Death of cave diver at Mt Gambier, South Australia
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Just to clarify. This is incorrect. Kilsby's has a Sinkhole rating not a cavern rating. The course is called Deep Cavern and is not the same as a cavern course
Sas
Contributor
Yea sorry I was being lazy with the terminology and equating them as Deep Cavern allows one to dive Sinkhole and Cavern rated sites. Why is Deep Cavern not the same as a Cavern course though? Cavern courses vary and I thought Deep Cavern was a type of Cavern course (or similar to Cavern or Intro to Cave overseas).
Sas
Contributor
Crush
Contributor
In this article one diver became entangled. His buddy attempted to free him until both ran low on air, at which point the un-entangled diver left his buddy behind.
I am not a certified cave diver, and the incident is reported to have happened at at a depth of 37 meters (about 120 feet), so narcosis may have been an issue. But my question is - why not slip out of your rig and breathe off your buddy's octo on the way out? The only major problem that I foresee is perhaps you would be too positive if you are not wearing a weight belt (i.e., you have a heavy SS BP/w or integrated weights on your bc)...
Ideas?
From Diver Forced To Leave Friend Behind To Drown In South Australia
Diver forced to leave dying mate to drown in cave
STAFF REPORTERS
March 15, 2010
The South Australian cave in which a Victorian diver died on the weekend is "infamous’’ and has proved fatal before, a local policeman says.
The man’s body was recovered 37 metres below the surface at Mount Schank, in the state’s south-east, yesterday afternoon.
The 52-year-old was diving with a friend when he became tangled in a cable on Saturday about noon, according to reports.
His friend tried to free him as both ran low on air.
Paramedic David Adkins said it got to the point where the surviving diver "had to save himself".
Detective Sergeant Tony Scott, of South Australian Police, said Kilsby sinkhole, near Mount Gambier, had ‘‘taken a few lives in its time’’, but improvements in diver training and safety awareness meant it has ‘‘taken one in about the last 30 years’’.
‘‘There are lot of nooks and crannies within this sinkhole and this is what makes it so notoriously dangerous,’’ he said.
‘‘Someone or something could end up anywhere with that system and then the recovery process is quite lengthy.’’
Detective Sergeant Scott said police divers conducted a preliminary snorkel of the sinkhole but did not find the body.
‘‘Clearly we took quite a lengthy statement from the surviving diver the night before,’’ he said.
‘‘The idea was to try and identify where within quite a large cave system he last saw his dive partner. My understanding is he was not located in the area he was last seen. So that causes problems.’’
Detective Sergeant Scott said the surviving diver was ‘‘quite distressed a friend and colleague had passed in such circumstances’’.
‘‘He’s very distressed and so is the family and the cave diving community, which appears to be very close-knit.’’
It is understood the pair were friends through cave diving," he said.
He said it was too early to say what caused the diver to encounter trouble, but investigators were waiting on post-mortem examination results to provide more information about the incident.
‘‘There is certainly some indication that the diver got into trouble at depth, but we won’t speculate as to why that’s taken place,’’ he said.
Police had not released the name of the men, but both are believed to be from Victoria.
A spokeswoman for the SA Ambulance Service said emergency services crews were involved in ‘‘a retrieval mission’’.
She said paramedics were not required to treat the dead man’s diving partner and were not involved in taking the victim’s body from the cave. Police divers entered the cave to bring the body back to the surface.
Kilsby Sinkhole, a water-filled limestone cave, is a popular diving spot on a privately owned farm. Divers can descend to 40 metres in what a local diving website describes as a ‘‘huge, spectacular boot-shaped sinkhole with absolutely gin-clear water’’.
Ross Kilsby, 70, whose family has farmed the land around the cave for more than a century, said the Cave Divers Association of Australia leased the sinkhole from the family and managed access.
‘‘They control it pretty well. They work out how many can come and what their credentials are,’’ said Mr Kilsby.
‘‘We had the first two deaths in the hole in 1969. And then there were quite a few deaths around the district in different holes. Probably 14 or 16 other deaths in the area. Then the Cave Divers Association and the police and everyone else decided they had to lift standards for diving.’’
