report on the investigation, wait a year and file a request with the LA County Sheriff and Coroner/Dept of the Medical Examiner (and it's only going to state, "COD Drowning -Scuba Dive Accident") . . . otherwise all that's left and available for now are the witness/dive buddy accounts, if they're willing to publicly step forward and comment on the accident.

 

[Safediversocal]

John you’re right, until the dive buddy that let him go speaks up we won’t know much. By the time they were able to recover Henry the excess nitrox would have off gassed. I hope the investigation includes his “dive buddies” computer as well. Something went wrong was it gear, a medical issue only that buddy can say. I highly doubt they will say anything. It really begs the question though if he was sinking why didn’t the “buddy” do more to Save him. Weights could have been ditched. He could have inflated Henry’s drysuit. Those of us that have dove the rigs and Southern California know Cold water diving is harder. But Henry was a regular cold water diver who worked out often. I hope the corner report will give more details than drowning. His poor kids deserve better than that.

 

[drbill]

Really John? What do we learn here right now in this Accidents & Incidents sub-forum from the same useless nagging and annoying admonishments on speculating by @Ken Kurtis , and the general vague pro forma statement from the County Coroner above??

Annoying to you perhaps, but since the family has requested that we divers not speculate on this incident, I will honor their request.

 

[mdb]

I agree with Dr. Bill.

Speculating; against the request of the dead divers family, is not something we should do.

Discussing the rigors and hazards of oil rig diving is useful.

Obviously open ocean, cold water diving, with currents, surge, and boat traffic, requires a certain skill
level.

Many posts, from experienced rig divers, have been very informative.

 

[merxlin]

The purpose of this forum is to try and identify and discuss what may have caused, or what has been identified as a cause, of a scuba accident, and by doing so hopefully educate divers so that a similar event does not occur in the future. Please read the special rules for this forum here Special Rules for the Accidents and Incidents Forum

Speculation is fine as long as it is identified as such, and should be supported by the basis of that speculation. Speculation of potential causes, and how to mitigate them, is the key. We are not here to blame the diver, or disparage them, but to use this analysis as an educational tool and again, hopefully this knowledge will help other divers avoid similar situations in the future. Just like in life, opinions will vary so let's treat them with respect.

Unfortunately, as has been pointed out, we rarely get a COD other than drowning,occasionally a medical issue (cardiac arrest, etc.), or underlying medical issue, and even more rare, a bad gas analysis. Without some speculation we would have very few scenarios to discuss.

Outside of a grievous error on the part of the diver, the purpose is not to assign blame, but to learn and help divers avoid this in the future. We need to be sensitive to how this is perceived by family and friends, but also hope they will understand and even want us to learn from these events so other's friends and families do not have to go through similar situations. Ideally they will only visit here to shed light on the events, and grant us any facts they may have. My family knows I am here and I've asked them to be very open if they can should anything happen to me.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

John you’re right, until the dive buddy that let him go speaks up we won’t know much. By the time they were able to recover Henry the excess nitrox would have off gassed. I hope the investigation includes his “dive buddies” computer as well. Something went wrong was it gear, a medical issue only that buddy can say. I highly doubt they will say anything. It really begs the question though if he was sinking why didn’t the “buddy” do more to Save him. Weights could have been ditched. He could have inflated Henry’s drysuit. Those of us that have dove the rigs and Southern California know Cold water diving is harder. But Henry was a regular cold water diver who worked out often. I hope the corner report will give more details than drowning. His poor kids deserve better than that.

Are you really blaming his buddy? You posted earlier that Henry always stayed above his buddies. In this case his buddy chased him down to 167' before racing back to the surface. If a diver is unconsciousness and sinking without a reg in his mouth he will no longer be kicking and will probably sink. The deeper he gets, the faster he will sink. If his buddy tried to do more it would have likely been a double fatality.

 

[elgoog]

<snip>
dive buddy that let him go speaks up we won’t know much.
<snip>
I hope the investigation includes his “dive buddies” computer as well.
<snip>
I highly doubt they will say anything. It really begs the question though if he was sinking why didn’t the “buddy” do more to Save him. Weights could have been ditched. He could have inflated Henry’s drysuit.

Blaming the buddy seems even less productive than speculating cause of death.

 

[Bob DBF]

It really begs the question though if he was sinking why didn’t the “buddy” do more to Save him. Weights could have been ditched. He could have inflated Henry’s drysuit.

I'd say because he couldn't. In any rescue there may be a point where the rescuer has to decide whether there will be one or two victims. Read the @MaxBottomtime post, above, again.

On a dive such as this I will tell my buddy, if I have one, to insure they will be able to surface safely after a rescue before they start, and as it progresses. I don't want to die, or I may be dead already, however I certainly don't want to take an innocent bystander, or worse yet a friend, with me. This is one reason I usually solo for more advanced dives.

That's a lot of dives on your profile not to understand the situation.



Bob

 

[mdb]

I'd say because he couldn't. In any rescue there may be a point where the rescuer has to decide whether there will be one or two victims. Read the @MaxBottomtime post, above, again.

On a dive such as this I will tell my buddy, if I have one, to insure they will be able to surface safely after a rescue before they start, and as it progresses. I don't want to die, or I may be dead already, however I certainly don't want to take an innocent bystander, or worse yet a friend, with me. This is one reason I usually solo for more advanced dives.

That's a lot of dives on your profile not to understand the situation.



Bob

I'm with you Bob DBF;

I prefer solo diving, except when my sons are in the water, then I am just leading the compass course and
keeping an eye on the lads.

A friend, a very experienced diver lost his buddy on a dive on the Andria Doria.

The lost diver went into the ship in an attempt to find some ships China.

My friend stayed outside the sunken vessel.

His buddy never came out. So, he surfaced, taking his decompression stops
and informed the boat crew.

They found the lost diver entangled inside the ship.

I am learning quite a bit on this thread.

I have a fair amount of CA dive experience, both shore and boat diving.

Never been diving on the offshore oil rigs.

What I have learned, so far, is that I would want a good experienced diver as
a partner on such a dive. I do not think a oil rig dive would be a wise choice for
a solo dive-at least for me.