Three divers die in a cave accident, Punta Iacco, Palinuro Italy Aug. 2016

[Dalixa]

If this is so, the first body recovered was the last to enter the tunnel, that is Mauro the Instructor, the second body was of his assistant ( I read somewhere that he dived with double tanks so it's presumed the others dived singles) the body still missing is of Silvio who was on holiday but goes there every year and knows the area well. So could it be that narcosis made Silvio decide to enter the tunnel and the others decided to follow? I feel we will never know what really happened, but in Palinuro it is normal to take tourists into the grottos, probably most are caverns, everything goes ok for thousands of times, then someone makes a mistake...........

 

[OrcaTorch]

Bad news. Pray sent~

 

[fsardone]

I feel we will never know what really happened, but in Palinuro it is normal to take tourists into the grottos, probably most are caverns, everything goes ok for thousands of times, then someone makes a mistake...........

You are probably right we will never know for sure. Many details will never be released. Magistrates are involved and they are not concerned about prevention but only about repression so they will hold on all available info and make them privileged to the proceedings.

What you describe (take tourists into cave/caverns and everything is ok) is called normalisation of deviance: “The gradual process through which unacceptable practice or standards become acceptable. As the deviant behavior is repeated without catastrophic results, it becomes the social norm for the organization.”

Please see:
On the Line: Public Safety Risk Management: The Normalization of Deviance (If It Can Happen to NASA, It Can Happen to You)

The rule cave divers live by are written in blood (or drowning) of those who went before we did.
Sheck Exley wrote these rules many years ago and they are still current:

5: Use Three Sources of Light
4: Remain Within the Safest Possible Operating Limits for Your Breathing Media
3. Keep Two Thirds of Your Starting Gas Volume in Reserve to Exit the Cave
2. Maintain a Continuous Guideline to the Cave Exit
1. Be Trained for Cave Diving, and Remain Within the Limits of Your Training

see: How Do You Cave Dive?

This is a tragedy, but it appears that rule 1,2,3 were violated and 5 probably too. Being on air in cave at 45 meters IMHO is also violation of 4.

Cheers

 

[fsardone]

Another article about guiding inexperts in easy caves.
What it is good is a better representation of the cave a nd the possible path taken by the victims.
As you can see the tunnel is deep down both in dept and penetration distance.
Not clear if they got in from the 12 mt entrance or from the 40+ entrance, but several media sources indicated they were diving near punta Iacco which would be the deeper entrance. Also not sure if they were attempting to traverse or else.

Tragedia Palinuro, l’esperta: «Quelle grotte sono intestino Capo Palinuro: strette e pericolose» | MAPPA

 

[lermontov]

I was talking a wreck diver in my area years ago. He used to enter wrecks all the time without a line. He said he had been diving these wrecks for years and knew them like the back of his hand. He NEVER silted out the place. He'd go in, swim around, come back out. Never had an incident and felt very comfortable entering the wrecks without a line. Then one day he entered a wreck and a few students saw him going in without a line. They figured it must be safe so they followed him in. He turned around to leave the wreck and realize the students had totally silted out the wreck. Now he was deep in a wreck, could not see anything and had no line out.

He was lucky. He brought plenty of gas, had a good SAC rate and didn't panic. After a few seconds the students found their way out. After many minutes the silt settled enough he could see the exit.

Maybe this incident in Italy was similar. The divers felt confident in their abilities. They entered the cave knowing they could do so safely. A few inexperienced divers decided to follow THEM. The inexperienced divers silted up the place and these guys got lost.

Its a good theory and Ive done it myself however a wreck breaks up and I've been in areas one day and the next time a wall has collapsed or a panel has fallen off- it can be objective dangers that silt up the water. ALWAYS have a plan!

 

[meatsim]

i imagine that air pocket could cause problems to a lost, unprepared, panicked diver. If I'm reading the map correctly 40m straight up, if someone stumped into the cave and either got lost of ascended thinking it was the way out might find it hard to get themselves to descend back down, if they even had the gas for it.

Any word on where within the cave the bodies where found?

 

[FinnMom]

Correct.
Saying do not lean on the door is much less effective than saying leaning on the door while the train is moving is dangerous.

Tell the student that this sport is inherently dangerous and you can manage the risk getting proper training. Before going into cave read Bleprint for survival by Sheck Exley (if you can find it ...) or a more recent book. This will convince you that training is not optional.

Since you mention it:
Blueprint for Survival only about $10. From NSS bookstore. You will need to create a Neon account => NSS Bookstore

Also here Cave Adventurers - Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival - Marianna, Florida USA - Never Undersold!

 

[fsardone]

Need to check if NSS would ship to Italy or UK ...
Thanks for the link.

 

[Dan]

Another article about guiding inexperts in easy caves.
What it is good is a better representation of the cave a nd the possible path taken by the victims.
As you can see the tunnel is deep down both in dept and penetration distance.
Not clear if they got in from the 12 mt entrance or from the 40+ entrance, but several media sources indicated they were diving near punta Iacco which would be the deeper entrance. Also not sure if they were attempting to traverse or else.

Tragedia Palinuro, l’esperta: «Quelle grotte sono intestino Capo Palinuro: strette e pericolose» | MAPPA

That's a long cave. Where were the Mauro's bodies found?

 

[Serge Tao]

Source

"The Cammardella body was the first to be recovered, yesterday morning around 11. A couple of hours later it was the turn of Mauro Tancredi . The two bodies were close, stuck at the narrowest point of the ladder cave in the rock tunnel that extends for 16 meters and has a width in some places no more than 80 centimeters."

The third missing diver, Silvio Anzola, has still not been found, search was suspended monday evening.