Kansas man dies diving Bonne Terre

[TSandM]

I think DAA's second paragraph answered the question. To me, having a cave cert in a situation like that would simply make it more likely that the guide would remain calm and competent, no matter what the situation required of him. It would also suggest a higher level of situational awareness (something that is, in my experience, STRONGLY stressed in advanced cave training). And at least my cave training involved rescue scenarios, as well.

 

[Athilas]

1. As a Canadian diver, I always dive in cold water. When I got certified in March 2009, the water temp was 34 F.
When I dove in Bonne Terre, I used a 5-4-3 wetsuit, while everyone else had either a 2-piece 7mm or a drysuit. I also had a Bare shirt on under my suit. I only got a bit cold at the end of my second of 3 dives, but nothing like diving home in Canada in the winter.

2. When I did my dives there, we were told to have a buddy and I had a nice guy from out west as my buddy.

3. My buddy's buoyancy was way off as the staff gave him 5lbs weights, but they told him they were 3 lbs. Our group had approximately 14 divers. The lead diver was very good as were the 2 rescue divers we had. The only problem was that there were too many divers who were inexperienced and did not know how much weight they needed. As I looked for my buddy during our first dive, I saw that he was getting pretty far down from me. I also noticed that the 2 rescue divers were assisting 2 other divers who were overweighted. I had to go and assist my buddy myself (as one always should when safe to do so). We were told that this particular dive was not going to be deeper than 40'. Well, after we finished the dive, I instructed my buddy to drop 2 of his weights (10lbs) off of his belt, and he still had to drop another after the second dive. By the way, my dive computer registered a max depth of 60' by the time I got to him as he kept sinking. We surfaced and I asked him if all was fine. He thanked me after.

4. One of the divers was inexperienced (found out after that he just got certified the weekend before) and used an underwater camera on his second dive. During that dive, I saw him coming down like a bat out of he'll as he crashed onto another diver and I had to pull him off of the other diver. Less than 5 minutes later I had to stop him from doing the same thing to me as he was free falling once again. When we exited, I asked him what he was doing and he told me that he kept going up and down. That is when I found out his inexperience. I strongly suggested to him that he should leave the camera home until he got more experience and got his buoyancy under control. I also explained that he could have seriously hurt someone that day.

Dive safe, Dive often, and Get Wet as much as you can

Diving is life, everything else is just a surface interval.

Steph

 

[nefiii]

I met and dove with William before. He was a good guy, great sense of humor. I pray for his family.

 

[RonFrank]

I do not think we will learn more than that William was a competent diver who had a medical issue unrelated to diving while UW. Sorry for the loss.

K, back to the OT discussion...

 

[mauiscubavideo]

Diver opinion about the mine dives*

I had been certified in Maui which has 77 degree water year round... I have had 50 dives, most of them being shore dives and a few deep boat dives...

I am a certified Padi Advanced open water diver with one year under my belt... With that said I will comment on the BT mine dive experience I had recently and what my opinion is about the experience...

Showing up for the Halloween dive the night before I was to submerge into the mines... I got to the mines in morning well rested... Then we met in a room to talk about the pumpkin carving portion of the dive and then we proceeded outside to clean out the insides of our pumpkins so that we didn't get the mines water murky...

I had brought some of my own equipment (BCD,REGS,MASK,COMPUTER,LIGHT) and rented some (wetsuit,weights,fins) initially.. that is the key here initially...

The day I was there I found out that the dive shop had a employ restructuring and that the person who rented me the gear did not know all the mines dive staff...

Big Deal? well it is when you have never been to the mines and the only briefing you get is "here is your wetsuit"

My opinion is that they should have some check up top to make sure each diver has the required equipment to make the mine dives.. They had no such safety check up top... Now having said that... I was told that because I was on the pumpkin carving dive that we didn't follow normal orientation.. Hmmm... maybe that is the case but let me just elaborate to make my own experience clear...

SO... after cleaning out the pumkin.. with my group... my group leader asked us to grab our gear and follow him... not knowing what we where going to do.. I have been there 10 minutes.. and I had.. 1. carved out seeds of pumkin 2. met with my group 3. rented a wet suit etc..

I had no idea I was going from this spot into the mines... Nobody said we are going into the mines..nothing.. they just kept saying you will get a chance to set up your gear in a minute just stay with your group... okay...

So... after taking all my gear on a journey into a unknown shed 15 feet from where I just rented the wetsuit I figured I would be given a chance to work out the kinks in my gear..i.e. test it out... well turns out we where not going into a building to test our gear we where headed into the mines.. Okay

So... After lugging all my gear into mines ....say 3/4 of a mile .....I am finally am able to have a place with a tank to test out my gear... I don't know about your dive habits but most people I know don't travel with a tank or weights.. so I was eager to get dialed in and see if everything was fine after my flight from Maui to St. Louis... OKAY

So...Turns out I had a seal bust in my back up second stage... which is a zeagle octo plus z.. if you are not familiar it is a integrated low pressure inflator secondary reg that goes over shoulder.. Okay

So... now I am 3/4 a mile down in the mine and I tell the group leader that my secondary isn't purging... he looks at me and says, " you won't be able to dive" Hmmm.

