MoonWrasse
Contributor
Just remember that the reported facts may change over time.
Diver Deaths-Palm Beach County
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howarde:
This is a great point. Let's not forget that Kevin is a friend to many on this board. Recovering bodies isn't a fun thing and may not make for the best conversation, especially right after it happened. A little space on some issues is a good thing, at least for a day or two.
Cheers,
Jamie
Divesherpa:
Yes people, lets show some consideration to our friends here. Kevin didn't ask for this task. I'm certain he didn't rehearse an interview. Let him have some peace, he's not the bad man here. No one was.
Kevin was my instructor when I did my OW checkout dives back in February, diving in pretty much that exact same spot.
Ray
Ray
matjo1
Contributor
I spoke today with a captain who seemed to have details on the event. The victim had a problem with his BC inflator, was over weighted (20 lbs), could not keep a float, got tangled in his flag line, panicked, did not ditch his belt and took his dive buddy down with him... sad. I am just quoting this person and do not know these things to be fact, just more speculations based on a sourse I deem reliable.
R.I.P.
R.I.P.
CPDiver
Registered
GrierHPharmD:
I could not agree more. Of course our thoughts and prayers go out to the loved ones of the victims. But having had the pleasure of diving with Kevin just over a week ago, I was terribly saddened the grim responsibility of finding the deceased fell upon his shoulders.
H2Andy
Contributor
matjo1:
this certainly sounds very possible, and it fits what little is known (newspapers
reported a problem with the BC, too much weight on his belt, and
entanglement). some details are different (in your account, it's the inflator
that is the problem, not a tear on the BC, and it is the male diver who
got tangled, not the female diver, as reported by the newspapers).
one of the things stressed in Rescue class is that if you believe a diver is
panicking or about to panic, to manuever behind them and secure them by
the tank valve, that way they can't grab a hold of you. if they do, you
may lose your regulator and will be unable to recover it.
a very tragic situation. sounds like his buddy went to his rescue and it
cost her her life.
very, very sad.
I didn't read through the column, & started a new thread by mistake- which is apparently the operative word here. I just spoke with the Capt. (commercial- Starfish Enterprise- great boat) who tried to save the divers, and with Lynn, Capt. of the Splashdown (as noted, an excellent operation). According to Lynn & Craig, this is a solid picture of one problem compounding another. The male diver did not have his inflator hose connected, the famale diver did not have her mask on when she went down, & they were both tangled (apparently) at the surface, not at depth. As earlier stated, the male was severely overweighted, & apparently did not attempt to drop his weight belt (or couldn't get to it- don't know)
Criag threw them a line, the woman had dropped her weight belt, but she was completely entangled with the male diver. The male diver reportedly did not have his regulator in his mouth. Craig & his team tried an on-board save (the divers were too tangled, apparently, to risk another life getting them untangled in water) & alerted the coast guard. Craig was reportedly relieved of his station when the CG came, & Kevin, the DM on Splashdown, did the body recovery the same day (Craig took excellent coordinates as to where they went under).
The PB Post has the divers drowning in the Inlet, which is hard to do. They were over the reefs about 1/2 mile out, more or less.
Appears to be everything already discussed. Lack of skills or in need of a refresher course/additional training, poor gear configuration/possible lack of gear such as a couple good sets of cuting tools such as a good knife and/or diver's shears, no apparent pre-dive check, overweighting, and fulll-blown panic. The boat was private, the pilot tried his best but didn't seem to know what to do. However, he definitely sent out a mayday alert, which was a good job. I also heard there was a current running, which, of course, increases task loading.
Lynn made sure Kev was in the water the next day (he came up with the bodies & covered in line), & Craig's doing fine.
Criag threw them a line, the woman had dropped her weight belt, but she was completely entangled with the male diver. The male diver reportedly did not have his regulator in his mouth. Craig & his team tried an on-board save (the divers were too tangled, apparently, to risk another life getting them untangled in water) & alerted the coast guard. Craig was reportedly relieved of his station when the CG came, & Kevin, the DM on Splashdown, did the body recovery the same day (Craig took excellent coordinates as to where they went under).
