Scuabamau diving accident

[cvchief]

I don't want to come off like a heartless bastard, but somebody has to say it: "There's no way this dive could ever have gone so badly for so many people if it wasn't planned and executed as a bad dive from the start." There is not a down-welling in the world that will take three experienced divers from recreational depths to 400' with no chance of escape, and implying that the victims were overtaken by some random, invisible, unavoidable, overwhelming force does SCUBA diving a huge disservice.

This is a sad outcome, but unfortunately not a complete surprise.

flots.

I never said they planned to only go to recreational depths. I honestly don't know, but I'm sure they didn't plan a dive to 300 or even 400 feet. I unsderstand that people are concerned for the sport because new divers or those thinking about it might read this thread and decide not to because of fear that they'll be doing nothing wrong when they're suddenly swept into the abyss. But like I've said, this is a discussion for another thread at another time.

Right now let's focus on our friends in their time of need.

I think you can zip over to the accidents thread that is already underway and be a heartless B#$%stard as much as you want. Sort of guess that's what that thread is for.....

 

[1KWIK_69]

I think you can zip over to the accidents thread that is already underway and be a heartless B#$%stard as much as you want. Sort of guess that's what that thread is for.....

Thank you. Sounds like that's the place for those that don't know them, or wish to convey their best wishes should be anyway.

Any news on Opal?

 

[DandyDon]

I never said they planned to only go to recreational depths. I honestly don't know, but I'm sure they didn't plan a dive to 300 or even 400 feet.

I didn't think so early in this thread either, but it came out here when Gabi posted and in the A&I thread when a local source posted that they did plan it to 300 or so.

The initial rumor was that a down current caused the accident but that seems to be incorrect.

I think you can zip over to the accidents thread that is already underway and be a heartless B#$%stard as much as you want. Sort of guess that's what that thread is for.....

I don't know why you think that, chief? The A&I threads is to discuss what went bad and how to prevent such, but then the how & why keeps creeping back in here.

Thank you. Sounds like that's the place for those that know them, or wish to convey their best wishes should be anyway.

Any news on Opal?

No A&I threads are not for that; see A&I special rules. Warm wishes belong on this thread I think; accident discussion on the A&I thread.

Last I saw on the Facebook Rally page, Heath, some of her family, and her childhood friend from Alaska are visiting often and she is in good spirits - but hers is a spirit hard to break I think. She's still on a ventilator, communicating with eye blinks, but somehow is in a hospital with chambers that cannot accommodate someone on a ventilator - how ever that happened? They are trying to get her moved to one that can.

 

[1KWIK_69]

I didn't think so early in this thread either, but it came out here when Gabi posted and in the A&I thread when a local source posted that they did plan it to 300 or so.

The initial rumor was that a down current caused the accident but that seems to be incorrect.


I don't know why you think that, chief? The A&I threads is to discuss what went bad and how to prevent such, but then the how & why keeps creeping back in here.

No A&I threads are not for that; see A&I special rules. Warm wishes belong on this thread I think; accident discussion on the A&I thread.

Last I saw on the Facebook Rally page, Heath, some of her family, and her childhood friend from Alaska are visiting often and she is in good spirits - but hers is a spirit hard to break I think. She's still on a ventilator, communicating with eye blinks, but somehow is in a hospital with chambers that cannot accommodate someone on a ventilator - how ever that happened? They are trying to get her moved to one that can.

Thanks Don. I actually meant to say people that don't know them or don't want to convey good wishes for them should go to the other thread. I edited my post.

So nothing has changed for Opal other than they're trying to move her to a facility that can have a ventilator in the hyperbaric chamber.

How about Gabi? I keep hoping to hear that he's starting to get some feeling back with continued chamber rides. I plan to make a couple more contributions come payday.

 

[Mark Derail]

The way I read it, Opal went into narcosis while going down, and kept on going.
Gabi reacted quickly to go after her.

In retrospect, a "bounce" should have been off the physical bottom - so you can't possibly go any deeper than the planned depth, and someone should have had a wing with 2 tanks.

My opinion is that the other divers had bounced before and felt that it wasn't dangerous, because of their experience and training. Now they, and hundreds of other divers here know better.

It's like an airline crash, the NTSB [Edit: posted TSA in error] does an investigation, and improves the safety. Here, we have a bounce that could have had lowered risks.

[Edit: to reduce ambiguity - gather facts, gather expert analysis - improve guidelines for a deep bounce dive]
[NTSB investigates a crash to reduce errors and improve safety. IMO, this story is the diver's equivalent of a crash.]
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Live and learn. Opal and Gabi have paid a huge price for knowledge we all can share in.

I've donated money for both; IMO that is the best that I can do that is a positive gesture.

Dive safe, dive often.

 

[DandyDon]

It's like an airline crash, the TSA does an investigation...

Were you trying to be funny? :silly:

 

[Mark Derail]

Were you trying to be funny? :silly:

No, quite serious. People should refrain from criticism until all the facts are in, and learn from these facts, so everyone is safer. This board, with the accidents thread, is doing similar to what the NTSB [Edit: posted TSA in error] does - get the facts out, and crowdsource the analysis through the board.

I like how you've defended this policy so far, Don. Sorry if my post was too ambiguous.

I fully expect a "sticky" in a closed thread, in the near future, that even PADI themselves could refer to. Just the facts, expert analysis, and guideline reference for doing such dives safely in the future.

 

[Ron Lee]

This board, with the accidents thread, is doing similar to what the TSA does - get the facts out, and crowdsource the analysis through the board.

In the USA, the NTSB investigates aircraft accidents. TSA is an apparent transportation security organization.

 

[Cave Diver]

Reminder - We are trying to allow as much leeway as possible regarding this incident by providing some separation of the different discussions. If the threads start to get too far off track from their intended purpose the discussion is likely to get moved.

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Attention please...

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In an attempt to keep the various threads regarding the incident in Cozumel on track, several comments have been removed and several more have been moved to a different thread.

For updates on the condition of the divers and their current healthcare situation: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/395631-urgent-update-scubamau.html

For well wishes and things of a more personal nature, please place your comments in the http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/395192-scuabamau-diving-accident.html thread.

For discussion about the accident itself, lessons learned and comments of that type, please place your comments in the http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/395698-cozumel-incident-9-4-11-a.html thread.

As always, please keep your comments within the ToS and be aware of any special rules for the forum you are posting in.

 

[Brules]

Any status updates on any of the 3?

And for those getting ruffled feathers - the correct info needs to be out there instead of false information (down welling). People need to know this was not an accident, but more of incidents with tragic consequences. :depressed: