Miami Beach charter leaves divers in open waters off Key Biscayne

[lionfish-eater]

I they "always" check role how did the divers get left at sea?

 

[K9evans]

When is this going to stop?? I would most likely be in jail for giving the captain a beat down after he said "nobody's hurt,everyones fine and everyone's happy". I'm pretty sure that the two guys left out there aren't happy.. Rediculous!

 

[DennisS]

When is this going to stop?? I would most likely be in jail for giving the captain a beat down after he said "nobody's hurt,everyones fine and everyone's happy". I'm pretty sure that the two guys left out there aren't happy.. Rediculous!

I had to read it twice when I first read that, it was one of the divers saying that

Kline did not return telephone calls from D’Oench but he did tell CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald that, “Everybody is OK, no one is hurt. Everybody is happy.”

 

[japan-diver]

I have been running boats for 18 years and there is never an excuse for this. A roll call is simple and there is no reason to miss two names. Our normal run maxes out at 15 divers or 20 snorkelers but we always do a face to face roll call. If I do not see your face you are not here yet. In the head - we wait unit you are done to check you as back on board, napping you have to wake up and answer. All roll calls are also verified by the chief DM on the boat for the day also so you are answering to at least two people- simple takes no more than 2-3 minutes and we get everyone home.

 

[DandyDon]

When is this going to stop?? I would most likely be in jail for giving the captain a beat down after he said "nobody's hurt,everyones fine and everyone's happy". I'm pretty sure that the two guys left out there aren't happy.. Rediculous!

I think the first "news" story said that, which set me off too - but the recent update story applied that to the Texas diver.

I had to read it twice when I first read that, it was one of the divers saying that

Kline did not return telephone calls from D’Oench but he did tell CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald that, “Everybody is OK, no one is hurt. Everybody is happy.”

 

[emoreira]

I notice that Mike is standing on the back on the boat with role in hand. They ALWAYS check role. I trust them with my life any day on the water. Will be back soon to dive with them again.

In all the 4 dives I did with them, when I surfaced and climbed the boat, Capt. Beach was there asking me how was all.
It's crazy that something like this happened to him. So sorry.

 

[weitodive]

On guam,we had number clips and also asked for max depth, time And ending psi and also did a head count. Not sure why it doesn't happen here in Florida but the extra 10 mins it takes to do it is worth making sure every diver is on.

 

[Maynerd]

Is the DAN tagging system something like a "lockout tagout" setup? If so it seems like a simple effective way to know that everyone is on board. I do mill work and always use a lockout tagout system. On a side not a coworker of mine forgot to remove his lock from the box and was called back to the plant in the middle of the night to remove it.

Put a sticker with each persons name on the lock so you know who didn't take the lock off if it's left on after the dive. It doesn't seem any harder than breaking up a couple of people snogging or checking the head to ensure everyone is on the boat.

I guess I do lockout tagouts so often that they are second nature and it sure seems like would work equally well on a dive boat.

Lockout-tagout - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Rick Murchison]

Leaving divers behind is like landing with the wheels up. If the emergency hasn't been declared before touchdown/leaving the dive site, it's your last flight/voyage as captain. There are no excuses. At least that's the way I see it as a professional aviator.
In the dive boat industry captains have generally been suspended for a short time. In commercial aviation it's a "death sentence." If it were the same way with dive boats, captains would find ways to make that one-to-one roll call. Every time.
Now if somebody jumps overboard after answering the roll... well, that would be an acceptable exception... but that's about the only one.
Rick

 

[AfterDark]

The max depth, bottom time and ending psi is overkill and I would avoid charters that went that far, but there should be roll calls off a check list before and after every dive, if not AD ain't divin'.