Instructor sentenced after diver's death
- Thread starter European
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
This couple agreed to a "trust me" dive when they didn't question any of the poor advice that contibuted to the outcome.
Problem being, this advice was coming from industry professionals who should have been seen as the local experts.
Why not take the advice? They were probably certified by a very similar operation.
Also I see the lack of experience being enough reason for a checkout dive for proper weighting and to SAFELY assess their skills...
I'm guessing these divers thought they were being responsible and professionally cared for by a reputable company.
Incredibly sad and avoidable....
Problem being, this advice was coming from industry professionals who should have been seen as the local experts.
Why not take the advice? They were probably certified by a very similar operation.
Also I see the lack of experience being enough reason for a checkout dive for proper weighting and to SAFELY assess their skills...
I'm guessing these divers thought they were being responsible and professionally cared for by a reputable company.
Incredibly sad and avoidable....
Wookie
Proud to be a Chaos Muppet
Staff member
ScubaBoard Business Sponsor
ScubaBoard Supporter
Scuba Instructor
If I give you a dive briefing and describe the easiest way to get on the boat, and you choose to do it some other way, one of us will learn something. Having gotten on the boat many thousands of times, I feel I'm pretty smart about that.
If you hire me to guide your dive, and I exceed your comfort levels, it's on you to call the dive, but as stated, they called the dive too late, and once the instructor took over managing buoyancy, the responsibility goes to all him.
A situation like this is one reason I don't bother to renew my professional certifications. When it becomes my legal responsibility to make sure that someone else comes back alive, I just have no desire to put myself in that situation.
That in no way means I would not rescue a diver, or try and intervene in an unsafe situation, but it's just not a situation I want to be legally required to place myself in.
That in no way means I would not rescue a diver, or try and intervene in an unsafe situation, but it's just not a situation I want to be legally required to place myself in.
Dan
Contributor
The lesson I learn from this incident is to not interfere with a panic diver if it’ll jeopardizing myself from the rapid ascent. This is not easy to do as the first instinct is to catch up with them (i.e., ascending at faster rate than them) & to try to slow them down before passing the safety stop.
I had a dive buddy told me about one of his dive buddies did similar rapid ascent for unknown reason, he tried to grab his dive buddy’s fins at depth & missed. His dive buddy survived the ordeal with a view blown alveoli and no longer diving.
I had a dive buddy told me about one of his dive buddies did similar rapid ascent for unknown reason, he tried to grab his dive buddy’s fins at depth & missed. His dive buddy survived the ordeal with a view blown alveoli and no longer diving.
This would be clear cut in the U.K.
The couple paid to go diving with a guide. It would fall under the Diving at Work Regulations. Not only would the guide be investigated, but the shop as well (being the contractor). A written risk assessment, plus a standby rescue diver are requirements.
The couple paid to go diving with a guide. It would fall under the Diving at Work Regulations. Not only would the guide be investigated, but the shop as well (being the contractor). A written risk assessment, plus a standby rescue diver are requirements.
OP
@boulderjohn
I wrote "The Instructor had guided an Austrian couple ...". From my point of view it was clear that the dive wasn't part of a lesson but never the less a professional service.
I am aware of much of your reflections but the question of individualized sentencing is broadly different in each jurisdiction and even more in several contemporary legal systems. The same applies to the criterion of negligence and the figure of the guarantor position.
It was not my intention to have a discussion on that specific sentencing but on the incident itself and its consequences in general.
I wrote "The Instructor had guided an Austrian couple ...". From my point of view it was clear that the dive wasn't part of a lesson but never the less a professional service.
I am aware of much of your reflections but the question of individualized sentencing is broadly different in each jurisdiction and even more in several contemporary legal systems. The same applies to the criterion of negligence and the figure of the guarantor position.
It was not my intention to have a discussion on that specific sentencing but on the incident itself and its consequences in general.
Last edited:
OP
@Wookie
This was a criminal procedure and the fine is a sentence. It has nothing to do with damages in this respective jurisdiction.
In case the woman would sue the dive shop or the instructor (subcontractor) the legal system for claims for damages or compensation would be badly different in the US compared to Europe (especially when influenced by the Roman law).
This was a criminal procedure and the fine is a sentence. It has nothing to do with damages in this respective jurisdiction.
In case the woman would sue the dive shop or the instructor (subcontractor) the legal system for claims for damages or compensation would be badly different in the US compared to Europe (especially when influenced by the Roman law).
