Girl dead, boy injured - Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park

[Jim Lapenta]

I went to a DUI rally; my experience was...interesting.

I and a bunch of n00bs (about eight of us all told, including Dad, Mom, 20-ish daughter, and daughter's boyfriend) were sent to a dock, where we stood in the shallows and waited for an instructor to arrive.

The instructor didn't come and didn't come and didn't come, so I got bored and switched into lecture mode. I told the others how the drysuit worked, gave them tips on how to inflate and deflate and maintain buoyancy, instructed them how to route and connect their hoses, and so on.

Finally, the instructor arrived. "Hey, welcome, add air here, let it out here, let's go dive." Splash. The group got waaaaay more out of me than they did the official leader.

So we proceed to dive. Mom couldn't control her buoyancy at all. For about five minutes, she's up, down, up and then rockets downdowndown to 60'. We all go after her. The instructor catches Mom and gets her sorted out...and then does a headcount. We're short one. Daughter is missing.

The viz is crap that day. Ohhh boy...

We beeline for the surface. Daughter is sitting at waterside, out of her drysuit. She got a suit squeeze and bailed about two minutes in, but nobody had noticed.

So yeah...it was interesting.

I was asked a couple years ago to evaluate a case with the possibility of being called as an expert witness. I declined because I felt there were people more qualified than I was even though I'd just authored the SDI drysuit course. And I wasn't made aware when the case materials were sent that there were autopsy photos in the packet.
For reasons I won't go into, that wasn't cool.
The case involved a drysuit try dive where a DM took divers out. Short version is one drowned. It wasn't long after that a number of drysuit try dive days stopped for a while. I'm sure the case settled as I never heard anything else. And with what I had going on in my life at the time, I didn't follow up checking to see.

 

[hilljo88]

I assisted on a DUI dry-suit demo day many years ago at Dutch Springs. Seemed pretty well organized. Short but adequate briefing, DMs and instructors helped with gearing up and entering the quarry. More DMs in the water and on the platform. Other than a few feet first ascents, no issues. Of course, everyone had an inflator hose attached. IMO biggest risk was in driving to and from Dutch!

 

[reddeaddiver]

Glacier diving death lawsuit settled

A lawsuit alleging negligence on the part of local diving business and a national diving association has been settled. But one of the attorneys is pushing for the federal investigation to be reopened.

missoulacurrent.com

 

[NCBusguy]

After reading the article, it is apparent to me that money is the answer to all problems...never mind that a person, through gross negligence, has died because of ineptitude.

 

[DandyDon]

After reading the article, it is apparent to me that money is the answer to all problems

Well, in civil cases it's the only punishment, but one lawyer is reaching for more.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Well, in civil cases it's the only punishment, but one lawyer is reaching for more.

It’s not just ‘one of the lawyers’, it’s David Colcannon. This could get interesting.

EDIT: David Concannon is the proper spelling.

 

[Wookie]

It’s not just ‘one of the lawyers’, it’s David Colcannon. This could get interesting.

I saw on Lisa Mills page (the mom) that they are working hard to get the federal case re-opened.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I saw on Lisa Mills page (the mom) that they are working hard to get the federal case re-opened.

Colcannon is quoted extensively in the article linked above regarding his push for exactly that.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Reminds me a bit of the nonfiction book and fictionalized movie "A Civil Action." Basically, once the lawsuit was done, the records went to the EPA who brought a bigger hammer down in terms of a criminal indictment (and guilty plea).

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I think we all need to step back and remember that a family lost their daughter whose last moments must have been absolute terror as she sunk deeper and deeper.

I do not think it is unreasonable to assume that this legal case has taken a huge emotional toll on the Mills family. The Gentry family were also traumatized for having to witness this young woman's death.

I don't think this case was ever about money. I do believe the family wanted PADI standards to change to provide a higher level of safety. In what I have read about the change in standards, had those changes been in place (and followed), Linnea would be alive today. We will never know if these changes results in a saved life.

I only hope that further measures are put in place, but I am not optimistic.