Diver missing at Cove 2, West Seattle

[Jax]

Thanks, Lamont.

Does anyone know the condition of the diver that had the rapid ascent?

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Lamont explained it clearly the instructor had no idea exactly where his student was. that is enough for me to conclude he needs to be disembarked on taking a young life into his hands and not stay close on a deep dive, what more is there to explain, the boy died in a AOW class.

 

[Jax]

Lamont explained it clearly the instructor had no idea exactly where his student was. that is enough for me to conclude he needs to be disembarked on taking a young life into his hands and not stay close on a deep dive, what more is there to explain, the boy died in a AOW class.

Really? If the diver failed to follow instruction, if the diver left the group, the instructor is still responsible? We don't know what happened, and we do not have enough info to even sWag! (heavy on the WILD)


If a student driver stomps the gas instead of the brake, the instructor is responsible?

If the patient has a stroke during his physical exam, the doctor is responsible?

If the diver panics on a dive, the dive buddy is responsible?

If the kid on the range fails to follow rangemaster instruction, the rangemaster is responsible?

Stop with the blame game. We do not know what happened.

If there is one thing I have learned in taking more and more instruction, it is that the diver must be responsible for their own physical and mental well-being. The instructor is responsible for preparing the diver for their pinnacle dive, and for being ready to assist in case of difficulty. It is the diver's responsibility to call the dive if it is too much for their present capabilities.


We do not have the slightest idea of what happened, except that someone reported the diver ascending rapidly.

[speculation] Diver hit the power inflate instead of the deflate. Or, diver panicked. [/speculation] That's about as far as anyone can go.

 

[Jax]

My guess is that they don't want to be involved in trying to decide who is actually competent to search. But it is a shame . . . we have trained trimix divers who would be happy to help, with good lights, and the ability to maintain the visibility for further searching, AND scooters. This reminds me of when Michael Kane's crew retrieved the bodies from the sunken boat off the LA coast -- there is some talent and experience available around here that actually exceeds what the "official" divers can muster.

As it was explained to me, if the LE allows any volunteers to assist, they are liable for what happens. It's purely fiscal responsibility.

 

[fdog]

Because we did some experiments on this topic quite a few years ago, divers that "fall" unconscious for more than 30' will land on the bottom on their backs, and, generally 10-20% of the fall distance away from vertical.

Note: when we did these, the "DIR flat trim" wasn't really around, so we didn't try this as a starting position. The divers were vertical as if swimming to the surface.


All the best, James

 

[Slamfire]

Thanks to you, Casey and Laura for the help in bringing closure to the family. Also thanks for providing details in an objective way clearly distinguishing facts from your own personal opinions.

Okay, some update details.

The diver was reported missing around 11am. The fire dept(?) dive team searched for multiple hours. The info that they had been given was that the separation occurred during some kind of rapid ascent starting at around 60 feet on the boundary cable (near the penguin). The dive was an AOW course dive to ~100-ish down to the log beams.

We got into the water around 5pm and searched with scooters all around the dive area shallower than about 85 feet. As we were getting out from that dive, a pair of divers surfaced and reported that they had found him. They had found him deeper (110-120-ish maybe?) down by the log beams. This was a pair of recreational single tank divers. They had attempted to pull him shallower, one of them had a rapid ascent and was, I believe, taken conscious to the chamber and we have no information on that diver yet.

We dropped back down and found the diver around 105 in between the two deeper sets of log pilings. We blew a bag and clipped it off to the diver, then ascended.

The diver was on his back, still had all his gear (tanks, fins, etc), had no reg in his mouth, had only a little bit of water in his mask and a tiny bit of blood in the mask. One backup light was clipped to his harness and turned on.

One takeaway is that the initial information coming from his team was likely wrong. He was probably lost at depth at ~100-ish and there was probably confusion over seeing him at 60 (I have no doubt that one of the divers thought they saw him at 60, but that gets to eyewitness reports being poor quality -- which goes for everything i'm writing up right now, too), lack of blood in the mask makes me think he drowned at depth. We don't know the state of his gas though (did not check his SPG) and obviously accurate cause of death has to wait on the coroner. I was skeptical on the surface at the report of last seeing him at 60 though and I was unsurprised that he was found down at 100+. He could have drifted back down to 120 and happened to wind up right near where the class left from, but my occam's razor suggests that the accident all happend roughly where he was found.

 

[Jax]

Question to the divers that searched.

Is it normal protocol to mark a dead person, instead of bringing s/he up?

I understand that if there is any chance, you bring the victim up immediately. I was surprised though, that the victim's location was just marked.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Question to the divers that searched.

Is it normal protocol to mark a dead person, instead of bringing s/he up?

I understand that if there is any chance, you bring the victim up immediately. I was surprised though, that the victim's location was just marked.

As I have done in the past, I would have brought the body to the surface. However if the body was in an easily accessible location and there was not much chance for it to be moved by currents or affected by the "dynamic nature of the ocean" I'm sure the authorities appreciate the opportunity to recover the body and make observations at the time of recovery.

 

[lamont]

Question to the divers that searched.

Is it normal protocol to mark a dead person, instead of bringing s/he up?

I understand that if there is any chance, you bring the victim up immediately. I was surprised though, that the victim's location was just marked.

He was 6+ hours in the water and we were a little low on gas from a previous dive. It was definitely a recovery, and we were prioritizing staying safe ourselves.

We had discussed this previously with police about the protocol to use and had decided on that as the safest action, and the one that would preserve the most information and let the professionals do the recovery.

The one diver that went to the chamber had found the diver earlier and they had tried to drag him to the surface, and probably discovered how difficult that was physically and mentally and that led to the near-emergency there. There was no way we were going to try to recover him given our resources at the time.

 

[Jax]

He was 6+ hours in the water and we were a little low on gas from a previous dive. It was definitely a recovery, and we were prioritizing staying safe ourselves.

We had discussed this previously with police about the protocol to use and had decided on that as the safest action, and the one that would preserve the most information and let the professionals do the recovery.

The one diver that went to the chamber had found the diver earlier and they had tried to drag him to the surface, and probably discovered how difficult that was physically and mentally and that led to the near-emergency there. There was no way we were going to try to recover him given our resources at the time.

Thank you - both for the answer and for volunteering your time.

So, If one has the appropriate resources, one *should* recover the body; if not, mark and leave it? Or is that something to discuss with one's local S&R?

Just curious. I pray God I'm not faced with that decision.