Fatality on Rosalie Moller wreck

[Jafo19D]

Any military and professional commercial pilot can confirm that continuous assessments of as many iterations and possible scenarios for emergencies and contingencies are extremely critical to successfully handling the problems when they occur. Even a couple of flight check rides a year are not sufficient to keep a pilot sharp enough to make the correct and timely decisions required in time sensitive and high stress situations. Unfortunately, most recreational hobbyists in dangerous activities will not spend the mental time needed to think about the "what ifs" before they actually happen.

That’s true. In Iraq and Afghanistan I’d go over in my mind during patrols what to do if we got hit and repeat this exercise every so many meters. It was exhausting but when stuff happened I was ready.

 

[dmaziuk]

That’s true. In Iraq and Afghanistan I’d go over in my mind during patrols what to do if we got hit and repeat this exercise every so many meters. It was exhausting but when stuff happened I was ready.

Some martial arts instructors will tell you to go through the forms in your mind when you have nothing better to do, too.

 

[Biotech Diver]

This is a very sad story. Due to the apprehension regarding the dive computer and weighting, perhaps the dive should have been called up front. It is too bad she attempted to recover her weight pocket rather than trying to finish the ascent. It was a no stop dive, even being unable to hold the safety stop would have been an acceptable alternative.

I don't find the dive unacceptable for a relatively experienced and adequately trained rec diver. MOD for 28% is 132 feet. A normal ascent from 115 ft with a 3 min SS at a RMV of 0.5 cf/min would have used only about one third of the gas available at the suggested start ascent pressure with an AL80.

There are at least a couple of lessons to be learned here.

I agree. 28% is perfectly fine For that dive plan and so is 80 bar to begin ascent. The victim made an error in judgment and her dive buddy was unable to stop her. Only he knows if he made enough effort stop her but you cannot fault someone for not risking their own life to save her, that’s a personal choice a person needs to make for themselves.

 

[Biotech Diver]

I was going to say something very similar but I have dove many places that put you in the water on your own, maybe a DM is there but they don't hand hold or surface as a group...........

This is my opinion too. It’s pretty standard here where I dive in Florida to not have a DM assigned to a group. If a person feels they need one they should hire one for their guide.

 

[Biotech Diver]

My better half normally carries 7-8 kilos in an old 2mm shorty and she's not fat. 10 kg sounds a bit much but without knowing the victim's shape and size I wouldn't call it "yikes a lot".

She was definitely weighted too much. I use 2.7 kg with a 2 mm shorty and a steel 100. With my full 3 mm I use 3.6 kg. Even when I dove in Monterey with a 7 mm semi dry suit I would only need 9 kg but could have gotten away with 8.

Some divers worry more about decompression sickness than running out of air. One choice is very survivable and the other is not. There was a diver list on the Lady Luck here in Florida a while back. He signaled he was was running low on air and instead of coming up as the divers above him on the ascent line were encouraging him to do, he swam off, assumingly, looking for another diver to get air from.

 

[dmaziuk]

I normally prefer to be a bit heavy so I carry 2x3 lbs with an Al80, therefore anybody carrying 4 kilos is grossly overweighted.

 

[johndiver999]

I agree. 28% is perfectly fine For that dive plan and so is 80 bar to begin ascent. The victim made an error in judgment and her dive buddy was unable to stop her. Only he knows if he made enough effort stop her but you cannot fault someone for not risking their own life to save her, that’s a personal choice a person needs to make for themselves.

If a diver is relatively shallow has around 1000 psi and no deco penalty, and you see your buddy do something impulsive, non-sensical and VERY dangerous, what would we expect a buddy to do?

I am pretty sure, once I saw her dart for the bottom, I would have been right on her tail and done my best to grab her fin tips and try to stop the descent, hopefully at some reasonable depth. From my recollection of what was reported from the buddy, he didn't do anything like that.

If he saw her drop or loose the pocket, then he must have seen the initiation of the descent and it sounds like there would be an opportunity to try to catch her.

I don't think giving chase for a reasonable amount of time/depth/air is what many people would consider "risking their own life".

 

[Biotech Diver]

If a diver is relatively shallow has around 1000 psi and no deco penalty, and you see your buddy do something impulsive, non-sensical and VERY dangerous, what would we expect a buddy to do?

I am pretty sure, once I saw her dart for the bottom, I would have been right on her tail and done my best to grab her fin tips and try to stop the descent, hopefully at some reasonable depth. From my recollection of what was reported from the buddy, he didn't do anything like that.

If he saw her drop or loose the pocket, then he must have seen the initiation of the descent and it sounds like there would be an opportunity to try to catch her.

I don't think giving chase for a reasonable amount of time/depth/air is what many people would consider "risking their own life".

The buddy reported he was almost out of air. It was in the original post.

 

[ginti]

The buddy reported he was almost out of air. It was in the original post.

Not only air. Any reaction depends on the level of skills, awareness and experience of the diver. A new diver maybe would recognize a dangerous situation too late.

Anyway, we will never know if the buddy did enough or not...

 

[Biotech Diver]

Not only air. Any reaction depends on the level of skills, awareness and experience of the diver. A new diver maybe would recognize a dangerous situation too late.

Anyway, we will never know if the buddy did enough or not...

The dive buddy came to the surface with almost no air. Had he tried to chase her down he too may have run out of air. He may have been overconfident and under experienced, but ultimately the dive accident was the result of her poor decisions. It was not the fault of her dive buddy or the DMs or the diving operation. Contrary to what so many Americans strongly believe, it’s not always somebody else’s fault if you get hurt or die. I don’t need that warning sticker on my car sun visor telling me I should wear a seatbelt or that sticker on the gas tank of my motorcycle telling me riding a motorcycle can be dangerous.