Diver drowns in guided cenote dive

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bob, I saw it happen myself in Jackson Blue. I was number 2 in line exiting the cave, and I saw the lead diver make the mistaken jump. I flashed him, and he corrected the error. There was very nearly a fatality at Jackson Blue not long ago because of that same issue.

I think there is a middle ground between being that close and being so very far. In trying to decide where to dive in Mexico not long ago, I was advised not to go to a certain cave. I only had a 400 foot primary reel, and I was advised that unless I knew where exactly where I was going to find the main line, that might not be enough. I also found a description on the web site that said that divers new to the site looking to connect to the main line could use up all their planned dive gas trying to find it. Maybe something in between those extremes could work.

I had that experience in Gran Cenote, although I think it more due to the fact that we started out looking in the wrong place and ended up chasing down a short side passage before we ultimately found the cave entrance ... but we called ourselves Team Fugawi for a reason ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Here's the article on the deaths of the two divers, first in Spanish:

Los cenotes de Quintana Roo, México vuelven a ser tristemente noticia debido a dos nuevos buceadores que perdieron la vida mientras realizaban una inmersión. En este caso el suceso ha acontecido en el cenote Chaak-Tun, en las afueras del municipio de Playa del Carmen.
Si hace menos de una semana el buceador español Mauricio Muller perdía la vida en el cenote Calavera de Tulum, esta vez ha sido en el cenote Chaak-Tun, durante una inmersión nocturna que realizaron estos dos buceadores.

En esta ocasión, se ha tratado de un instructor de buceo y un turista, de los cuales solo se ha dado a conocer la identidad parcial de este último. Según los datos que han facilitado las autoridades, el turista se llamaba Miguel Angel “N” pero por el momento no hay datos oficiales del nombre del instructor.

Ambos buceadores encontraron la muerte sobre la 21:30 horas de ayer, mientras se realizaban una inmersión nocturna en el cenote Chaak-Tun ubicado a las afueras de la ciudad de Playa del Carmen, en pleno caribe mexicano.

Por ahora, se desconocen las causas de las complicaciones que tuvieron estos dos buceadores para causarles un fin tan dramático, y los efectivos de la Seguridad Publica de Playa del Carmen ya se encuentran trabajando para esclarecer las causas de los fallecimientos.



Agentes de la Policía Ministerial de México, acompañados de personal del Ministerio Público y del Servicio Médico Forense (Semefo), tomaron evidencias y realizaron el levantamiento de los cuerpos. Se espera que se realice la autopsia por ley con la mayor rapidez posible para esclarecer los hechos cuanto antes.

Los cenotes mexicanos son verdaderas joyas naturales donde los buceadores disfrutan enormemente en sus inmersiones. Nos inquieta potencialmente las causas de este aumento repentino de incidentes trágicos en los cenotes de este país.

Recordar que el cenote Calavera de Tulum donde perdió la vida recientemente el español Mauricio Muller, se encuentra a menos de 60 kilómetros del cenote Chaak-Tun, escenario de esta triste noticia ocurrida en México.
Otros dos buceadores fallecen en un cenote de México

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Here's the English version of the above article, from Google Translate (a fair translation, but it also provides more information on this fatality):

The cenotes of Quintana Roo, Mexico again be sad news because of two new divers who lost their lives while performing a dive. In this case the event has happened in the cenote Chaak-Tun, on the outskirts of the village of Playa del Carmen.

If less than a week, the Spanish diver Mauricio Muller lost his life in the cenote Calavera of Tulum, this time has been in the cenote Chaak-Tun, during a night dive that made these two divers.

On this occasion, it has been a diving instructor and a tourist, of which only has released the partial identity of the latter. According to data provided by the authorities, the tourist was called Miguel Angel "N" but at the moment no official data the name of the instructor.

Both divers were killed about 21:30 pm yesterday, while a night dive were made in the Chaak-Tun sinkhole located just outside the town of Playa del Carmen, in the Mexican Caribbean.

For now, the causes of the complications that had these two divers to cause such a dramatic end, and the staff of the Public Security of Playa del Carmen are already working to clarify the causes of death are unknown.

Tun Cenote Chaak

Agents of the Ministerial Police of Mexico, accompanied by staff of the Public Ministry and the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo), took evidence and made the lifting of the bodies. It is expected that the autopsy performed by law as quickly as possible to clarify the facts as soon as possible.

Mexican cenotes are true natural jewels where divers enjoy greatly in their dives. We potentially concerned the causes of this sudden increase in tragic incidents in the cenotes of this country.

