Dangerous Scuba Instructor

[NAUI Wowie]

Ever see the SNL skirt about “Pat”? ...

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program.

Ha! yes

 

[CuzzA]

@CuzzA. You are right. And I can't wait any longer for PADI's slow reaction speed, it's taken 2.5 months just for them to start taking these issues seriously. This instructor doesn't deserve the title he has and he certainly didn't protect our safety when we were under his watch.

The instructor's name is Jason Lee Stone - PADI number Jason Stone OWSI-373446

I think you're making the right decision here. Clearly you are serious and sharing that info adds credibility to your claim. It's late here on the east coast of the US, but give it a day or so and I suspect members here will start helping to get to the bottom of it.

 

[northernone]

@CuzzA, I have just received word that PADI will continue with the case, that I need to provide more evidence about 'he said / she said' statements. That, I can certainly do and I am amassing as we speak. It is up to PADI to suspend his licence now until further notice. With allegations such as I have, I am surprise why they haven't already done so.

Glad the investigation is ongoing and you're gathering evidence.

Having other witnesses will help too. Hope there is an outcome which increases the safety of future divers.

As an instructor I'm glad certification agencies do not immediately suspend instructors without first investigating the allegations. I believe in due process, my friend's life was nearly destroyed by a false rape accusation so I'm sensitive to wanting truth to be investigated carefully.

As 3rd parties we can't report hearsay but if there is a way the we support you in this process I, for one, am happy to help. Perhaps questions of standards or wording to best describe what you experienced and observed.

Do you have the paperwork showing you were indeed his student or some evidence to support you had signed up for a padi DM certification program?

Cameron

 

[Lou PS]

Thanks so much for your support. I never expected the outcome to be the way it turned out. The instructor willingly put my life in danger. I have recorded evidence and written messages that my instructor had taken me on to do the PADI DM, I have evidence that we started the DM without having completed the EFR. I also have him asking me to leave the theory books behind, showing that I had completed the EFR theory and was working on the DM. We were friends at the beginning, but he never gave me a written contract.

When he asked me to leave the boat that same day as pulling my course, he even forgot to give me my passport back. I was in shock having been thrown off the boat. Luckily, they were still in the port and so I turned around to collect. I heard later that he told other crew members not to discuss this aspect. I guess he would have been in trouble with immigration authorities, as the captain of a foreign vessel, he is responsible for the whereabouts of his crew and the checking out procedure in the BVIs and USVIS.

 

[Tribal]

As an instructor I'm glad certification agencies do not immediately suspend instructors without first investigating the allegations. I believe in due process, my friend's life was nearly destroyed by a false rape accusation so I'm sensitive to wanting truth to be investigated carefully.

That’s the sad part, we only hear one side of the story. There is a change everything the ts says is true. There is also a change the instructor did hurt the ts her feelings and his story is way different.
Most of the time in situations like this, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Lou PS]

But what about the standard PADI practices that went completely out of the window? How many rules does one have to break? @Tribal

 

[JackD342]

@Lou PS
First, I think you have said that your witness report to PADI is now closed. It is possible that "closed" is not the same as "resolved." Your concerns may have been moved into another que, or merged with some other open issue.

Regardless, I am at DEMA this week, and I just shared your posted thread with a PADI staff member that I am confident will be sure to follow up. I would not expect any overnight action, or even any publicly available updates on the process. Investigations and research on such allegations are understandably conducted in private, assuring fairness to all concerned while avoiding a rush to judgement.

 

[Bob DBF]

the name Lou is a male name. At least in the USA so everyone is assuming you are a man.

Not everyone.


Bob

 

[DiverDaniel2485]

Hello all!

I am writing to both inform and enquire about my recent PADI dive master experience in the Caribbean.

This Summer I had two months to complete my PADI divemaster, my instructor, who certified me earlier in the year as PADI Advance, said that this would be plenty of time to complete the certification.

However, after three weeks of waiting for new students, the instructor insisted I start to dive alone. I only had 35 dives under my belt at this point. When I told him that I felt nervous about diving alone, perhaps one of the girls could come with me, he told me he wanted me to learn ‘independence, self reliance’ then later in the conversation he told me that he hardly trusted me alone in the water. So why would he send me?!

This conversation took place after an incident that could have led to my death. The instructor indirectly peer pressured me to dive alone, and so I did.

He told me after four weeks of being under his instruction that I now had to dive alone in order to complete the course.

