Lesley Clark inquest in UK

[munitor]

I didn't find any posts about the death of Lesley Clark in the UK here on SB and thought the incident would provide some re-emphasis of well understood safeguards in scuba.

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle published an article with the coroner's findings:
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/chroniclelive/eveningchronicle/tm_headline=sea-overwhelmed-diver-on-crossing&method=full&objectid=18769161&siteid=50081-name_page.html

You really need to read the article to see how many things were done wrong - or more accurately, weren't done at all.

 

[ScubaTexan]

That's a very sad story. They are called safety checks for a reason. :shakehead

 

[Gombessa]

Do they know what exactly happened? Did her BC fail to inflate, did the tank's valve knob fail, or something else? The article said her BC was in a poor state of repair, but that doesn't seem to imply that it had failed.

If anything it sounds like her air wasn't on, and she couldn't inflate the BC or ditch her weights in time.

 

[String]

Having read elsewhere with a bit more detail it appears she didn't have air in the BC, slipped, struggled to remain buoyancy. Buddy couldn't turn tank valve on (possibly jammed).

The speculation part, maybe they didn't do a full SEEDs brief or buddy check as they weren't then starting the dive, they were trying to cross a causeway to another piece of land and dive from there. They may have decided to do the checks there prior to diving. Not a bright thing to do but very possible and ive seen it before.

 

[DandyDon]

Excerpting....

PC Michael Catlin, of the police marine unit, said checks on Lesley's diving equipment showed it was old and her buoyancy control device was in a poor state of repair.

Diving with insufficiently maintain equipment is a major risk, the BC being #2 in most often mentioned gear failures leading to accident or death.

He said: "There was not one specific factor that led to her death. There are several contributory factors."

Kinda goes with poor gear care - just an overall casual approach precipitating several problems, poor preparation for others than happened. Unfortunate, as mostly preventable.

Sounds like 2 of the group were newbies, trusting the others for leadership & guidance?

 

[String]

Lots of people use kit here that on the surface looks in poor condition. Buddy commando BCDs are probably used by 75%+ of all uk divers. Indestructible, most about 10 years old or more but work fine.

Go to any club and chances are you'd see people using kit that looks highly dangerous. Whether it actually is or not is another matter.

There is no evidence here that the equipment caused the accident.

http://www.**********/news/safety/s070323.html has some more info but written in their typical tabloid style.

She was an instructor but wasn't instructing at the time.

Edit:- Why has the board censored the url?
Its C D N N dot I N F O

 

[DandyDon]

Ok, I guess I put too much faith in a published report

Edit:- Why has the board censored the url?
Its C D N N dot I N F O

I think that site has a reputation for being biased, less than trustworthy.

 

[String]

Its "ok" provided you cross reference it with elsewhere. I know from elsewhere whats in it is correct this time regarding qualification etc.

As for the causes, thats for the coroner to state not the police. Until that's done all comments by various groups involved are null and void.

 

[Charlie99]

The stories are all pretty consistent. They attempted a crossing of the causeway while it was partially submerged, got washed off, and involuntarily started their dive early, before doing pre-dive checks, and before turning on their air.

It doesn't appear that the condition of the BCD has anything to do with it. Underestimating the danger of the crossing, and underestimating the power of moving water, even if shallow, seem to be the crux of the incident.

Pic of the causeway at low tide:

 

[Gombessa]

It doesn't appear that the condition of the BCD has anything to do with it. Underestimating the danger of the crossing, and underestimating the power of moving water, even if shallow, seem to be the crux of the incident.

Ah, that pic clears a lot of things up. If it was already submerged as they were walking to it, I wonder where they were thinking about actually doing the buddy checks.

So, it sounds like "proper gear maintenance" and "safety checks" in this context may very well have as much to do with just being prepared before you hit the water rather than explicitly malfunctioning equipment.

Are there any drawbacks to performing an equipment/buddy check right as you don your gear (or at least before you approach the water and begin the risk of potentially falling over)? Seems like that would be one of the important lessons here.