Lost diver off Jupiter-What really happened?

[jtowndiver]

Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion, but I hope it might increase local dive safety

Think about this:

-Usually a ripping current this time of year that far out (Hole in the wall)
-Diver began ascent w/o buddy - indicating he was getting low on air - per report (Dive master watched him ascend...??)
-Experienced diver - you would think would ascend with buddy if air critical
-If not air critical, should have made it up on normal ascent, or made it up via an emergency ascent if half way up when/if realized air critical (yes, could have drowned on ascent)
-Dive boat may not have been expecting diver to come up yet (or in that area)
-Diver probably drifted quite far north on his ascent given the strong current, would have drifted further north at a faster rate (current is swifter on top) if not picked up quickly
-Single diver (unknown if he had a signal - not apparently required on the Republic) is harder to see

I hope I'm wrong here, but there is certainly a possibility that the diver did ascend safely and was not spotted. This is a risk that can be better handled by the local dive operators...

Has the Republic ever struggled to find its divers?

I've been on my buddy's boat on two separate occasions when we stayed next to divers that had ascended and were very separated from the commercial boat...we waited for them to be finally spotted.

I've served my pupose if this makes one diver or operater act in a safer manner....

 

[tanker]

Jupiter dive center took a dive group out (for pay) the immeditae day after they lost that diver. Out of respect they shold have closed the shop down...bad Karma

 

[jtowndiver]

CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK ARTICLE Excerpt:

At 'Hole in the Wall', the divers descended to a depth of about 40 meters (130 feet) on the first of three scheduled dives.* About 20 minutes into the dive they started to ascend but the retired police officer never made it to the surface or the dive boat operator did not see him due to strong currents in the area.

At the time of the dive, the current was 2 to 3 knots at depth and 4 to 5 knots at the surface.

 

[jviehe]

Here is the story from CDNN - http://www.cdnn.info/news/safety/s050617a.html

Seems the guy was Adv Nitrox certified. Which means he knows how to shoot a SMB if drifting away. I think its probable that the guy had a medical problem at depth and never made it to the surface. This sounds like they were doing tech dives.

 

[Talon]

Tanker - I don't see why they should have shut down on Saturday. Heck, I did the Saturday morning, afternoon, and night dive with them that next day. I didn't find out tell later in the day what had happened. The shop did seem somber all day, but they still had a business to run and acted very professional.

And Randy was not out goofing off either. He was right back out there the next day searching for the diver on a private boat.

I understand where you are coming from, just don't agree with it personally. It reminded me of a news story I just saw a few days ago. There was a shooting at a Checkers in Orlando around midnight. The store opened up for business the next morning. There was a news crew interviewing people about the incident and one lady spoke up and said she thought it was distasteful that the Checkers had opened back up so quickly. Of course, guess where she had just had lunch!

 

[Orlando Eric]

I am not going to get my big pointy stick and start laying blame due to the fact that I do not enough information to do that.

With the information given I would aggree that this sounds like a accident that may very well have a medical emeergency at depth.

I will stand up on the soap box and say again that 'Diving is SERIOUS buisness.. this is not soccer after school and bring your folding chair.. This can kill you."

This last accident was a retired cop so I am assuming that he is familar with using gear and remembering to bring stuff... otherwise you do not become a "retired" cop. He was a advanced Nitrox diver so I assume that he knew what he was doing in the water.

For everyone with a new advanced card--- be careful do not jump into the hole in the wall without putting some miles on that card. Dive some 100' wrecks in pompano first.

For the COP and his family.. Rest in Peace, Brother.

 

[deepstops]

Condolences to the family and his friends.

There are some reports where Randy was stated as saying "he saw the diver surfacing" and others that quoted as saying "he saw the diver on the surface". There's a big difference there. Probably not Randy's fault (non-diving reporters).

If he actually did make it to the surface, that's the second diver that went back under in the last couple of months (the doctor on the Speigel Grove last month from Palm Bay).

 

[clone1008]

Here's the latest info I've read. Sounds as if they have called off the search:

http://www.cdnn.info/news/safety/s050624a.html

 

[Flea Dog]

I have done many dives with JDC. I feel safer diving with Randy than any other outfit. I have been on The-Hole-in-the-Wall twice with him. First time I signaled I was low on air when arriving at the hole. He immediately assigned a diver to ascend with me. The second time I went through the hole and ascended with Randy.

Randy has a unique way of dealing with other divers. He does not show them a huge ego or talk down to them, but rather is very watchful of EVERYTHING that goes on both on the boat and under the water. Randy seems to have a sixth sense about other divers. I have never felt as safe diving anyone else.

Capt. Mike is about as eagle eyed as anyone I have seen. He follows the bubbles and is often right there when you surface on the drift dive. Once, Mike spotted me about a quarter mile away, in 6 foot seas, within a couple of minutes of surfacing. When I lost my grip on my camera at 65 feet on a night dive and it shot to the surface; I figured it was gone. Someone off the coast of England will enjoy it in a few months. After surfacing and boarding the boat I mentioned to Mike I lost my camera, I said, “my tough luck”. Mike said maybe not. After a few minutes he asked if there was a small orange light on it? I said yes!! He spotted it! A tiny “strobe ready light” bobbing in the middle of the ocean! He pulled the boat up and I picked it up. I was in stunned. These guys are amazing.

One last note, one Hole-in-the-Wall dive some divers sent up a lift bag with a fish, spear gun and DPV. When Mike picked up the lift bag, only the fish was on. My thought was, ‘they’ll never find it’. Well, Mike set the boat up, myself and two other divers entered the water and drifted at 70 feet, (vis was 140+). Damned if we didn’t spot spear gun and DPV and retrieve it. Mike put on the EXACT line.

This outfit is the real thing! I would never hesitate to dive with them or dive the “hole” again.

http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=3048

This link will give the personal report from one of Frank Langon’s friends on the trip.

This is a tragic accident. I hope some day we can find out what really happened, so things such as this can be prevented.

My heart felt condolences to the friends and family of Frank Langon and also to the Jupiter Dive Shop “family” that are truly saddened by this event.

 

[RonFrank]

Who was involved in some of the searches (for the body at depth) so after the fact.

I will not name this individual, as I'm sure he is not expecting me to report on this.

He indicated that they (the LDS) belives that he never surfaced. Obviously, dispite some reports, the boat captain never saw this diver surface. They were looking at depth.

In any event, sorry to hear about this tragic loss, and best wishes to the family.