Saltwater Junky
Contributor
From her comment on the Today show regarding the dive operator should pay for the rescue, I'm curious if they'll (the divers) will sue the D. O.? Not sure if we'll know the D.O. complete version w/o a trial.
Two divers missing Whitsunday Islands
- Thread starter gumnut
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Scared Silly
Contributor
A bit of both but there is probably more mouth masturbation than anything else.
I agree with this part as a way to insure that you will be found once you have gone a drift. I carry the above plus an emergency strobe.
However, what has not been looked at is perhaps how this could have been avoided. The obvious of not going outside the lagoon is known. But, was swimming in towards the reef a reasonable option? For me when motoring out I am usually looking for the nearest land. Before splashing, I look for the nearest land and take a compass heading. I carry a small reel with my SMB was it too deep to try and hook into the reef?? Inside the lagoon was ~12m.
K_girl
Contributor
I found some interesting tidbits of information in the video interview that was not in the written interview that leads me to believe that this couple was responsible for getting themselves into the spot they were in:
1. They said: They expected that the dinghy would follow their bubbles and pick them up at the end of the dive.
This situation consistently means to me that the dive is considered a drift dive. In other words, you do not have to navigate back to the "mother" boat. You "drift" with the current and the dinghy picks you up at the end of the dive having followed your bubbles.
This situation also typically means that they should have been diving with a group. How could one dinghy reasonably track bubbles for multiple divers going in different directions? Especially if there is a strong current in the area?
2. Fact: they either lost the group and wound-up alone or purposefully dove alone.
They said: that they surfaced approximately 220 yards away from the "mother" boat after diving nearly one hour.
220 yards is an extreme distance to be away from the mother boat. The male, who described himself as an experienced dive instructor must have realized during the dive that they were moving a great distance from the "mother" boat during the dive but must have thought that it was not a problem to complete a one-hour dive. Why would he think that one single dinghy could keep up with a multitude of divers that were not diving together?
3. Someone said the dive operator said that no way they waited 3 hours because they were expected back on the boat after a one-hour dive. Does this mean the dive operator was not using a dinghy to track the divers for this particular dive and they were expected to stay in a particular area with low or non-existent current and make it back to the boat on their own by navigation?
Sounds like miscommunication to me and witness memory to the dive briefing will prove most important in this case. That said, I still have trouble with the dive instructor's decision to continue with a one-hour dive in a strong current and expecting a dinghy to pick them up while divers are not diving in a group. My sister and I got put into a 2.5 knot current where we were supposed to go up and down an anchor line, but because the granny line did not go all the way out to the anchor line and only to the front of the boat, no one could make the anchor line and everyone was blown off the line. We made the decision to abort early. Utmost in my mind was the fact that they only had one single dinghy and they were going to have to find and pick-up a lot of divers. I felt it was prudent to be picked-up as quickly as possible. I'm rescue-certified, not an instructor, so he should know better than me.
1. They said: They expected that the dinghy would follow their bubbles and pick them up at the end of the dive.
This situation consistently means to me that the dive is considered a drift dive. In other words, you do not have to navigate back to the "mother" boat. You "drift" with the current and the dinghy picks you up at the end of the dive having followed your bubbles.
This situation also typically means that they should have been diving with a group. How could one dinghy reasonably track bubbles for multiple divers going in different directions? Especially if there is a strong current in the area?
2. Fact: they either lost the group and wound-up alone or purposefully dove alone.
They said: that they surfaced approximately 220 yards away from the "mother" boat after diving nearly one hour.
220 yards is an extreme distance to be away from the mother boat. The male, who described himself as an experienced dive instructor must have realized during the dive that they were moving a great distance from the "mother" boat during the dive but must have thought that it was not a problem to complete a one-hour dive. Why would he think that one single dinghy could keep up with a multitude of divers that were not diving together?
3. Someone said the dive operator said that no way they waited 3 hours because they were expected back on the boat after a one-hour dive. Does this mean the dive operator was not using a dinghy to track the divers for this particular dive and they were expected to stay in a particular area with low or non-existent current and make it back to the boat on their own by navigation?