I have been in regular communication with PADI, who have failed to give me any detailed explanation after two and a half months, they have simply closed the case. I thought that insisting a relatively new diver to dive alone would be enough of a case to have the instructor reprimanded. I feel strongly that his teaching methods will be the cause of serious injury in the future.

While living onboard his boat, I also witnessed the following:

2) The PADI instructor has been known to have a few casual alcoholic drinks and will then lead beginner students into a dive even though they also have had a few drinks. This said student was still studying the PADI Open Water course at the time.

3) One of the students was taken to a 30 meter depth dive site for a period of 40 minutes, 4 hours before her flight schedule. The instructor said it would be fine because the navy SEALS state 2.5hours as a minimum time.

4) Another of the students mentioned she had narcosis side-effects. She was on her second dive ever without any certification and it was a deep-dive at The Rhône, BVIS. A witness saw her under the surface looking panicky and being dragged through a wreck by the instructor at 70f.

5) In a separate scenario, a potential student had questioned whether she should dive after a serious concussion and brain hemorrhage she had undertaken five months previous. She was still experiencing side effects from her head injury. The instructor didn’t know an immediate answer but after the student received a red flag from her doctor, the instructor still told her it was totally up to her. The instructor would have clearly ignored the doctor’s advice. The student felt pressurized to join.

I have evidence to back my claims about this instructor. I would like to understand how this instructor is allowed to continually operate under PADI’s licensing.

By now this case is pretty well resolved, but I will keep it simple, being an Instructor with NAUI, PADI, SSI etc. does not make you a safe person or reputable.

We have an individual on the Gold Coast who was is named in multiple coroners reports, expelled from PADI for reasons I am not able to disclose. But let's just say his expulsion was justified. What do instructors do when they are kicked out of an organisation? They complete a 1 week conversion and move from PADI to NAUI or SSI, this individual now runs an SSI Dive Centre and is an SSI instructor.

There is no communication and barring of instructors between the bodies. Ask around in the diving community and check who has dived with your instructor recently. An instructor who doesn't have a local dive buddy is a huge red flag.

 

[oly5050user]

Hello all!

I am writing to both inform and enquire about my recent PADI dive master experience in the Caribbean.

This Summer I had two months to complete my PADI divemaster, my instructor, who certified me earlier in the year as PADI Advance, said that this would be plenty of time to complete the certification.

However, after three weeks of waiting for new students, the instructor insisted I start to dive alone. I only had 35 dives under my belt at this point. When I told him that I felt nervous about diving alone, perhaps one of the girls could come with me, he told me he wanted me to learn ‘independence, self reliance’ then later in the conversation he told me that he hardly trusted me alone in the water. So why would he send me?!

This conversation took place after an incident that could have led to my death. The instructor indirectly peer pressured me to dive alone, and so I did.

He told me after four weeks of being under his instruction that I now had to dive alone in order to complete the course.

I have been in regular communication with PADI, who have failed to give me any detailed explanation after two and a half months, they have simply closed the case. I thought that insisting a relatively new diver to dive alone would be enough of a case to have the instructor reprimanded. I feel strongly that his teaching methods will be the cause of serious injury in the future.

While living onboard his boat, I also witnessed the following:

2) The PADI instructor has been known to have a few casual alcoholic drinks and will then lead beginner students into a dive even though they also have had a few drinks. This said student was still studying the PADI Open Water course at the time.

3) One of the students was taken to a 30 meter depth dive site for a period of 40 minutes, 4 hours before her flight schedule. The instructor said it would be fine because the navy SEALS state 2.5hours as a minimum time.

4) Another of the students mentioned she had narcosis side-effects. She was on her second dive ever without any certification and it was a deep-dive at The Rhône, BVIS. A witness saw her under the surface looking panicky and being dragged through a wreck by the instructor at 70f.

5) In a separate scenario, a potential student had questioned whether she should dive after a serious concussion and brain hemorrhage she had undertaken five months previous. She was still experiencing side effects from her head injury. The instructor didn’t know an immediate answer but after the student received a red flag from her doctor, the instructor still told her it was totally up to her. The instructor would have clearly ignored the doctor’s advice. The student felt pressurized to join.

I have evidence to back my claims about this instructor. I would like to understand how this instructor is allowed to continually operate under PADI’s licensing.

To begin a PADI divemaster course requires rescue certification with current first aid/ cpr certification, did you have this certification? Also need minimum of 40 logged dives to begin program. Did you do any of DM course online? Any online dive theory? Did you purchase required divemaster crewpak with included hologram ?If you did any of these requirements you have a good case that PADI can follow up on