Maltese soldier dies in diving incident off Mġarr ix-Xini

[BlueTrin]

AFM soldier dies in diving incident off Mġarr ix-Xini

 

[DandyDon]

Those links too often go dead, so here is the story...

A 35-year-old woman died on Saturday after finding herself in trouble while diving, the police said.

Christine Gauci was an Armed Forces of Malta member with a passion for scuba diving. She was underwater at Mġarr ix-Xini on Saturday morning.

The alarm was sounded by a diving companion when she failed to resurface following the dive.

Emergency services as well as Armed Forces officials were called to the site at around 10.30am and Ms Gauci was found and lifted to shore.

Paramedics administered first aid but she was pronounced dead at the scene, a police spokesperson said.

Magistrate Bridget Sultana will lead an inquiry into the case.

 

[DandyDon]

Man found guilty of involuntary homicide of diver in 2020

A man has been found guilty of the involuntary homicide of Christine Gauci, an AFM soldier and diving instructor, who died during a dive at Mgarr ix-Xini, Gozo, in January 2020.

newsbook.com.mt

 

[lermontov]

its a strange scenario - it states she was a diving instructor yet reading the story it seems her actions were more akin to that of a beginner, unless her not wanting to call the dive was a mindset that wasn't acceptable to a military trained person - i dont see why he was convicted of involuntary homicide - seems no one is immune from prosecution regardless of status or qulifications

 

[DandyDon]

i dont see why he was convicted of involuntary homicide

Throws a bad light on buddy diving, doesn't it?

 

[lermontov]

Throws a bad light on buddy diving, doesn't it?

makes me think twice about even diving with a novice never mind taking them on a dive that is remotely demanding

 

[Bob DBF]

makes me think twice about even diving with a novice never mind taking them on a dive that is remotely demanding

I have never talked anyone into diving, if they had any reason not to, so it would have never progressed into that accident.

 

[SlugLife]

Throws a bad light on buddy diving, doesn't it?

When you read the details of the story, presuming true, it sounds like a series of disasters.

My own thought is that if she was an instructor, she should more than had the skills and knowledge to be able to dive solo, or knowing when to call off a dive. Afterall, instructors are effectively solo-diving with about 3 buddy-hazards.

From the 2nd aticle:

compressed air “supplied by an unlicensed operator with questionable maintenance on compressor,” were all factors in the fatal accident.

Were any contaminants found in the air? If yes, you have a case against the supplier, and if no, the supplier deserves ZERO blame.

With regards to Gauci’s dive computer, he noted that “although the diving computer’s setting is not overtly dangerous in itself, its setting at its most aggressive setting speaks to the diver’s general demeanour towards risk taking.”

Nonsense, and irrelevant. It only speaks to what his body can tolerate.

The whole scope of the diving buddy system is for the two divers to be close to each other to assist each other in any untoward event during the dive.

Is the buddy system the law there? Again, this is irrelevant and a misunderstanding. A buddy is a redundancy, a bonus. A buddy isn't intended to be a rescue diver who is baby-sitting the other diver. A dive-buddy isn't an acceptance of a legal or moral obligation. There is no written instruction book I am aware of which describes the entire responsibility of a dive-buddy that they must adhere to on EVERY second of every dive.

In its sentence, court noted that the report specified that Castillo’s claim of being unable to follow Gauci as she ascended because he needed to decompress had been disproven by his decompression computer. “A two-minute deco obligation at five minutes is never an impediment to seek a lost diving buddy,” the report read.

Incorrect. Your first responsibility is always your own safety. A "lost" buddy may have simply swam off or got distracted; it is never a reason to jeopardize your safely just in case they may be on the surface, and may need assistance.

What the prosecutor and article describe that he supposedly should have done, are precisely things I would never do, and have been instructed by more experienced divers to never do.

 

[CoralSeaMan]

SlugMug is right but not looking at the correct facts to understand the legal decision.

A local (and a military person to boot) dies while diving with a foreigner. She said she was tired but this foreigner “pressured” her into going.​

​

The magistrate probably knows little about diving, dive protocols, or equipment. He just thinks that the foreigner should have not done anything to go diving that day with the victim so she would still be alive. The magistrate noted some “contributory” negligence but still found the foreigner responsible. The penalty is a suspended sentence and payment of a large chunk of costs of the proceedings.

I would not expect such heavy handedness in Malta with its large reliance on foreign (especially British) tourism. Still, this is not an unlikely outcome even if probably unfair (if the rest of the defendant’s story is true).

 

[SlugLife]

SlugMug is right but not looking at the correct facts to understand the legal decision.

I'd be curious what facts I'm missing. I responded to the procecutor-statements here, and I also commented on a 2nd article in this post. What the prosecutor is quoted as saying, are theoretically his most damning, important, and fundamental points.

A local (and a military person to boot) dies while diving with a foreigner. She said she was tired but this foreigner “pressured” her into going.

Where is that quoted from? Most of what I've seen, was Castelo signaled to Gauci several times, to see if they needed to end the dive, and she suggested she was ok and to continue. I haven't seen where he supposedly pressured her into going.

Accident Analysis: Christine Gauci Fatality | Malta 2020

- by Andy Davis - Assessing critical learning points to help promote increased dive safety. In January 2020, Christine Gauci, a 35-year old technical diver tragically perished in a scuba diving accident in Malta.

scubatechphilippines.com