Filmmaker Rob Stewart's family files wrongful death lawsuit

[The Chairman]

1. How sure is everyone that Rob Stewart made it to the surface at the end of the last dive?

He even gave an "OK".

 

[Serge Tao]

1-100%
2-The Deckhand.
3-Maybe, but Rob did not respond to commands to grab the tag line less than 5 feet from him while he was on the surface.
4-Maybe. Maybe monkeys will fly from someone's butt, but maybe it went down another way.

3 -> Interesting statement. Haven't read that one before. Who told Rob to grab the line?

 

[Wookie]

Let's say that there is no dispute that Rob surfaced, gave an OK, and failed to follow further instructions.

There are a number of sources that can verify this. I am not at liberty to say which source I got it from.

 

[Dan]

There were seemed to be multiple things happening that have led to his death. If the equipment functioned properly, shouldn't Rob be passed out at the surface?

 

[Wookie]

No one should have to learn the lesson that the diver in distress is the one who doesn't make any moves to save himself. This is the worst and hardest lesson ever to learn. But once it is learned, it is never forgotten.

We (as instructors) give rescue training class and maybe some extremely advanced instructors do, but I personally have never seen a rescue taught, including my own classes, that the diver in the most trouble is not the one flailing his arms and yelling "Pizza Pizza", it's the one who does not respond to you in any way.

When I near drowned, I had just enough mind left to dump my weight belt. 24# on a 7 mil steamer and john. Then I stopped caring what happened to me until I was manhandled to a ladder. Your mind goes completely blank. I remember dropping the weights, I remember my head being bashed into the ladder and my mask ripped off my face. Nothing in between. Had I completed the act of drowning, I probably wouldn't have known a thing.

I think it was BoulderJohn who posted an article a couple of years back that drowning victims are silent and unresponsive, they do not wave their arms and shout.

 

[Scott]

I think it was BoulderJohn who posted an article a couple of years back that drowning victims are silent and unresponsive, they do not wave their arms and shout.

Here's the article that you may be referring to
Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

 

[tilikum]

I spent my college days as a lifeguard at a large waterpark. The trainers and supervisors drilled that into our heads the drowning victims have no "typical" presentation and often just slip into the water.

 

[kafkaland]

From a legal perspective I think it all comes down to who owes whom what level of duty of care. What muddies the water here is that this was a commercial operation, with the goal of shooting footage for a documentary, but the dives seem to have been conducted like recreational technical dives. What AH and Sotis' obligations under such a scenario are is unknown at this point, and more evidence like a contract, emails, etc. will have to come out. Was they hired as the diving coordinator, for everything dive related from planning the dives, supplying the gases, etc., acting as safety officer, etc., or was Sotis just coming along as a buddy and friend because they had space on the boat? Or was his role somewhere in betweeen? Only the discovery process leading up to the trial will shed light on this.

 

[boulderjohn]

think it was BoulderJohn who posted an article a couple of years back that drowning victims are silent and unresponsive, they do not wave their arms and shout.

Yes, I have posted this several times. I was not the first.

Here's the article that you may be referring to
Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

That's the article.

 

[lionfish-eater]

There is nothing nefarious here.
And at the end of the day, if what I have been told is correct, neither named party (I consider AH to be a single entity, even if they aren't) comes even close to being at fault, as there were contracts, e-mails, and warnings of dire consequences that were ignored or discounted. We're in the CYA business, and the named parties were good at it.

My question is more hypothetical than specific to this case.

I am not privy to the info that others have, and I don't know any of the parties involved in this case, but if a more experienced professional (Sotis or the boat captain, etc) warned Stewart of dire consequences and then the professional went ahead with the dives anyway, aren't they even more at fault because they participated in/took money or film credits, for an activity that they knew was unwise and warned their client/student not to do? Is having a client/student sign a waiver enough to relieve a professional of responsibility when engaging in an activity the professional deems dangerous?

Some captains run a tight ship, and keep their clients on a short leash based on their skills, to limit the divers' and the captain's liability. Other captains cater to a client base that want more freedom to do as they please. Neither captain should be more responsible for the behavior of their divers. However, if a captain recognizes a dangerous activity and allows that activity to be performed off of their boat then they maybe they are being negligent.

On a different tangent, is the dive boat a taxi to the site or is it a dive support platform? Is it a first response station? Is it a surface support provider?

If the boat has a loose hand rail and a passenger falls then the captain might be responsible.
How can a captain be responsible for what a diver does once the diver exits the boat?
Is the captain supposed to know more than their divers? What if a captain is old school and is only skilled in open circuit diving? How would they even know if their ccr divers are diving safely or not?

A friend of mine owns a few restaurants. They serve at least 1000 people per day and many more on busy weekends. I was surprised at how often they call for a first responder for a customer. Rarely, if ever, does it have anything to do with the restaurant's fault. Some customers will apologize for not watching their blood sugar, etc and others will complain and blame the tater tots.