The PB Post has the divers drowning in the Inlet, which is hard to do. They were over the reefs about 1/2 mile out, more or less.
Appears to be everything already discussed. Lack of skills or in need of a refresher course/additional training, poor gear configuration/possible lack of gear such as a couple good sets of cuting tools such as a good knife and/or diver's shears, no apparent pre-dive check, overweighting, and fulll-blown panic. The boat was private, the pilot tried his best but didn't seem to know what to do. However, he definitely sent out a mayday alert, which was a good job. I also heard there was a current running, which, of course, increases task loading.
Lynn made sure Kev was in the water the next day (he came up with the bodies & covered in line), & Craig's doing fine.
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I spent ten years as part of a group sponsored by he Coast Guard and OSHA to analyze scuba accidents. What we found was that there was rarely a single cause to an incident; there were always several things gone wrong. A case such as this might, at first glance, have a cause of Drowning due to Panic due to Inexperience and Poorly Maintained Gear, etc.
When able to poke deeper (and I do not mean to imply anything about this specific case), we often found discrepancies such as being certified despite missing some open water dives or not having been diving since military training a decade ago and using borrowed gear, etc.
Its a shame, but a fact, that few if any coroners do more than sign off on the obvious conclusion that the victim drowned. I have an immediate suspicion here inexperienced diver with patched gear. Thats not right. Inexperienced divers are usually new divers, who usually have recently purchased gear or rental gear. I wish I had more data, (i.e., a chance to inspect the gear, the victims certification history, a chance to interview their instructor(s), a glance at their dive log, etc.).
Speaking of knives, I am haunted by an accident that occurred years ago in which a diver was found tangled up in line that was, in turn, attached to a float and tangled in kelp so that the diver could neither ascend nor descend and his knife was not in its sheath, but on the bottom where he had clearly dropped it and could get to it. Since I dive around a LOT of fishing line, nets, wire rope, etc., I carry at least five cutters: a knife similar to the Halcyon DIR knife, a small hacksaw, a pair of stainless paramedic shears, a line cutter and a small BC Knife.
As one whos been there my heart goes out to those involved in the rescue and recovery as well that the family and friends of those lost.
When able to poke deeper (and I do not mean to imply anything about this specific case), we often found discrepancies such as being certified despite missing some open water dives or not having been diving since military training a decade ago and using borrowed gear, etc.
Its a shame, but a fact, that few if any coroners do more than sign off on the obvious conclusion that the victim drowned. I have an immediate suspicion here inexperienced diver with patched gear. Thats not right. Inexperienced divers are usually new divers, who usually have recently purchased gear or rental gear. I wish I had more data, (i.e., a chance to inspect the gear, the victims certification history, a chance to interview their instructor(s), a glance at their dive log, etc.).
Speaking of knives, I am haunted by an accident that occurred years ago in which a diver was found tangled up in line that was, in turn, attached to a float and tangled in kelp so that the diver could neither ascend nor descend and his knife was not in its sheath, but on the bottom where he had clearly dropped it and could get to it. Since I dive around a LOT of fishing line, nets, wire rope, etc., I carry at least five cutters: a knife similar to the Halcyon DIR knife, a small hacksaw, a pair of stainless paramedic shears, a line cutter and a small BC Knife.
As one whos been there my heart goes out to those involved in the rescue and recovery as well that the family and friends of those lost.
Miami_Diver
Contributor
panic is the number one cause of death for inexperience divers or any diver for that matter. no matter how many times a rescuer tries to put the reg in their mouth they will always spit it out do to overbreathing(hyperventilate) the reg. I was a first hand witness of it about 5 months ago on a night dive in the Benwood wreck in Key Largo. luckly the panic happened at 35ft ; lucky her intructor (she was getting her advance open water cert)was next to her and was able to get her to the surface safely. she was doing fine at the begining of the dive then all of the sudden she panic and spit out her reg and grab the divemasters reg and also spit it out, then he forced the geg back in her mouth and pulled her to the surface where she initially passed out.I was diving closed to her at one point. I dont know what I would have done if the panic attack happened when I was next to her, she pulled her instructors reg right out of his mouth without warning.things would have turned out differntly if the instructor was not next to her.
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