Suit filed in case of "Girl dead, boy injured at Glacier National Park

[lermontov]

Ah, sorry. Did another scan. I don't think that they say, other than they were students. It doesn't really matter, as they were students, not the one dive pro (the instructor). The shop employee assisting was not qualified to do so (not a Certified Assistant).

oh i missed that - the guy who got accused (with go pro) was he the non instructor ?

 

[Esprise Me]

oh i missed that - the guy who got accused (with go pro) was he the non instructor ?

Bob was a student with a camera, and he was the one the instructor blamed in a FB post. Liston was the shop employee involved in the dives; he is also a defendant along with the instructor.

 

[TheAvatar]

We've done the dry suit inflation, weights, not attending the student, and lack of experience in the student.

Have we done the parts where:

Instructors not certified to instruct what they were teaching (drysuit diving).

Wanna do your first night dive without a light? (Could Linnea have attracted attention for help earlier if she had a light to wave at others?) Multiple people had no lights!

Dive shop teaching classes in a National Park with NO PERMIT. Wow... how long had they been getting away with that? NPS does NOT look kindly to that at all. What kind of operation would do that and who would work for them? It wasn't even under the table! Just wow!

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

We've done the dry suit inflation, weights, not attending the student, and lack of experience in the student.

Have we done the parts where:

Instructors not certified to instruct what they were teaching (drysuit diving).

Wanna do your first night dive without a light? (Could Linnea have attracted attention for help earlier if she had a light to wave at others?) Multiple people had no lights!

Dive shop teaching classes in a National Park with NO PERMIT. Wow... how long had they been getting away with that? NPS does NOT look kindly to that at all. What kind of operation would do that and who would work for them? It wasn't even under the table! Just wow!

The first night dive without a light is insane. Even late afternoon is insane for inexperienced divers. Now I haven't been to Lake McDonald for diving or even visiting. I'd imagine that it is as clear as Lake Crescent in Washington state or Lake Tahoe. I still wouldn't dive those in November within an hour of sunset without a light. We all know two lights are required, and the poor girl didn't even have one.

Not having a permit is super sketchy. Maybe that's why they went so late in the day? Just a guess.

EDIT: I dive with a light ALWAYS. No exception. Even in tropical destinations as it brings the color back and is used for communication. I've been giving lights to my students for years, as in the Puget Sound it is an absolute necessity.

 

[MrVegas]

Just out of curiosity -- is the Plantiffs' attorney (Concannon) the same lawyer that represented Dive Rite\Lamartek in the Wes Skiles litigation?

 

[dlofting]

I said in a previous post that I would have some questions if I were the defandant's lawyer....in this case I'm talking about the instructor, not the dive shop.

How did the deceased diver represent her experience level ? Were details provided or did she present as a certified diver only ?

Why did she go to the expense of buying a drysuit for the course ? Was she clear that she had never used one before ?

Were the BCD weights in detachable pockets ? Did the diver indicate that she knew how to use them ?

Was the instructor familiar with the crushed neoprene Brooks drysuit ? Did she mistakenly assume that it would act more like a wetsuit and not be subject to a severe suit squeeze at depth ?

Was the instructor dealing with another potentially serious issue when the diver was in distress ? Did she mistakenly assume that the diver was OK as she was stationary at 60 ft (not sure of the depth) ?

I'm not attempting to exonerate anyone and have deliberately ignored a lot of things which I believe are the responsibility of the dive shop, but could have been mitigated if the instructor scrubbed the dives. I see a lot of mistakes at the dive site, but am not sure at this point if it's gross negligence.

 

[Wookie]

Just out of curiosity -- is the Plantiffs' attorney (Concannon) the same lawyer that represented Dive Rite\Lamartek in the Wes Skiles litigation?

Yes, as well as a number of other high profile cases, including revo in the Stewart case, Ashley Bugge in the fox case, Richie Kohler in the Dewolf case.

 

[Esprise Me]

How did the deceased diver represent her experience level ? Were details provided or did she present as a certified diver only ?

