Feb 19 2017 Cozumel diving fatality

[tbrady]

With respect to dealing with BC inflator 'issues', going to manual bailout in very controlled training class environment is very different than doing it in the deep blue, at depth, in a drift current. I'll admit it's been quite a few years (2001) since I went through BOW class, and I don't remember the training in detail, (and perhaps current standards have been improved over the subsequent years?) but orally inflating at BC, while already on the surface, in a pool...or kneeling on the bottom of a pool, and orally inflating from there to simply go up to the surface, aren't very rigorous 'standards' relative to operating in the real world. If you are mid-water-column, fighting to not sink, trying to switch back and forth between breathing off the reg and trying to inflate, compounded by possible severe equalization issues/pain/vertigo, and remember, with ever increasing depth you have to inject an ever rapidly increasing amount of air into the BC air cell to prevent runaway decent...snowballing to disaster!

A while back I switched over to the expensive Scubapro balanced power inflators because the generic inflators struggle to keep up with increasing depth.

I've seen very few comments in this long winded thread about orally inflating the BCD. You seem like a fairly experienced diver. However there are to many things wrong with your comment. Unless you were severely over-weighted, there is no problem orally inflating your BCD anywhere in the water column. I suggest you try orally inflating your BCD at depth to see how easy it is. ALL power inflators and quick connections fail. This is a skill you must master to save your own life.

 

[scubafanatic]

I've seen very few comments in this long winded thread about orally inflating the BCD. You seem like a fairly experienced diver. However there are to many things wrong with your comment. Unless you were severely over-weighted, there is no problem orally inflating your BCD anywhere in the water column. I suggest you try orally inflating your BCD at depth to see how easy it is. ALL power inflators and quick connections fail. This is a skill you must master to save your own life.

I never said "I" had that problem, but outlined how it's possible for someone to have that problem.

 

[scorpiofish]

I've been away from the board for a while (but I have been diving since my last visit). I've read through most of this thread. What can we learn from this?

1) A disconnected inflator hose should not be a problem. We are not sure if it made any difference in this case or not. I have had leaky hoses on many occasions. If you choose to disconnect, get yourself as neutral as possible at depth, then disconnect. You will not need to do much after that. A breath here or there, maybe not at all and actually release air later in the dive, if at all. Re-connect the inflator as you begin your ascent IF the leak isn't too severe or at the safety stop. You can then have a power inflator when you really need it, at the surface. I have done whole dive trips without my inflator hose connected.

2) If you find a diver at the bottom as in this case, find their weights and release them. The diver should head to the surface. This is a non-breathing diver who has been at the bottom, just get them up as quickly as possible. If you can't find their weights, just take the gear off. It can be recovered later. Anyone who has tried to do a recovery of anything without a proper lift bag can attest to the difficulty of trying to get something to the surface using your own BC as a lift bag. It's a lot harder than you think it should be.

3) I tend to skip the DM responsibility and buddy diving thing, because I've worn both hats. My buddy and I have quit or aborted dives, waved to each other and surfaced alone, depending on situation, and location. The protocol is to watch the other from depth until the boat picks the other one up. I know this violates some peoples' idea of proper buddy diving. We've been diving and shooting for 25 years this way. There are some conditions, we both return to the boat, and then the other will descend again. Now, putting the DM hat on, it is near impossible to guide the dive AND watch every single diver. It is to look forward and backward at the same time. It takes about 1.3 seconds of not watching to lose track of one diver amongst a group. There are differing views on the timing of the victims ascent, but I have to believe it was not at the end of a normal dive time or some if not all of the other divers would have ascended. My experience is that the best way to handle the early abort is to try to get the remaining group as close to each other as possible, escort the ascending diver to safety stop range (unless the safety stop is not going to be done) and then stay at a depth where I can see the group and the diver. Look up, look down, look up, look down. Do this until the boat has secured the diver at the surface, then return to the group. Drift diving makes this harder as current varies with depth. If you are with a DM who is escorting someone to the surface, please be kind to him and stay within easy sight. Pause your dive for just a minute and hang underneath the DM.

