Diver missing on Spiegel Grove - Key Largo Florida

[sheeper]

more info Monroe County Sheriff's Office - Florida Keys

 

[iluvtheocean]

i'm curious about a couple of things -- were they certified for wreck penetration and whether or not they had a pony bottles etc which i thought was a given for any wreck penetration.

 

[Croomrider]

It would be interesting to know what happened. The buddy had enough gas to go back looking for him, and they were running and following a line. Not saying they did it right, and certainly the buddy contact wasn't close enough. I wonder if there was a medical condition involved?

 

[Steve_C]

It does not say whether the reel was at the end of the line. If the reel was there it is odd and could be panic/medical. But if the reel was not there one can envision several scenarios. One is that the line gets tangled or some such. Diver does not want to lose line/reel so they cut the line to reattach. Line is under some tension and goes shooting away from diver. Diver looses sight of it. Or the line could have gotten cut by something.

Fact that the lead diver had air does not mean that the lost diver did. Lost dive could have gotten anxious, breaths air faster or just had a different SAC rate.

The Spiegel seems to claim a few divers. If they were inside they probably were below 100 fsw.

 

[mselenaous]

MCSO Facebook page this morning:

Sheriff’s dive team searches for missing diver on Spiegel Grove wreck

The Sheriff’s Office dive team is on the site of the Spiegel Grove wreck offshore of Key Largo this morning looking for a missing diver. The diver, 43 year old Joseph Dragojevich of Orlando, went missing during a dive he made Thursday inside the wreck with a friend.

The two men were on a commercial dive vessel operated by Scuba Do Dive Company with six other divers Thursday afternoon. Although the dive operators and other divers reportedly did not intend to penetrate the wreck itself, Dragojevich and his buddy, 51 year old James Dorminy of Kissimmee did intend to do a penetration dive on the wreck on their own, without a guide.

Dorminy told Deputy Tony Code and Dive Team Leader Sgt. Mark Coleman they attached a reel line when they entered so they would be able to find their way out. They explored several levels of the ship before beginning their exit, following the line. Dorminy said he was in the lead and Dragojevich was reeling in the line behind him. He said when he last saw his friend, Dragojevich signaled with his dive light that he was alright. Dorminy looked back again and had lost sight of him and the line was slack.

He swam back and found the line tangled, but did not find Dragojevich. After searching for as long as he could, he had to surface because he was running out of air. As soon as Dorminy reported what happened at about 4:15 p.m., the crew on the dive vessel called the Coast Guard to report they had a missing diver. The Coast Guard and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded and did a search for Dragojevich, but he was not found.

Sheriff’s divers are working today with divers from the Key Largo Fire Department, renewing their search around and inside the wreck of the Spiegel Grove.

And recent update from the MCSO Facebook page:

Body of missing diver located

The body believed to be that of a missing diver from Orlando has been located this afternoon by the Sheriff’s Office Dive team and divers from Key Largo Fire Rescue.

Divers found the body just after 1:30 p.m. inside the wreck of the Spiegel Grove. They are currently in the process of recovering the body from inside the sunken vessel. The process could take several hours to complete. While detectives say they have not had the chance to perform an official identification of the body, it is believed to be that of 43 year old Joseph Dragojevich. Once the body is returned to shore, it will be turned over to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy to determine the cause of his death. His equipment is also being recovered and will be examined for any information which may help detectives piece together what may have happened to him.

Detective Deb Ryan from the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit has been assigned to lead the investigation.

 

[sharpenu]

As I feared, it turns out that I knew both divers who were involved.
I knew Jim Dorminy some 16 years ago, when he was employed by a neighboring fire department. He was pretty experienced as a diver. His dive partner was a guy I have seen around at conferences and such. Neither of them were prone to taking reckless chances, at least not when I knew them.

 

[iluvtheocean]

Scuba-Do’s dive master on the trip, Kimberly Chapman, told a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy that the passengers were briefed before entering the water that there would be no penetration of the Spiegel Grover or “decompression diving” during this trip.

Missing diver found dead in the wreck of the USS Spiegel Grove in the Keys - Florida Keys - MiamiHerald.com

Read more here: Missing diver found dead in the wreck of the USS Spiegel Grove in the Keys - Florida Keys - MiamiHerald.com
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[Lorenzoid]

Scuba-Do’s dive master on the trip, Kimberly Chapman, told a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy that the passengers were briefed before entering the water that there would be no penetration of the Spiegel Grover or “decompression diving” during this trip.

I was about to ask exactly that when you posted. As far as I can recall, the dive operators I've gone to the Spiegel with admonish "no penetration."

Are dive ops going to have to ban lights and reels the way some do for OW divers in cave areas?

---------- Post added October 18th, 2013 at 05:04 PM ----------

i'm curious about a couple of things -- were they certified for wreck penetration and whether or not they had a pony bottles etc which i thought was a given for any wreck penetration.

PONY BOTTLES? More like doubles ... and then some.

 

[Steve_C]

Given the potential for getting into strong currents and being forced into an open water drifting ascent I would not dive the spiegel if they did not allow SMBs and hence reels.

 

[Jim-SAR]

They divers penetrated the wreck after receiving a briefing that prohibited it. Their own decision cost one of them their lives.

However tragic, their actions shouldn't become the reason for restricting possible safety equipment for subsequent divers. That's a typical knee-jerk reaction that ultimately does nothing to change WHY the diver was lost.


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