Diver Death in Cayman

[Cave Diver]

Do you think for one minute that he would have gone to 100 ft if the DM had told him not to and kept the whole group at 60 ft? I strongly doubt it.

I have to think its a possibility. It appears that he broke away from the rest of the group at 100', so why wouldn't he have done the same at 60' if an opportunity presented itself.

Do you think the only reason he went below 100' is because the DM didnt tell him not to?

 

[Blackwood]

One of the most interesting comments came from one candidate who is ... hypoxic trimix certified with several dozen dives in the 275-300' range. His answer - he wasn't going below 120' in that situation.

Smart man.

Every action underwater must be addressed in context. What is the situation and what are my resources, capabilities and limitations?

It's very easy to say "he should have e-dived down to find the victim." It's something very different to actually dive down to find the victim.

 

[Cave Diver]

I was talking to my DM class last night about this incident and asked them what they would have done in that situation. One of the most interesting comments came from one candidate who is full cave, CCR certified, and hypoxic trimix certified with several dozen dives in the 275-300' range. His answer - he wasn't going below 120' in that situation. Please realize that at the point that Matthew went missing - you were powerless to help.

When you outlined the scenario, did you present it as a search for a missing diver, or to recover a diver that was visible, but in distress?

 

[fosterboxermom]

ScubaMoose,

I understand that intellectually but emotionally it is still hard to bear. I will get through this.

 

[CDNScubaMoose]

I gave them the scenerio - a group of divers with mixed levels of training and experience in warm water and good to excellent vis. Steep slopping bottom - they are the DM - the group has splintered (I didn't tell them why) and at half way they do a count. They are missing a diver - what do they do, what assumptions are they going to make?

They were allowed to ask me any questions to gain more information. The entire exercise lasted about 45 mins.

So it started off as a search and then they had to make the call on what they would have done if they spotted the diver deeper. The candidates made the assumption that after a quick search that if they couldn't spot him in good vis then he likely surfaced. When I asked them what their take would have been if I told them that was not what happened, the conversation turned to how deep they would be willing to try to make a rescue/recovery assuming they spotted him.

 

[fosterboxermom]

I can add another fact to this case. But it would be helpful to have Matthew's computer as well. His computer would confirm some times too. At about the half way, 10 minutes or so is when Matthew signaled to me "where is your buddy"? The whole sigaling back and forth and me checking Pam and my hubby and turining back and forth to Matthew and to Pam and to my Hubby took about 2 minutes or so (I'm guessing) Brendan's computer read that he was at 184' at 14 minutes into the dive and 199' at 14 minutes into the dive. So while we were doing our checks Brendan was disappearing before our eyes. This information is not public and I am not sure I should be giving it. But givin the fact that everyone is trying to figure out what happended to Brendan I will give that much of what I know. I don't have the whole read out. This is just a small bit of information I do have. Please treat it with respect. Thank you.

 

[Thalassamania]

That data is consistent with a bad case of narcosis and a diver "bouncing" off the sloping bottom, and slowly drifting deeper and deeper.

 

[Blackwood]

That data is consistent with a bad case of narcosis and a diver "bouncing" off the sloping bottom, and slowly drifting deeper and deeper.

Yup, and is reminiscent of that horrible, horrible self-filmed video on youtube.

 

[pilot fish]

Possible, yes, but unlikely. Here's a man, just out of training, who is used to following directions from DM. This DM tells him, no, you can not go to 100 ft, and you think he would do it anyway? That sounds like a wise guy and that is not how OP describes him.

I have to think its a possibility. It appears that he broke away from the rest of the group at 100', so why wouldn't he have done the same at 60' if an opportunity presented itself.

Do you think the only reason he went below 100' is because the DM didnt tell him not to?

 

[Cave Diver]

I can add another fact to this case. But it would be helpful to have Matthew's computer as well. His computer would confirm some times too. At about the half way, 10 minutes or so is when Matthew signaled to me "where is your buddy"? The whole sigaling back and forth and me checking Pam and my hubby and turining back and forth to Matthew and to Pam and to my Hubby took about 2 minutes or so (I'm guessing) Brendan's computer read that he was at 184' at 14 minutes into the dive and 199' at 14 minutes into the dive. So while we were doing our checks Brendan was disappearing before our eyes. This information is not public and I am not sure I should be giving it. But givin the fact that everyone is trying to figure out what happended to Brendan I will give that much of what I know. I don't have the whole read out. This is just a small bit of information I do have. Please treat it with respect. Thank you.

Thank you for this information. This bit of information should alleviate some of your feelings of responsibility. At the time that everyone realized he was missing, he was already rapidly approaching 200' and dropping. Even if his bubbles had immediately been spotted and someone had given chase, he would likely have been past the 250' point by the time they reached 200'.

Once again, a rescue from this depth is not impossible, but it is unlikely.