Sounds like miscommunication to me and witness memory to the dive briefing will prove most important in this case. That said, I still have trouble with the dive instructor's decision to continue with a one-hour dive in a strong current and expecting a dinghy to pick them up while divers are not diving in a group. My sister and I got put into a 2.5 knot current where we were supposed to go up and down an anchor line, but because the granny line did not go all the way out to the anchor line and only to the front of the boat, no one could make the anchor line and everyone was blown off the line. We made the decision to abort early. Utmost in my mind was the fact that they only had one single dinghy and they were going to have to find and pick-up a lot of divers. I felt it was prudent to be picked-up as quickly as possible. I'm rescue-certified, not an instructor, so he should know better than me.
With all due respect, could you please read back over all your posts in this thread?
SCUBAJENNIFER
Contributor
I have to agree with Scubajennifer. I am not sure why anyone would put themselves in that position purposely, but if I found myself 220 yards from the boat and the crew was not making an effort to come for me I would: 1) go back under and swim towards the boat or 2) swim as if my life depended on it back to the boat. One good thing to come out of this, my husband and I have discussed every angle of what we would do should we get in this situation. We currently have a sausage, dye, mirror, and strobe. I have asked him for awhile to get a jon line and he is going to do that now. I also learned from the Taiwan group that was lost to use my camera strobe as a signaling device.
almitywife
Vegemite Mod
heheeheh - i aways love how "with all due respect" is a pc way of a slap down.. in a nice way :10:
anyways..... worse case senario i suspect a dive operator is going to go out of business once Qld WorkCover finish with them which is very sad
anyways..... worse case senario i suspect a dive operator is going to go out of business once Qld WorkCover finish with them which is very sad
Diver Dennis
Contributor
What about the diver on the boat that backed up the dive op almity? Seems the dive op was a bit bolder about defending themselves after that was published. It would be a shame for them to have to close if they followed the rules...
SCUBAJENNIFER
Contributor
Seemed nice enough to me...
Because two muppets can't follow instructions (intentional or not :14
almitywife
Vegemite Mod
years ago in melbourne there was a certified diver that hired gear and died on a boat trip and workcover went after the dive op and the courts levied the highest fine possible against the (now bankrupt) dive op
court ruled that "The company was convicted and fined $200,000 by the County Court in April after the death of a client, Rob Grant, at Portsea in 2004.
The court was told staff were not appropriately instructed, trained and supervised, particularly in dealing with, and assessing, clients whose experience was mainly in tropical waters, where diving conditions were vastly different to southern Australia."
Scuba industry told to ‘insist on safety’ as DiveSafe begins - WorkSafe Victoria
and then there was a witch hunt in melbourne, "A statewide campaign targeting Victoria’s recreational scuba diving industry is about to begin with WorkSafe inspectors visiting companies and activity providers running scuba diving and snorkelling trips"
i know a few Qld dive ops went out of business when the Longerans went missing a few years ago because of the paperwork/requirements/insurance was too much of a PITA and its almost impossible to get a rebreather on a commercial charter up there these days
anyways, Workcover is a government organization that aim is to make an example of employers/businesses
court ruled that "The company was convicted and fined $200,000 by the County Court in April after the death of a client, Rob Grant, at Portsea in 2004.
The court was told staff were not appropriately instructed, trained and supervised, particularly in dealing with, and assessing, clients whose experience was mainly in tropical waters, where diving conditions were vastly different to southern Australia."
Scuba industry told to ‘insist on safety’ as DiveSafe begins - WorkSafe Victoria
and then there was a witch hunt in melbourne, "A statewide campaign targeting Victoria’s recreational scuba diving industry is about to begin with WorkSafe inspectors visiting companies and activity providers running scuba diving and snorkelling trips"
i know a few Qld dive ops went out of business when the Longerans went missing a few years ago because of the paperwork/requirements/insurance was too much of a PITA and its almost impossible to get a rebreather on a commercial charter up there these days
anyways, Workcover is a government organization that aim is to make an example of employers/businesses
Similar threads
