Diver dies in Richmond, TX while cleaning water tank

[cruiser]

Does anyone know if the team was diving company issued crappy gear? The support diver had problems with his reg and surfaced. Perhaps the deceased had equipment problems, too, and succumbed before being able to surface.

 

[Superlyte27]

Does anyone know if the team was diving company issued crappy gear? The support diver had problems with his reg and surfaced. Perhaps the deceased had equipment problems, too, and succumbed before being able to surface.

This was misinformation by the media. There was no equipment failure by the support diver.

Also, another tidbit i'll offer you...
There was a 4" ridid corrugated hose in the tank used for sucking out debris that was fastened at the top of the tank. This hose could hold the weight of 20 divers. The diver never pulled himself up on the hose.

There was also a 2 or 3" water inlet pipe in the tank that went from floor to ceiling that the diver could have pulled himself up on.

Edit* Also, the victim was wearing an AL80 and a 19cf Pony bottle. Total time from splash to fatility was less than 30 minutes. There was no evidence of a gear failure. Both bottles were empty.

This is my assumption, but If I had drained my AL80, I would be sucking on my AL19 while making my way to the 4" ridid hose to pull myself to the surface.

Diver was wearing a Miller Weight Belt (the easiest weight belt in the world to drop, literally) with 32lbs of lead in a tri-laminate drysuit.

 

[DandyDon]

Interesting info, Superlyte27. Do you know how many dry suit dives he had, or if he might have lost his light?

 

[flots am]

This was misinformation by the media. There was no equipment failure by the support diver.

Also, another tidbit i'll offer you...
There was a 4" ridid corrugated hose in the tank used for sucking out debris that was fastened at the top of the tank. This hose could hold the weight of 20 divers. The diver never pulled himself up on the hose.

. . .

For anything short of a catastrophic medical event (heart attack, stroke, etc.), a safety diver in the water watching the working diver could have made a huge difference in the outcome.

This is (apparently?) not required, but as an employer, it would seem reasonable to send someone down with a new employee.

flots.

 

[Surface Interval]

From posts of people who knew the diver it sounds also that the diver was honest with the employer about his diving knowledge and that the employer took him on as an "apprentice" of sorts? At least that's what I'm reading.

 

[muddiver]

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.

Yes, the old school commercial divers were usually trained on the job by a seasoned diver. It is still legal to hire an apprentice and train them to be a qualified diver. Most commercial diving companies don't do that because they can get workers that already have a commercial diver certificate from a recognized school for cheep due to the flood of graduates from the schools.

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.

It is not uncommon for the tender to walk off at smaller companies to do other tasks. I was tossed in on a hand sucktion dredge job at a seaway when I was nice and green and the so called "Navy Diver" that was tending left to go work on something and was no where to be found when I popped up to figure out where I was. Granted it was 10' to 20' of water, but visability goes out the window when you are down in the muck trying to dredge silt out from under rails and timbers.

This was misinformation by the media. There was no equipment failure by the support diver.

Also, another tidbit i'll offer you...
There was a 4" ridid corrugated hose in the tank used for sucking out debris that was fastened at the top of the tank. This hose could hold the weight of 20 divers. The diver never pulled himself up on the hose.

There was also a 2 or 3" water inlet pipe in the tank that went from floor to ceiling that the diver could have pulled himself up on.

Edit* Also, the victim was wearing an AL80 and a 19cf Pony bottle. Total time from splash to fatility was less than 30 minutes. There was no evidence of a gear failure. Both bottles were empty.

This is my assumption, but If I had drained my AL80, I would be sucking on my AL19 while making my way to the 4" ridid hose to pull myself to the surface.

Diver was wearing a Miller Weight Belt (the easiest weight belt in the world to drop, literally) with 32lbs of lead in a tri-laminate drysuit.

I have never seen a Miller belt that was as easy to drop as a scuba weight belt. Usually they have suspenders and if you dress in wrong it can end up under your harness. Most commercial divers don't ever consider dropping their weight because the trip to the surface can be a long way and most work off surface supplied diving equipment.

There is one other factor that may or may not be a danger in Texas. Around here some of the municipal water lines run through land that has a high petrolium level and the water can, and does pick up Hydrogen Sulfide gas (H2S). H2S will kill you in a heart beat if you breath it in at even low concentrations. I doubt that many tank scrubbers would think to check for that in a potable (i.e. "Clean") water tank. That does not explain the empty cylinders though. Entanglement would be my guess if all of the available gas reserves were empty.

 

[Superlyte27]

For anything short of a catastrophic medical event (heart attack, stroke, etc.), a safety diver in the water watching the working diver could have made a huge difference in the outcome.

This is (apparently?) not required, but as an employer, it would seem reasonable to send someone down with a new employee.

flots.

3 man dive team has been in place for at least 3 decades. We're not going to change the industry because someone couldn't live in 30' of water. Doubtful if a diver had a light, maybe. We're used to 0 vis.

 

[Superlyte27]

Yes, the old school commercial divers were usually trained on the job by a seasoned diver. It is still legal to hire an apprentice and train them to be a qualified diver. Most commercial diving companies don't do that because they can get workers that already have a commercial diver certificate from a recognized school for cheep due to the flood of graduates from the schools.



It is not uncommon for the tender to walk off at smaller companies to do other tasks. I was tossed in on a hand sucktion dredge job at a seaway when I was nice and green and the so called "Navy Diver" that was tending left to go work on something and was no where to be found when I popped up to figure out where I was. Granted it was 10' to 20' of water, but visability goes out the window when you are down in the muck trying to dredge silt out from under rails and timbers.




I have never seen a Miller belt that was as easy to drop as a scuba weight belt. Usually they have suspenders and if you dress in wrong it can end up under your harness. Most commercial divers don't ever consider dropping their weight because the trip to the surface can be a long way and most work off surface supplied diving equipment.

There is one other factor that may or may not be a danger in Texas. Around here some of the municipal water lines run through land that has a high petrolium level and the water can, and does pick up Hydrogen Sulfide gas (H2S). H2S will kill you in a heart beat if you breath it in at even low concentrations. I doubt that many tank scrubbers would think to check for that in a potable (i.e. "Clean") water tank. That does not explain the empty cylinders though. Entanglement would be my guess if all of the available gas reserves were empty.

I don't know anyone who wears their miller with the suspenders. I am certain without a doubt that the miller he was wearing DID NOT have suspenders

 

[cruiser]

This was misinformation by the media. There was no equipment failure by the support diver.

Superlyte27--If the support diver wasn't having equipment problems, do we know why he wasn't in the water with the victim?

And where did the faulty regulator blurb come from? Most reporters don't know enough about diving to even make that up.

 

[Superlyte27]

I'm not willing to answer that.
As for the reporters, who knows.
I've been in the News a dozen times, they have NEVER gotten the information right.

Funniest time was when my brother was arrested for a racial shooting. He was 10, and the BB Gun he was shooting a stop sign with ricochet'd and hit a neighbor kid. No injury, no issue, but Newspaper called it racial shooting by a white guy. LOL