The Third Dive: The Death of Rob Stewart

[The Chairman]

once the search is called off, by the only folks with the legal authority to do so, the emergency is over.

If I remember rightly, the search was called off during the recovery or within minutes of it. Not sure you could expect the crew to know that.

 

[Wookie]

If I remember rightly, the search was called off during the recovery or within minutes of it. Not sure you could expect the crew to know that.

I do not have an issue with the recovery per se. I do believe that one member of the team was engaged in shenanigans, and the rest of the team blindly followed orders.

Edit: orders presented as reasonable-sounding suggestions.

 

[agilulfo]

(For some reason I stopped getting notifications about this thread)

Question: If Horizon was a truly disinterested party with a lawyer who could counsel them on situ, why didn't they simply radio the coast guard that they had found the body so that they could come retrieve it themselves?

 

[Wookie]

(For some reason I stopped getting notifications about this thread)

Question: If Horizon was a truly disinterested party with a lawyer who could counsel them on situ, why didn't they simply radio the coast guard that they had found the body so that they could come retrieve it themselves?

I think it's important to understand the context here. Rob Bleser thought he was the head of the WET team in Key Largo. The WET team had performed a number of body recoveries over the years, and 2 rescues, so their numbers were pretty good, and they had had a good relationship with Beaver. Members of the WET team included Dawson, owner of Horizon, owner of the Pisces, and dive rescue team trainer. Some of Horizon's employees were also members. This is a volunteer organization in the diving capital of the United States. Kind of like the Catalina chamber, but I'm not trying to invoke that personality here. My point is that if I needed a rescue or recovery in Key Largo, I wouldn't want anyone other than Bleser heading the team. Jenni/Albert/Witherspoon has been Bleser's lawyer for way longer than I've been associated with diving, and in fact, if you want to go back to the 70's, the guy I bought the Spree from was a dive bum in KL, friends with Bleser, a client of Albert/Jenni, and Jenni was running FADO, the Florida Association of Diving Operators. So this is a group with a tremendous amount of history and trust for one another.

They were doing what they had been trained to do. They were trained to recover bodies, and remember, a lawsuit wasn't on their minds. Well, I'm sure it was on Jenni's mind, that's what he is paid for.

It's also important to remember another thing. The Coast Guard will never ever ever recover a body. They are a rescue organization. They will rescue all day. So calling the coast guard to come retreive a body would be a little like calling the paramedics. They are neither trained, capable, or inclined to perform a body recovery in 220 feet of water. Also remember, Stewart had been dead for 3 days. He was fixxin to float. They wanted that body out of the water before it floated away.

 

[The Chairman]

Question: If Horizon was a truly disinterested party with a lawyer who could counsel them on situ, why didn't they simply radio the coast guard that they had found the body so that they could come retrieve it themselves?

You're assuming they didn't. You're assuming they wouldn't have contracted the recovery out to a third party. You're assuming that they didn't give the go-ahead. A lot of assumptions and I don't know the answers to them either.

 

[agilulfo]

I think it's important to understand the context here. Rob Bleser thought he was the head of the WET team in Key Largo. The WET team had performed a number of body recoveries over the years, and 2 rescues, so their numbers were pretty good, and they had had a good relationship with Beaver. Members of the WET team included Dawson, owner of Horizon, owner of the Pisces, and dive rescue team trainer. Some of Horizon's employees were also members. This is a volunteer organization in the diving capital of the United States. Kind of like the Catalina chamber, but I'm not trying to invoke that personality here. My point is that if I needed a rescue or recovery in Key Largo, I wouldn't want anyone other than Bleser heading the team. Jenni/Albert/Witherspoon has been Bleser's lawyer for way longer than I've been associated with diving, and in fact, if you want to go back to the 70's, the guy I bought the Spree from was a dive bum in KL, friends with Bleser, a client of Albert/Jenni, and Jenni was running FADO, the Florida Association of Diving Operators. So this is a group with a tremendous amount of history and trust for one another.

They were doing what they had been trained to do. They were trained to recover bodies, and remember, a lawsuit wasn't on their minds. Well, I'm sure it was on Jenni's mind, that's what he is paid for.

Thank you for the clarification.

Yet, in this case, there was a potential conflict of interest. Jenni must have known that the optics were kind of bad. Unless, perhaps, the alternative was far worse.

 

[agilulfo]

You're assuming they didn't. You're assuming they wouldn't have contracted the recovery out to a third party. You're assuming that they didn't give the go-ahead. A lot of assumptions and I don't know the answers to them either.

True.

 

[The Chairman]

Yet, in this case, there was a potential conflict of interest. Jenni must have known that the optics were kind of bad. Unless, perhaps, the alternative was far worse.

Our community was in shock and mourning. Sotis was being critisized for NOT taking a part in the search and recovery. Like the Marines, you don't leave anyone behind without good reason.

 

[agilulfo]

Our community was in shock and mourning. Sotis was being critisized for NOT taking a part in the search and recovery. Like the Marines, you don't leave anyone behind without good reason.

Understood. I am not suggesting that they shouldn't have participated in the search. Only that perhaps they could have abstained from recovering the body. At that point there was really no hurry.

 

[Wookie]

Our community was in shock and mourning. Sotis was being critisized for NOT taking a part in the search and recovery. Like the Marines, you don't leave anyone behind without good reason.

There was no good path for any of the potentially liable. Sotis is criticized for not taking part in the recovery, and in fact leaving the next day. But remember, it wasn't a recovery at that point, it was still a search. No one saw Stewart sink. No one even looked on the bottom for a day. Every boat in the free world was out looking for Stewart. Sotis was criticized for leaving the country, Bleser was criticized for doing exactly what he was supposed to do, Dawson was criticized for searching, Jenni was criticized for searching. This was a completely no win situation for anyone involved.

I have been critical of the criticizers. Unless you've had a terrible accident with a student (I have), lost a diver (I have), had a diver have a fatal accident that you (your crew) saved them from (I have), or made any number of dumb mistakes that by the grace of God you were able to recover from with no loss of people and maybe only a little equipment damage, you have no idea what split second thoughts go through your mind as you try to do what's best for your people. I think I'm pretty clear that a number of folks made mistakes, and any number of these mistakes not made would have resulted in Stewart surviving. But it's the nature of people to want to blame someone.