Remember that the cenote Calavera of Tulum where recently killed the Spanish Mauricio Muller, is located less than 60 kilometers from the cenote Chaak-Tun, the scene of this sad news occurred in Mexico.

SeaRat

 

[John C. Ratliff]

JohnnyC and DocNet think this is a simple, open and shut, case of "disobeying the rules" of cave diving. In a sense, it is. But this doesn't get us anywhere in understanding the factors that fed into the decision to error (human error in DeJoy's model). It also does nothing to change the dynamic that led to this fatality. This is where further analysis helps. While I'm not going to further offend these two fellows, I will be referring to this model in more detail.

First, let me comment on both JohnnyC and DocNet's orientation; it is a simple-minded almost blind devotion to cave diving's "rules," and any deviation of those rules are seen with both anger and some ego. Yesterday, I was working with a local high school in the AVID program, where I tutor these students. I found out that one was taking a basic scuba class, and he started telling me that he could not stand one of the three instructors the LDS was using; this guy was younger, and very rigid in his approach. When this student went to wash off his gear, the instructor insisted that he follow a strict protocol. He deviated from that protocol by not taking his snorkel off his mask while washing them. He got a three-minute lecture about "following rules." It completely turned off this student, who realized that this made no difference when it came to washing the snorkel and mask. His relating of this experience reminded me of how JohnnyC is reacting to me even talking about this current accident.

Now, let's talk about "Person-machine Communication," as one of the areas to explore in DeJoy's model. In this case, it is the use of scuba in these cenote's; these are almost certainly rented scuba. The regulator is unfamiliar, and the routing of hoses is unfamiliar. So to is the gauge/computer that is being used, and the BC. Simply getting used to the rented gear takes attention from the dive. Also under this communication realm, we have the potential for problems with language, both on the gauges being used (perhaps in metric units, for example), and the machine language from the computer about low air signals.

Now, there are four areas inthe "Environment" box, and I'll address each as it could relate to this accident.

"Anthropometry/biomechanics," has to do with the fitting of the gear, and the greater environmental aspects of coping with the subaquatic terrain. Rented gear is notorious for not fitting correctly, especially on the first try. This can make for uncomfortable diving.

Add to that the problems of entry from ten feet over the water, throwing fins in before jumping into the water (as seen is the entry video), gathering around a single ladder, there will be more anxiety because of the "ambient physical environment." Simply being in the water with an overhead, bats flying around (noted in the video), probably a slight current (cenotes are openings in underground rivers, according to several posters here, and could also explain where the diver ended up in the cave), and the change at the halocline in visibility, and you have further stressors.

Now, the "micro-task" and "macro-task" environment also plays into this scenario. Rented equipment means trying to figure out your gear while on the dive. This takes attention, and that attention is taken away from the dive guide. It could also explain how a person, preoccupied with his or her gear, could get separated from the group.

Finally, we get to the critical "Decision-Making" area. This includes "Pre-disposing Factors," "Enabling Factors," and "Reinforcing Factors." According to DocNet and JohnnyC, the reinforcing factor of earlier training should actually preclude this type of dive. But there are literally thousands of people doing these dives, which are occurring daily. We have counter-advertising on YouTube and at several dive shop's websites stating, "No special qualifications are required for cavern diving." These are "enabling factors," which over-ride the previous training because, first they are more recent, and second they come from people in authority for diving (instructors of the dive shops). "Reinforcing factors" comes from the divers themselves, who probably pass along information saying it is easy to do these dives, and very enjoyable. These over-ride the previous training on not entering overheads.

I'll talk more about interventions in a different post, but I want you to read this first.

SeaRat

 

[oya]

Simply getting used to the rented gear takes attention from the dive. This can make for uncomfortable diving.

Yes. For inexperienced divers who don't belong in advanced environments. Most long-time divers can make a BC two sizes too big, a regulator that breathes like crap, and a pair of snorkeling fins work just fine in a pinch.

throwing fins in before jumping into the water (as seen is the entry video), gathering around a single ladder, there will be more anxiety because of the "ambient physical environment." Simply being in the water with an overhead, bats flying around (noted in the video), probably a slight current

Yes. That's all discombobulating for people who are unfamiliar with an overhead environment. They should be introduced to it safely and slowly, which is not the typical Mexican model for a cavern tour.

(cenotes are openings in underground rivers,

They are, but there's no noticeable flow in the Mexican systems.

and the change at the halocline in visibility, and you have further stressors.

Yes. That's discombobulating for people who are unfamiliar with caves. They should be introduced to it safely and slowly, which is not the typical Mexican model for a cavern tour.

