British Instructor feared drowned in Thai scuba-diving incident

[sweir]

Caves and Cave Diving in Thailand website posted a bulleting saying: Update: Peter McCarthy was with one other instructor. There were no tourists, just the two of them in the cave [source: pers. com. to webmaster 2 December 2010]

 

[wedivebc]

Peter was diving in Song Hong cave which is a monster of a cave. As I recall the entrance to the cave starts at about 25m or so. They were apparently diving at 80m (264ft). There are several lines running off that main line that circumnavigate the main tunnel. I don't know if there are any side passages but the main passage descends quite quickly to 120m (~400ft).
I met Peter the last time I was in Thailand. He was a hell of a nice guy and I am very sorry he is gone.

 

[fjpatrum]

What I suspect but do not know is wrong.
1)"had oxygen that lasted for 2 hours" - oxygen would not do them much good if searching and diving past 20ft.
2)"police....sent down a three man team" - I highly doubt that the Thai Police in this area have any equipment or expertise to conduct a deep cave search and rescue.

Most of the rest of the words are not significant and represent only filler to get the word count up.
John

I don't have anything to say about the incident, I would just like to say that your #2 above is not necessarily wrong. It is pretty standard procedure for police (no matter where you are) to run/manage rescue efforts. As such, they would "send down a team" no matter whether that team was volunteers or police. Whether the Thai Police have the equipment is irrelevant as there are plenty of people who do have the equipment who would be willing to do a search and would then be managed by the police.

 

[Rick Murchison]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

I've moved condolences over to the Passings forum where they belong; I've removed about half a dozen off topic posts.
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[jkaterenchuk]

I don't have anything to say about the incident, I would just like to say that your #2 above is not necessarily wrong. It is pretty standard procedure for police (no matter where you are) to run/manage rescue efforts. As such, they would "send down a team" no matter whether that team was volunteers or police. Whether the Thai Police have the equipment is irrelevant as there are plenty of people who do have the equipment who would be willing to do a search and would then be managed by the police.

I do not disagree with your train of thought above. But I have been to Thailand multiple times for extended periods, I am aware of the diving commiunity and diver, I have been to this exact location and I have dived in this exact cave.

I suspect the reality is that the diving community and divers that know Peter got a search team togeather themselves and executed multiple search dives. I am sure the Thai Police in this remote area were contacted and in turn they contacted their superiors and did not get in the way of the divers in conducting their search and rescue. I also suspect if you had been there your would be shaking your head in disbelief at how an incident like this is handled in a third world country. As they say "this is not Kansas Dorothy".

John

 

[jamiemac]

I should've done this before to clear things up, but this is what happened.

Firstly, the news reports are laughable, they got the name right, that's all.

Pete was part of a group of tec divers, all instuctors , visiting Hong Song (some for the first time) a sinkhole on the mailand of Thailand.

Although the site is deep, 130m deep, no deep dives were planned . Peter was showing Dave the entrance to a passage way in 30m, ( 100ft) when they became separated and Peter failed to surface. No other divers were in the water.

I don't suppose we'll ever know what happened, even if his body is found. Lost, medical issue, equipment, who knows?

The divers on site conducted searches in the shallower areas and one dive was done later to 124m by a CCR diver experienced at the site.

So that's it- anything else is just speculation, or plain rubbish,

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks for the clarifications and for changing the thread title. I got a Google Alert email, waited to see if anyone posted on the accident, then looked for other stories before posting one of them. Sorry it was so full of errors.

 

[jamiemac]

I do not disagree with your train of thought above. But I have been to Thailand multiple times for extended periods, I am aware of the diving commiunity and diver, I have been to this exact location and I have dived in this exact cave.

I suspect the reality is that the diving community and divers that know Peter got a search team togeather themselves and executed multiple search dives. I am sure the Thai Police in this remote area were contacted and in turn they contacted their superiors and did not get in the way of the divers in conducting their search and rescue. I also suspect if you had been there your would be shaking your head in disbelief at how an incident like this is handled in a third world country. As they say "this is not Kansas Dorothy".

John

John, that's exactly what happened. The public turned up in force - not much happens in the Thai countryside, and the ploice and volunteers did their best to control the scene for the divers.

 

[cruiser]

Thanks for the clarifications and for changing the thread title. I got a Google Alert email, waited to see if anyone posted on the accident, then looked for other stories before posting one of them. Sorry it was so full of errors.

Thanks for posting the original story, it got the ball rolling for discussion.

We SB veterans know to make allowances for what is reported in the news articles.

 

[jkaterenchuk]

I should've done this before to clear things up, but this is what happened.

Firstly, the news reports are laughable, they got the name right, that's all.

Jamie

I knew you would be along to give an accurate summary and that you were very busy with more important things. I am glad the thread did not go to s#&t with speculation and assumption as many have previously.

John