Diver death in Lake Minnewanka, Alberta, Canada

[Crush]

Lake Minnewanka is a popular dive spot because it has the ruins of an old resort village that was submerged after construction of a hydroelectric dam in the 1940s.

But Parks Canada also warns that due to the high altitude of Lake Minnewanka and the typical depth of the dives, the time underneath the water is shortened dramatically. It also notes the cold water can pose a hazard.

I am pretty sure that a class will be doing the dam dive (which is a shore dive) rather than the town site (which is a boat dive or one hell of a swim).

Thanks, Parks Canada, for stating the obvious. I can't imagine that any instructor in the province would not have impressed the perils of cold water upon DCS and altitude effects on DCS to their students. Nevertheless, this student apparently did not make it to the surface, so DCS was assuredly not the issue. Unless the student entered the dam control house, there would have been no impediment to a direct ascent to the surface.

Very cold water can be hard on the old ticker. Wearing a wetsuit (an assumption) and hood and gloves and about 30 pounds of lead can be surprisingly restrictive and panic-inducing to a new diver. Since we are in A&I I will speculate that it was drowning due to panic or a heart attack.

 

[Hawkwood]

Just to be clear. The quoted text in my original post is from the Calgary Herald newspaper. The way Mpetryk has quoted my post may lead some to think those were my words.

 

[diver 85]

Yeah - when I did my 6 dives there a month ago for AOW it was amazing how little you could see in any direction.

Very easy to get separated there - especially if you're working on skills and not just enjoying the ride.

Sounds like a tough place to dive.........

 

[nadwidny]

It seems that they took out a student, he became seperated approx 5' visibility and by the time that they located him he had run out of air. Funny that the student did not surface, however it is a VERY deep lake and one does have the possibility of getting narc'ed failrly bad.

It's not that deep until you get way back in the lake where divers don't go. Max 80' at the dam with most of the diving areas around 50'ish.

Not sure but I heard it was The Dive Shop. This makes a lot of sense when I think about it because they are the ones that do a lot of the classes at Minnie.

It was The Dive Shop however they all do a lot of classes at Minny as well as Two Jack. It's not uncommon to see classes from all of them at the stairs.

 

[DevonDiver]

I always wonder why people need to name the charter/operation involved with diver deaths.

Unless it was a training course, I don't see how the dive operation should automatically be linked to a fatality.

It's a different case if the operation was found to be neglectful at inquest.... but other than that, it is not fair to name them.

 

[nadwidny]

Sounds like a tough place to dive.........

It's not.

 

[calgarydiver]

Accident happened on the plaque site.

 

[j.doe]

It was my understanding that the individual was taking a class at the time. To me this suggests neglegence of some form or the other for failure to provide a student with appropriate supervision. I worry about what dive shop it was for two reasons. First I have seen terrible to great safety practices between dive shops, and I more importantly I do not want to take a class or rent gear from a shop that has poor safety practices.

Then again, I guess it is possible that he had some other kind of medical event on the bottom as well. If anyone hears more let us know.

 

[princessaprilia]

A little bit more info today, but not much new. Autopsy planned for tomorrow.

Autopsy to pinpoint cause of diver's death

Autopsy to pinpoint cause of diver's death
Jamie Komarnicki, With Files From Stephane Massinon, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald
Published: Monday, October 11, 2010

... clip

An autopsy is set for Tuesday.

"It will decide if he died from a drowning, lack of oxygen, or if he had a medical condition under the water," said St-Denis.

... clip

Well, there's the problem... he was diving with an oxygen tank.

Sorry to be so flip in the face of this tragedy, but sometimes these sound-bites for the press really tick me off.

 

[Tim_Barker]

Apparently the incident took place at the plaque site (stairs) which is not very deep. Probably best to wait until the results of investigation before criticizing the dive shop.