 

[Ravenware]

I was just contacted by a member of the dive group who does not wish to participate openly in this thread. This is what I learned.

1. The diver agreed before the dive to use the inflator manually.
2. The diver did not appear to have a problem with that during the dive.
3. When the diver decided to go to the surface, she did not seem to be in distress. The diver who contacted me did not see her signal prior to the ascent, but the assumption was that she had reached the 700 PSI, the pressure at which the first low on air diver was supposed to ascend according to the pre-dive briefing.
4. The DM sent up a DSMB, showed her how to work the reel, and she ascended alone.
5. She did not appear to be in distress during that ascent, which started from a relatively shallow depth.
6. The person who contacted me did not watch her the whole time, but believes she did not take enough time on ascent to do a full safety stop.
7. The person who contacted me saw her reach the surface safely, and she did not appear to be having any trouble there.

I was also contacted by someone else who had information he was not at liberty to disclose. Nothing in that contact disagrees with what I just wrote.

From what I have been told and from what I read on this thread, the inflator hose had nothing to do with this accident. IMO, continuing to discuss it just gets in the way of a discussion on what really happened.

As the person who found her on the reef, we checked her air and she had over 1200 psi. But her BC was not connected. She was on her knees on the top of the reef, so disturbance around her at all. It looked like she just settled down and stayed there. I later read she had a heart attack, and if she had that on the surface, could not inflate her BC manually, she would have gradually sunk down. Whoever said she had 700 psi is misinformed, unless her air was released after we found her.

 

[Ravenware]

I've been away from the board for a while (but I have been diving since my last visit). I've read through most of this thread. What can we learn from this?

1) A disconnected inflator hose should not be a problem. We are not sure if it made any difference in this case or not. I have had leaky hoses on many occasions. If you choose to disconnect, get yourself as neutral as possible at depth, then disconnect. You will not need to do much after that. A breath here or there, maybe not at all and actually release air later in the dive, if at all. Re-connect the inflator as you begin your ascent IF the leak isn't too severe or at the safety stop. You can then have a power inflator when you really need it, at the surface. I have done whole dive trips without my inflator hose connected.

2) If you find a diver at the bottom as in this case, find their weights and release them. The diver should head to the surface. This is a non-breathing diver who has been at the bottom, just get them up as quickly as possible. If you can't find their weights, just take the gear off. It can be recovered later. Anyone who has tried to do a recovery of anything without a proper lift bag can attest to the difficulty of trying to get something to the surface using your own BC as a lift bag. It's a lot harder than you think it should be.

3) I tend to skip the DM responsibility and buddy diving thing, because I've worn both hats. My buddy and I have quit or aborted dives, waved to each other and surfaced alone, depending on situation, and location. The protocol is to watch the other from depth until the boat picks the other one up. I know this violates some peoples' idea of proper buddy diving. We've been diving and shooting for 25 years this way. There are some conditions, we both return to the boat, and then the other will descend again. Now, putting the DM hat on, it is near impossible to guide the dive AND watch every single diver. It is to look forward and backward at the same time. It takes about 1.3 seconds of not watching to lose track of one diver amongst a group. There are differing views on the timing of the victims ascent, but I have to believe it was not at the end of a normal dive time or some if not all of the other divers would have ascended. My experience is that the best way to handle the early abort is to try to get the remaining group as close to each other as possible, escort the ascending diver to safety stop range (unless the safety stop is not going to be done) and then stay at a depth where I can see the group and the diver. Look up, look down, look up, look down. Do this until the boat has secured the diver at the surface, then return to the group. Drift diving makes this harder as current varies with depth. If you are with a DM who is escorting someone to the surface, please be kind to him and stay within easy sight. Pause your dive for just a minute and hang underneath the DM.

