Filmmaker Rob Stewart dies off Alligator Reef

[St John the Diver]

As a non rebreather diver, non-tri-mix diver and non-hyperbaric doctor, the surface events of both divers passing out (assumption) strikes me as there being a possible common causal factor. I hope that both sets of equipment are investigated by competent personnel to attempt to identify any possible common factor.

I doubt that any finding will have any relevance to my diving but it could be a life-saving issue for others.

Unfortunately the chances of that are about zero.

The Navy EDU gets rebreathers at times after accidents. They have no budget for the work so they get tossed into a corner.

The manufacturers have conflict of interest issues and can't be trusted to objectively assist.

The rig he dove with is flooded and the only evidence of value was lost (the gas in the loop).

There will be electronic data in the logger, but rEvo won't cooperate to extract it.

Maybe Sotis will "investigate" it..

 

[Ron Lee]

Unfortunately the chances of that are about zero.

The Navy EDU gets rebreathers at times after accidents. They have no budget for the work so they get tossed into a corner.

The manufacturers have conflict of interest issues and can't be trusted to objectively assist.

The rig he dove with is flooded and the only evidence of value was lost (the gas in the loop).

There will be electronic data in the logger, but rEvo won't cooperate to extract it.

Maybe Sotis will "investigate" it..

That would be unfortunate. I was assuming that a scuba death in the US might result in a thorough investigation. I know that a well discussed three person deep dive on air in Cozumel a few years ago never provided...to my knowledge....factual details on the dive. At least in that case my diving experience allowed me to make informed guesses given what was known or assumed.

 

[cerich]

I believe that both Rob's and Sotis's unit's are on the way to "get tossed in the corner"..Except I think they will take a look, I'm not the cynical

 

[St John the Diver]

That would be unfortunate. I was assuming that a scuba death in the US might result in a thorough investigation. I know that a well discussed three person deep dive on air in Cozumel a few years ago never provided...to my knowledge....factual details on the dive. At least in that case my diving experience allowed me to make informed guesses given what was known or assumed.

The law enforcement interest is to rule out homicide. Other than that there's no official interest.

The coroner? The cause of death is always drowning.

The Navy couldn't care less.

There isn't any consumer protection agency of any sort tasked with safety investigations.

The manufacturers aren't really too interested in learning that their rig might be flawed.

The training agencies aren't interested in looking too closely at the instruction given to the victim.

In fact, it's in everyone's best financial interest to simply ignore it.

And nothing gets done.

 

[Wookie]

I'm not quite as cynical as you. I know personally of 3 cases where NEDU inspected rebreathers and the Florida county used the information to determine cause of death. One was a customer of mine, one was a crewmember of mine, and another was a different photographer.

 

[St John the Diver]

I believe that both Rob's and Sotis's unit's are on the way to "get tossed in the corner"..Except I think they will take a look, I'm not the cynical

Typical Coast Guard response if nobody else claims jurisdiction. They need to do "something" and only think in a military way, so they ship it to the Navy who HATES it because they don't have a budget or time to deal with it. They have a full time job to do already.

From professional experience: they won't even wash it off (so as to "preserve evidence"), and it'll sit for months before anyone looks at it. The last rig that came back from them was so badly neglected from being literally locked in a box for 8 months "salty and wet" that it was literally thrown away upon its return.

Wookie, maybe things are better now. I'd hope for the best.

 

[St John the Diver]

Wookie, was the cause of death in the three you recite anything more than "drowning"? In other words was there anything like a NTSB type finding of the chain of events leading up to the accidents?

 

[Wookie]

Wookie, was the cause of death in the three you recite anything more than "drowning"? In other words was there anything like a NTSB type finding of the chain of events leading up to the accidents?

None were "drowning". Richard Mork was found to have improperly assembled his ADV/AOV on his meg, so although he "drowned", it's because he toxed. My customer was found to have had a heart attack at depth, and his Sentinel was working when it was examined. We had closed the cylinders to preserve the gas in the cylinders. I am not at liberty to discuss the third guy, nor do I know the whole story and don't want to appear an ass.

 

[wedivebc]

None were "drowning". Richard Mork was found to have improperly assembled his ADV/AOV on his meg, so although he "drowned", it's because he toxed. My customer was found to have had a heart attack at depth, and his Sentinel was working when it was examined. We had closed the cylinders to preserve the gas in the cylinders. I am not at liberty to discuss the third guy, nor do I know the whole story and don't want to appear an ass.

Actually it was the solenoid seat was installed upside down in Richards meg. Also his cells were many months past their due date. His death was deemed drowning as a secondary effect of oxygen toxicity. NEDU did a very thorough examination of the untit.

 

[LandonL]

I can't believe he's lying about that. Wow. He most definitely did lose consciousness

Are you a first hand witness? I am seriously asking to see if we can confirm this or not from a primary observer.