From p. 24 of the complaint:

104. On October 19, 2020, Liston, on behalf of Gull Dive, confirmed that Linnea was a certified scuba diver. At that time, Linnea advised Liston that she had a PADI Open Water diving certification – the basic entry-level scuba diving
certification requiring only four open water dives to complete – and her last dive had been “a couple of years” ago in Australia.

Liston wasn't the instructor, but he was present on the fatal dive. So at the very least, unless the complaint contains misinformation, the deceased diver told them that she hadn't dived in years.

Also on p. 31:

141. Prior to November 1, 2020, the Gull Dive Defendants, and particularly Snow and Liston, knew that Linnea’s only scuba diving experience in the past two years was one short, shallow dive in Seeley Lake while wearing two wetsuits,
and her lifetime scuba diving experience consisted of making only six dives –five of which were in shallow, warm, salt water at sea level.

On the local dive boats I frequent, the waivers typically inquire about 3 things: highest certification level, total number of dives, and when your last dive was. I have seen divers who give sketchy answers to any of those questions called up by the DM for further discussion and assessment of their ability to safely carry out these dives. And these are mere water-taxi style day boats; they do not even put a guide in the water with you, let alone promise to teach you anything. I can believe that perhaps these defendants actually didn't think to ask these questions and therefore didn't know, but they should have. The only thing that could mitigate their responsibility, IMO, is if the decedent had lied.

Why did she go to the expense of buying a drysuit for the course ? Was she clear that she had never used one before ?

See p. 27-29 (elipses represent less relevant lines I deleted for brevity; bolding mine):

120. During the dive on October 25, 2020, Snow wore a dry suit, as did student Joel Wilson. Liston, wore a wetsuit, as did Linnea. Due to the extreme cold, student Nathan Dudden elected not to dive and, instead, he gave his wetsuit to Linnea to wear on top of the wetsuit she rented from the Gull Dive Defendants to help Linnea stay warm.
121. After the completion of the Seeley Lake dive on October 25, 2020, the next scheduled day of training dives was to be on November 1, 2020.
122. At some point between October 25, 2020 and October 29, 2020, either Liston or Snow, or both, suggested to Linnea that she wear a dry suit during the training dives on November 1, 2020.
[...]
125. Rather than rent a dry suit to an uncertified Linnea, in violation of the PADI RRA Membership Standards, the Gull Dive Defendants facilitated the sale of a used dry suit to Linnea from a private seller, Defendant, Kendra Potter.
126. Sometime between October 25, 2020 and October 29, 2020, Liston called Potter to ascertain whether she and her husband were in possession of two scuba diving dry suits that they would be willing to sell to Nathan Dudden and Linnea.
127. Sometime between October 25, 2020 and October 29, 2020, Liston and/or Snow, or both, provided Potter’s contact information to Nathan Dudden and Linnea.
128. Liston and/or Snow, or both, encouraged their students, Nathan Dudden and Linnea, to contact Potter, to ascertain whether she would sell two used dry suits to Dudden and Mills prior to the training dives on November 1, 2020.
[...]
140. Prior to November 1, 2020, the Gull Dive Defendants, and particularly Snow and Liston, knew that Linnea had not received the required orientation to dry suits in a confined water environment.

It sounds to me like they may have known they couldn't rent her a drysuit without certification, so they did an end-run around it by facilitating a private sale. In any event, it strains credulity that the defendants could have believed she had used a drysuit before, unless she lied.

 

[boulderjohn]

This is a screen shot of the instructor named in the suit on a FB accidents group. Callous and still trying to cover up what happened.

View attachment 657747

So let's look at the defense she foolishly presented in another public forum before being advised to stop. Now imagine her expanding on that as she explains to her agency why she is not at fault:

"The person who is at fault is the other student, Bob, whom I had allowed to take pictures on a training dive. My student, Bob, was the only person who was in a position to rescue the deceased because I was not nearby and not paying attention to either of them."​

 

[sea_ledford]

You mean, since he’s a member of the group? As is all of his team?

Yeah, I'm sure she got a kindly worded message of "please stop commenting on the case on facebook"