Rented equipment means trying to figure out your gear while on the dive.

Yes. For inexperienced divers who don't belong in advanced environments. Most long-time divers can make a BC two sizes too big, a regulator that breathes like crap, and a pair of snorkeling fins work just fine in a pinch.

We have counter-advertising on YouTube and at several dive shop's websites stating, "No special qualifications are required for cavern diving." ...
These over-ride the previous training on not entering overheads.

And we're back to the way that Mexican tours are typically run along with the way people were trained.

You obviously know your stuff about safety and accident management. But you don't know cave diving. You are spot-on that accidents are rarely, if ever, caused by a single event, they're a confluence. But you'll well to read up about how DAN does their accident analyses; dive accidents are different, and cave accidents even more specific. There are five rules. Five.

When they get broken people die. Several are often broken given the Mexican model of cavern tours and the tourists typically don't know enough to know they're breaking rules. Usually things go OK. Frequently enough things don't and the outcome is lamentably predictable.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Is it an assumption that these folks were renting gear? That's not always the case, possibly not even the majority of the time, in this area. A lot of the folks who are diving in the cenotes came to do ocean diving in Cancun, Playa or even Cozumel, and make a "day" trip to one of the Cenotes as part of their vacation. Many ... perhaps the majority ... are diving their own equipment, or are on rental gear they've already been using for several days prior to the cenote trip. So I'm not sure how much of the task-management issue associated with rental gear would apply in this case. It's all interesting, and certainly worthy of discussion ... but not sure it really had anything to do with this particular situation.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[oya]

Yesterday, I was working with a local high school in the AVID program, where I tutor these students. I found out that one was taking a basic scuba class, and he started telling me that he could not stand one of the three instructors the LDS was using; this guy was younger, and very rigid in his approach. When this student went to wash off his gear, the instructor insisted that he follow a strict protocol. He deviated from that protocol by not taking his snorkel off his mask while washing them. He got a three-minute lecture about "following rules." It completely turned off this student, who realized that this made no difference when it came to washing the snorkel and mask. His relating of this experience reminded me of how JohnnyC is reacting to me even talking about this current accident.

I separated out this little parable to point out that it isn't a good comparison.

"Take your snorkel off your mask" isn't a rule. It's a weird hangup and screw that instructor for freaking out a student with some dumb sense of how to do things.

The five rules of cavern and cave diving go like this: "Follow them or there is a good chance you are going to die. And you're going to know you're going to die for a while before it happens. It's going to be scary and horrible."

See how that's different?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You obviously know your stuff about safety and accident management. But you don't know cave diving. You are spot-on that accidents are rarely, if ever, caused by a single event, they're a confluence. But you'll well to read up about how DAN does their accident analyses; dive accidents are different, and cave accidents even more specific. There are five rules. Five.

When they get broken people die. Several are often broken given the Mexican model of cavern tours and the tourists typically don't know enough to know they're breaking rules. Usually things go OK. Frequently enough things don't and the outcome is lamentably predictable.

Sadly it's not just Mexico. Let's not forget those fatalities in Italy not that long ago ... not even the dive guide who took them in had any overhead experience. And those tours are still ongoing today ... the fatalities didn't really change the business model.

And although there's not a burgeoning "cavern touring" industry in Florida, untrained divers enter those caves frequently ... perhaps daily at popular places like Ginnie and the Mill Pond ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[oya]

And although there's not a burgeoning "cavern touring" industry in Florida, untrained divers enter those caves frequently ... perhaps daily at popular places like Ginnie and the Mill Pond ...

Or Eagle's Nest. Or School Sink.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Yeah ... forgot about that father-son team that died at Eagle's Nest a couple years back.

For purposes of this discussion, might be useful to spell out those five rules you mentioned. FWIW - they're the result of examining the causes of past cave fatalities ...

1. Always dive within your training - for purposes of this discussion, that means if you aren't trained for overhead diving, don't do overhead diving.
2. Maintain a continuous guideline to open water - in this case, if he was in the cave zone, there wasn't a continuous guideline. At some point there would be a jump gap between the cenote line and the line into the cave.
3. Reserve two-thirds breathing gas for the exit - the infamous "rule of thirds" ... in this case, this probably didn't happen
4. Never exceed the maximum operating depth of your breathing gas - this one was not applicable in this case
5. Use equipment appropriate to the conditions - in an overhead environment that would mandate some form of redundant air supply and a minimum of two functioning lights

In this case, at least three and probably four of those five rules were broken ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)