It sets in that I have just flown half way around the world... drove 5 hours from my mothers with my brother and sister yelling in the car just to have a simple malfunction end my fun... I did what any normal diver would do... I asked to rent a back up... Then the group leader told me that I should have checked my gear up top to make sure it was working before coming down in the mine and now it was to late.. okay

So... ten minutes ago when I asked the group leader up top when we would be able to test our equipment I was given the answer... just stay with your group and we would get to that... hmmm... okay

So.. needless to say i was upset... I explained that this was my first time here...yatta yatta....

Being a US Marine I am fully aware of ones obligation to maintain ones own gear... but in this situation I felt that there was no reasoning with the mines newly hired staff...
They spent more time point out to me the cardinal rule of keeping your gear up to date than helping me negotiate a solution to my problem..

So...my opinion...the staff at the mines had the classic over confident syndrome.... weekenders amazing each other with their newest gear...whatever...

IF I WAS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHECK MY GEAR UP TOP I WOULD HAVE SPEARHEADED THE PROBLEM RIGHT AWAY AND RENTED SOME GEAR... HAPPILY.... NO QUESTIONS ASKED... I THINK THAT THE PUMPKIN CARVING GOT IN THE WAY OF WHAT REALLY NEEDED TO BE DONE FIRST.. ADDRESSING MY QUESTIONS OF TESTING GEAR UP TOP... NOT PUTTING IT OFF TILL WE GOT INTO THE MINE WHERE THE GROUP LEADER HAD ALL HIS GEAR SET UP AND TESTED IN PLENTY OF ADVANCE... SURE HE HAD THE LUXURY OF HAVING A KEY TO THE MINE TO ORGANIZE HIMSELF BEFORE THE DIVE BUT CARED LITTLE ABOUT OUR SITUATIONS... OKAY

A word of advice...
1. Have shop attendant be familiar with the dive staff.
2. Have a person in charge of explaining the procedure of the day.
3. Help travelers do a check to ensure their well being and promote good safety habits.
4. Have compassion for those who are new to the mines..
- even though the leader has 1500 dives in the cavern doesn't mean he has to have a big head about it...
5. Don't mention getting a tip everytime you open your mouth....
6. Explain the dive....each time...for each trail..... even though it might seem overstated...
7. most of all !!!!! Don't create a bubble of instuctors who have gathered for their weekend funtime... the instructors should be giving attention to the new divers....

SO... I had one bad experience... and I take it is a lesson learned... just as you have to carry out your own dive plan when you are certified... yes... I fully except it... but If you are running a business in such a remote location it would be nice to have it set up so that people can have some accommodations...after all divers are in my opinion are a group of friendly people who get together to do more than go 30 ft under.. it is about the friends you make and the experiences you share...

I am happy to say that I did get to go on the next dive before I left and had a great experience... my buddy did panic in one of the closed overhead areas and the leader had to shove the reg back into his mouth and hold him steady..I was proud of myself for remaining calm and staying in close proximity so that my leader had dibbs on me the entire time...

After talking to the instructors more they seemed to agree that somewhere in the beginning the ball was dropped and a step was missed in my orientation.. I am glad I have people skills and could talk this out with the mines crew... I will return for many more dives and enjoy the great dancing lights that caverns offer....

IF you go... MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT UP TOP.... OR ELSE.....

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I had been certified in Maui which has 77 degree water year round...

For one with such a member name, you type surprisingly ignorantly about Maui.

 

[mathauck0814]

Since when is Maui->STL half way around the world?

 

[bl6394]

I do not think we will learn more than that William was a competent diver who had a medical issue unrelated to diving while UW. Sorry for the loss.

K, back to the OT discussion...

Looks like it was a diving injury. Autopsy report indicates that the diver died of an air embolism (AGE). Link:

Bill Patton of Wichita KS Died at the Bonne Terre Mine in Missouri

The investigation is still ongoing.

Cheers,

Bjorn

 

[Ayisha]

Thank you. Perhaps Ken Kurtis can fill us in further when they determine the circumstances leading up to the embolism and the state of the tank?

 

[RonFrank]

Looks like it was a diving injury. Autopsy report indicates that the diver died of an air embolism (AGE). Link:

Bill Patton of Wichita KS Died at the Bonne Terre Mine in Missouri

The investigation is still ongoing.

Cheers,

Bjorn

This is tragic. Why would an experienced diver hold his breath UW ascending? Maybe he wasn't as experienced as the news would have us believe? Maybe he had a tank/out of air issue and then held his breath? Maybe he had a bad chest cold? We may never find out...