Diver dies in Richmond, TX while cleaning water tank

[flots am]

I will...
A recreational OW diver certification does not prepare a diver to dive solo.

Of course it doesn't. That's why I said "at least".

I will...
The OSHA regs clearly state...
"Each dive team member shall have the experience or training necessary to perform assigned tasks in a safe and healthful manner."
That means the company that put this boy in that tank was either criminally negligent, or at the very least violating OSHA regs.

A guy holding a rope was obviously insufficient to be "safe and healthful" in this case.

flots.

 

[Superlyte27]

Why? Are you indestructable and immortal?

flots.

No, experience has taught me what's acceptable and what's not.

 

[joshts0]

No, experience has taught me what's acceptable and what's not.

I do understand your point of view, albiet blunt. I very much appreciate bluntness as opposed to fluff. I don't do anything in the water.. but I ride a motorcycle, and I'm interested in skydive, they are all similiar in philosphy. You are in charge of yourself, always, and you train, and you train, and you train, and you train, and you train, so that when you are <whatever extreme life threatening situation in whatever sport>, your body responds correctly, regardless of all else. Regardless of starving of oxygen 30 feet under water, you know to release your belt and come up, and not panic. In motorcycling, it means so you can obviously react quickly and instantly without hesitation when the situation needs, etc etc etc. Clearly, he should have never been in there, and if you look at the straight facts very specific to his death, ie, you remove how he got in the tank (employed, certain expected precautions taken.. you expect help to be there when you ask for it), you remove any number of things that should have prevented him from getting into the tank in the first place.. perhaps the odds are high that he directly caused it on himself, ie, he did something he shouldn't have done. (obviously, but still you can do everything you are supposed to and die..), be it not release his belt and come up for air, or whatever. But he did probably do the one thing he was taught - if you need help, ask for it via your communication.. the line he was attached to. So maybe he focused his energy on asking for help where he expected to get it, and by that time it was too late for someone without the training for their body to respond appropriately when starved of oxygen in a panic situation.

So why wasn't help there immediately... that is my question.

What was everyone else off doing? How many people were off doing other things, was it just Diver 2, and therefore obviously short handed, and that is why? Or, did someone have the sole task of monitoring this line, and didn't? I am also confused - was this a 3 man team, or a 2 man team? Or was it a 4 man team? Was it only Diver 1 and 2? Is it true or false that someones entire task is to monitor that communication? Or is that one of 100 things going on? What is your take on why this was not a near-miss... shouldn't it have been...


I understand equipment fails.. and **** happens.. but everything should have happened just like it did - except.. shouldn't he have had the help he needed..

 

[Joni831]

Greetings, I am happy that I found this site. I am Travis's aunt and his fathers sister. I just wanted to thank you all for your professionalism and above all, your compassion towards this tragedy that we've been presented with. Our family had no idea what the profession that our boy chose to do entailed. We are thankful to have more insight now, as we are always looking for answers. Realizing that all is speculation, I have found that there seems to be a sense of family in your profession. I want to thank Josh and DW, who I do not know for asking some questions, we as family, would not have thought of asking. I will keep this short as I only logged on to offer my thanks to you for keeping us informed to a world we know nothing about. Many of us are monitoring your page to educate us more. We will be heading down to Arlington, from Oregon next weekend to be with our family and be together. A special thank you to Superlyte27 for your compassion and giving us a look into the world that attracted my nephew so much. Best regards to you all, Joni Muller

 

[DandyDon]

Josh and Joni, I am certainly sorry for your loss of Travis. Condolences are actually discouraged on this forum so as to avoid confusion in discussing accidents & what-ifs in hopes of preventing similar losses in others, but still - I do want you to know that many of us are very sorry even if not much of that is posted here. We do have a Passings forum for condolences, but that's more for divers who knew the deceased I guess. You may not be interested.

I don't think I am alone here in wondering if the employer might have been in error, but I don't really know enough to say. The family may well want to seek legal counsel in time.

If I understand correctly, Travis had basic Open Water training some time ago but was not really experienced. Had this been known, I do not think that a responsible employer would have sent him into that hole alone - not without check-out dives before and a rescue diver as a buddy at the time. I am curious, but for the main purpose of this forum in avoiding future accidents - no one should ever be sent to a job alone like that.

Reading over hundreds of accidents and death reports here on this forum over the years, all too often two threatening factors are common...

The deceased was diving alone or separated from his/her buddy; and

Even if he made it to the surface but had problems staying afloat, the diver failed to drop weights - whether because of panic or other reasons.​

Every swimming, lifeguard or rescue diver class I've ever had over the years has reminded me that a drowning person doesn't think; they just fight and struggle. This is why my bud and I practice dropping our weights at the first of ever trip, so we won't have to think if the time ever comes - and the first time I did, it was a struggle to find the release!

