So could this really happen?

[adza]

I watched with a group of people during a liveaboard. It was great the next morning, nervous on the back deck....

- now that's a classic. They should have followed it up with Jaws or Deep blue sea.

Many bad movies would have been improved tremendously if the producers had only had the good sense to consult with me on the plot from the beginning.

Yup. My father too. (All the way through movies he comments on bits and pieces they've done wrong, or that are too far fetched for that 'type' of movie).

Hang on - I do that too! Aaargh!

 

[gregmontalbano]

Personally, I think the film was boring. It's possible that a diver could find themselves in the same situation as the actors (can we really call them that) in the movie, but the way it's handled is usually slightly different. First, the divers should have had some signaling device, sausage, whistle, divealert of some sort, flare or dye. Before a dive boat pulls away from a dive site, they should be taking a head count and keeping track of who's still under, and not pull away until everyone is accounted for. As far as the movie goes, it was just bad, bad acting, bad camera work, and too much filler.

 

[boulderjohn]

Before a dive boat pulls away from a dive site, they should be taking a head count and keeping track of who's still under, and not pull away until everyone is accounted for.

Correct, but the situation in the movie has indeed happened. From what I understand, the Lonergans were left behind because they did a "head count" (OK, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) and miscounted.

When I was in Australia, our liveaboard followed what we were told was "the Lonergan Laws," which included a requirement that we initial next to our names when we were out of the water.

I used to dive with an outfit in Key Largo that gave everyone a tag when you started. They called the roll after every dive, and collected your tag before leaving the site. I later learned that all their care was caused by the fact that they had been successfully sued by the people they had left in the water a few years before. (Luckily, these divers got to shore and lived to make the lawsuit.)

So, the scenario that got these people in the water was indeed realistic.

 

[adza]

So - has anyone ever thought about what you would do if this happened to you?

I've pondered it, and the first thing I can think of, would be to grab, and attach yourself to the mooring rope / bouy that the boat hooks up to. This way, you wouldn't drift away, and when they realise you're missing (or when they come out the following day with another group of divers) - they'd be comming back to where you are.

Any one else thought of it, and what they'd do?

 

[H2Andy]

As it being based on a true story I've heard a number of versions where the couple made sure they were left behind so they could disappear. Furthermore there were supposedly reports of a couple being picked up by another dive boat. Who knows what really happened?

those are just baseless rumours, imho

what really happened is that Tom and Eileen Lonergan, an American couple, went diving off a boat in Australia in 1998 and have not been seen since. the boat returned to dry land without them and nobody noticed for two days.

 

[almitywife]

....When I was in Australia, our liveaboard followed what we were told was "the Lonergan Laws," which included a requirement that we initial next to our names when we were out of the water.

so whats to stop you, if you should so desire, from signing the form and then jumping right back in the water and hide till the boat pulls out

 

[H2Andy]

so whats to stop you, if you should so desire, from signing the form and then jumping right back in the water and hide till the boat pulls out

an overwhelming desire not to die?

 

[almitywife]

an overwhelming desire not to die?

yes... but what if (and with the Longerians there are TOO many ifs) you did have a desire to die?

 

[H2Andy]

the slate they found doesn't sound to me like someone who desires to die:

TO anyone who can help us, we have been abandoned on Acourt Reef by MV Outer Edge . . . Please help us to rescue before we die. Help!!!


bottom line is, the boat crew screwed up royaly. too many "ifs" have to be invented to excuse the crew from their lack of awareness

 

[boulderjohn]

yes... but what if (and with the Longerians there are TOO many ifs) you did have a desire to die?

First of all, the Lonergans did not have a desire to die. As I said earlier, that was a story concocted by the dive operator to shed responsibility. There was not a shred of evidence to support that.

Next, the purpose of this is to prevent people from accidentally being left behind. If you want to drown yourself, there are lots of ways to do it without going through an elaborate ruse on a dive boat.

Next, it's pretty darn hard to gear up and splash out the back of a boat without being noticed by the crew that's all around the deck.

Finally, what would be the point in drowning yourself after signing in? If you really want to get left behind, all you have do is swim a really long way away from the boat for a long time during your dive.