I am not a certified cave diver, and the incident is reported to have happened at at a depth of 37 meters (about 120 feet), so narcosis may have been an issue. But my question is - why not slip out of your rig and breathe off your buddy's octo on the way out? The only major problem that I foresee is perhaps you would be too positive if you are not wearing a weight belt (i.e., you have a heavy SS BP/w or integrated weights on your bc)...
Ideas?
From Diver Forced To Leave Friend Behind To Drown In South Australia
Diver forced to leave dying mate to drown in cave
STAFF REPORTERS
March 15, 2010
The South Australian cave in which a Victorian diver died on the weekend is "infamous’’ and has proved fatal before, a local policeman says.
The man’s body was recovered 37 metres below the surface at Mount Schank, in the state’s south-east, yesterday afternoon.
The 52-year-old was diving with a friend when he became tangled in a cable on Saturday about noon, according to reports.
His friend tried to free him as both ran low on air.
Paramedic David Adkins said it got to the point where the surviving diver "had to save himself".
Detective Sergeant Tony Scott, of South Australian Police, said Kilsby sinkhole, near Mount Gambier, had ‘‘taken a few lives in its time’’, but improvements in diver training and safety awareness meant it has ‘‘taken one in about the last 30 years’’.
‘‘There are lot of nooks and crannies within this sinkhole and this is what makes it so notoriously dangerous,’’ he said.
‘‘Someone or something could end up anywhere with that system and then the recovery process is quite lengthy.’’
Detective Sergeant Scott said police divers conducted a preliminary snorkel of the sinkhole but did not find the body.
‘‘Clearly we took quite a lengthy statement from the surviving diver the night before,’’ he said.
‘‘The idea was to try and identify where within quite a large cave system he last saw his dive partner. My understanding is he was not located in the area he was last seen. So that causes problems.’’
Detective Sergeant Scott said the surviving diver was ‘‘quite distressed a friend and colleague had passed in such circumstances’’.
‘‘He’s very distressed and so is the family and the cave diving community, which appears to be very close-knit.’’
It is understood the pair were friends through cave diving," he said.
He said it was too early to say what caused the diver to encounter trouble, but investigators were waiting on post-mortem examination results to provide more information about the incident.
‘‘There is certainly some indication that the diver got into trouble at depth, but we won’t speculate as to why that’s taken place,’’ he said.
Police had not released the name of the men, but both are believed to be from Victoria.
A spokeswoman for the SA Ambulance Service said emergency services crews were involved in ‘‘a retrieval mission’’.
She said paramedics were not required to treat the dead man’s diving partner and were not involved in taking the victim’s body from the cave. Police divers entered the cave to bring the body back to the surface.
Kilsby Sinkhole, a water-filled limestone cave, is a popular diving spot on a privately owned farm. Divers can descend to 40 metres in what a local diving website describes as a ‘‘huge, spectacular boot-shaped sinkhole with absolutely gin-clear water’’.
Ross Kilsby, 70, whose family has farmed the land around the cave for more than a century, said the Cave Divers Association of Australia leased the sinkhole from the family and managed access.
‘‘They control it pretty well. They work out how many can come and what their credentials are,’’ said Mr Kilsby.
‘‘We had the first two deaths in the hole in 1969. And then there were quite a few deaths around the district in different holes. Probably 14 or 16 other deaths in the area. Then the Cave Divers Association and the police and everyone else decided they had to lift standards for diving.’’
sydney-diver
Contributor
Initial media reports are contrictory so cannot really draw any conclusions. Both entablgement and panic (no reason given other than perhaps an equipment failure) have been reported but not verified.
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Just came across this article from a google alert I have on diver stories. Now I am wondering about buddy separation, new equipment, and conflicting reports...
Mike Boswell
Contributor
A club dive, two experienced cave divers, buddy separation, entanglement, "new equipment he was not familiar with", running out of air, no other diver standing by to assist? The more I read about this tragedy, the less sense it makes.
And unfortunately, too many scuba fatalities are like that.
And unfortunately, too many scuba fatalities are like that.
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