I do hope y'all find some general help here in how scuba is supposed to be done, as well as better answers closer to the situation. Should you want to share information with us in the future, we'd appreciate that - even tho we will continue to discuss how none of us should get in these situations.

thanks​

 

[Superlyte27]

So why wasn't help there immediately... that is my question.

..

Honestly? If I had to guess? Because this was an easy nothing could go wrong, bs dive. It was crystal clear water, in less than 30' of water on SCUBA. Guys, how many of those dives have you done? I do those dives and never give it a second thought. The other man on top of the tower was a Commercial Diver with thousands of hours underwater in a commercial environment. His qualifications have taken him through some truly hairy jobs, including being buried alive once in the Gulf of Mexico. We get complacent. We forget that it only takes 4" of water to drown. Honestly, if I were the man in the tank, I would expect the guy on top of the tank to be reading a book, listening to his IPOD or any number of things OTHER than babysitting me. Because IF you are a trained commercial diver in a water tank of crystal clear water 30' deep, you DO NOT need babysitting.

Several things went wrong...
1. Ron hired an OW diver, NOT a commercial diver.
2. Victim took a job he WAS NOT qualified for.
3. Standby diver didn't understand the experience level of the victim (or lack thereof).

Change any one of those three things and we have no victim.

Family, You do have my sympathy. I really am sorry for your loss. PM me if you want the name of the proper attorney to handle this, and take some solace in the fact that Ron will never get a chance to do this again.

 

[dfwterry]

Several things went wrong...
1. Ron hired an OW diver, NOT a commercial diver.
2. Victim took a job he WAS NOT qualified for.
3. Standby diver didn't understand the experience level of the victim (or lack thereof).

Change any one of those three things and we have no victim.

Superlyte27- Travis was under the impression (at least he told my husband) that he was going to be tained as a commercial diver. That is why we all thought they sent him to Houston.

On a side note. I went to Ron's webpage Wednesday night and there was a sympathy statement by Ron on this tragedy. It was gone Friday. Now his work requirements page says you need to be a ACD certified diver. Why would he hire Travis in the first place?

I appreciate all the information that everyone has shared here. The family has been given very little info.

 

[Garth]

It's sad but someone with OW cert from 09 probably wouldnt be on a forum such as this protecting themselves from future emergencies.

On another note... What type of environment was he certified in? I wouldnt be surprised if he was certified either at a resort or some warm water location. I say this because it takes a lot to prepare for cold, dark environments. Commercial diving often means dark, low vis cold conditions.

 

[joshts0]

It's sad but someone with OW cert from 09 probably wouldnt be on a forum such as this protecting themselves from future emergencies.

On another note... What type of environment was he certified in? I wouldnt be surprised if he was certified either at a resort or some warm water location. I say this because it takes a lot to prepare for cold, dark environments. Commercial diving often means dark, low vis cold conditions.

There has been some discussion in this thread that goes over this (just pointing out so that you can read it and get a better understanding rather than take my summary as fact...), he wasn't certified at some resort - but he certainly wasn't a commercial diver, and that is the point really.. obviously he wasn't qualified enough to do this - this was his -first dive with the company ever- and it was his -third day of work- . On his first dive in a while, on his third day of work, his first diving job ever.... his employer put him there and did not monitor him as he was expecting. Perhaps not someone with many years of the proper training .. but that sounds fairly reasonable to me for anyone else. If you had at least your .. learners permit.. (that sorta sounds like.. for lack of a better word.. what his certification was.. the first, most basic, that says 'hey i have the ability to learn this' .. NOT, "HEY I KNOW THIS"), and you went to get a relatively speaking, lower level position in this field, on your very first day.. its a reasonable assumption to trust in the the safety precautions/procedures of your company because THESE ARE PEOPLE FAR FAR MORE EXPERIENCED THAN YOU. He looked up to his employer as his teacher and his instructor, to give and lead, they lead him into a tank, by himself, and did not account for the proper supervision, and then got him killed. No matter any other circumstances that could have completely changed this, that part is still true.

And it is sad, because, had he not died on his first dive with them ever, he probably would have picked up the interest and been involved in the sport, and then made his way to a forum like this to learn further. Lots of people begin a sport, and THEN go back and get into the community.. sometimes people start in the community and then pick up the sport.. sure. It is sad because he was never given the chance.. who would think you would die on your third day of work on your first dive in 30 feet of crystal clear water with two people up above watching you... its pretty reasonable to assume that had he not.. and worked there for any amount of time.. hell, maybe his first dive would have been so awesome that he couldn't wait to get back in.. went home.. and started reading all about it all over again.. it was his first dive in a while..

 

[Grover48]

This is a "Trust Me" dive that went horribly wrong.