As the person who found her, I can tell you this. We could not locate her weight release, she had integrated weights. Did not consider taking her gear off. One of the worst things now about using integrated weights, every BC has a different system and we were not familiar with this one. It was obvious she was already passed, we tried to get her off the reef and to the surface but were unsuccessful because we could not inflate her BC as it was not connected. We did something stupid and tried to bring her up by inflating our BC’s but realized that was dangerous in the conditions we were in. So we quickly ascended and waved down a boat. We are just regular divers, not rescue divers. I knew she was already gone, it took a few minutes to get to her once I established she was not breathing. At first I just thought she was watching something, she was just kneeling there and it wasn’t obvious she had passed until enough time went by without bubbles. I just wanted her family to know what happened to her. Too many divers disappear never to be found. The currents are strong, and there is a deep channel not too far away.

 

[Ravenware]

Such a distressful experience. Thanks so much for sharing your first hand information with us. I don't mean to second guess your efforts as it seems like you two tried your best to help the lady, but I do wonder if you ditched her weights? Sad that she was alone.

Yeah, it's bad for business.

She had integrated weights, we could figure out the system to release them. So many BC’s use different systems. Also her BC inflator hose was not connected. It was obvious she was passed when she hit the reef. There was no disturbance at all, it was like she just slowly settled down where she landed. The sand around her was smooth. I think she was already gone when she landed on the reef.

 

[DandyDon]

She had integrated weights, we could (not) figure out the system to release them. So many BC’s use different systems.

Yeah, different BCs have different ways to integrate weights so I can see how that could be too challenging. That's something to review with a buddy, how to ditch each other's weights, but since she was solo - no help there. Ditching her kit and ascending with her might have been a good idea, but it's challenging to think of all of the good ideas in an emergency, and it was too late in this case it seems. It's unfortunate that she didn't have a buddy to accompany her on her ascent to the surface.

Also her BC inflator hose was not connected.

She should have never been in the water.

It was obvious she was passed when she hit the reef. There was no disturbance at all, it was like she just slowly settled down where she landed. The sand around her was smooth. I think she was already gone when she landed on the reef.

Yeah, it sounds like y'all did your best in a futile situation. I hope that y'all are ok with that an not letting this eat at either of you.

 

[Steelyeyes]

She had integrated weights, we could figure out the system to release them. So many BC’s use different systems. Also her BC inflator hose was not connected. It was obvious she was passed when she hit the reef. There was no disturbance at all, it was like she just slowly settled down where she landed. The sand around her was smooth. I think she was already gone when she landed on the reef.

My wife, myself, my daughter, and my son in law all dive Zeagle BCDs. I make sure to show any new dive partners where my weight release is because it's not like the weight pocket most systems have. I also tell them not to dump my weights unless I'm deceased or on the surface. Of course that doesn't help if a complete stranger is the one to find you in distress or beyond help.

I can't imagine doing anything different than you did and you did her family a favor with what you did do. You did fine.

 

[DandyDon]

I also tell them not to dump my weights unless I'm deceased or on the surface.

I cannot totally agree with that. If dumping your weights is the only way to get you to the surface in an emergency, it'd be better than letting you sink. You might incur a rapid ascent injury, but those can be treated better than a lost drowned diver.

 

[boulderjohn]

About a decade or so ago in Florida, a man was diving with a new BCD. The reports did not identify it, but I think it was a Zeagle because of other descriptions in the reports. (It really doesn't matter.) The man was intentionally overweighted, and apparently significantly so, so he could better hunt for lobster. He was diving solo. He ran out of air and managed to get to the surface, but with all his weight he struggled to stay there. He could not figure out how to ditch his weights in his new BCD. (IMO, not understanding the rip cord system, he probably but the weights in the zippered pockets instead.) A woman tried to help. She had rental gear, and the regulator set did not include an alternate air source, so she and the man tried to buddy breathe off of her one regulator while they tried to figure out how to ditch his weights.

They both drowned.