Accident at Dutch Springs 9/27

[freedive]

OK I know I have still quite a bit to learn about diving since I have only been OW certified since June and only have 21 dives logged so far. But after reading the events of this horrible accident the first thing I thought was this, If her friends stayed with her to free her from her BCD, why was she not using one of their octos and why did not one or two of them help her with her ascent while breathing from their octo? I don't understand how with friends next to her, helping her, she could have done a free ascent with no air. Those would have been my first two priorities, that they have air to breathe and that they don't float away after releasing them from their equipment.
My condolences to the family and friends.

 

[doctormike]

Sure, I don't mean to imply that posts that are going around on a discussion board are any substitute for a formal inquiry.

However, for the purposes of our little group here, what might have happened and trying to figure out what we would have done in similar situations is probably more helpful (as a learning experience) than trying to fill in details to which we have no access.

Anyway, as we all agree... very sad indeed..

 

[jrg]

http://www.cdnn.info/safety/s030929a/s030929a.html

 

[adshepard]

The accident at Dutch Springs involved a group from the dive shop I use here in Connecticut. One of the divers in the group that night works in my office. He was just certified in early September along with the unfortunate victim. He is on vacation right now. The day it occured was the first day of his two-week vacation. The Monday following the accident he e-mailed me and then called me from South Carolina to discuss the incident. He had to be pretty shook up to contact me while on vacation. Anyway here is what I know from talking with him and subsequently talking with the owners of the dive shop.

The group diving that night numbered approximately 10 individuals. This included one instructor, a divemaster who was training to become an instructor, AOW students doing the night portion of their AOW, newly certified BOW divers on their first night dive and at least one more experienced diver along for dive.

The plan was for the entire group to stick together that night. All divers had been diving earlier in the day. The victim indicated that she was a bit nervous about the dive prior to entry. In order to make her feel more at ease a more experienced diver was then paired with her.

The group started out and became separated. Visibilty stunk. My friend said that he thought a number of the divers, including himself descended too quickly. He bottomed out fairly quickly at 70ft and then ascended a bit. Eventually he went to the surfaced due to buddy separation.

Then the buddy of the victim surfaced indicating that something was wrong and she had lost the victim. Also at the surface was the DM and the victim's aunt (mother was there but not diving that night as she was not yet certified). The DM went down to try and find the victim. He sent the other three divers to a dock to get help. My friend went to get assistance. The DM could not find the victim and returned to the dock to get another tank and search again to no avail.

Eventually the instructor returned with the other divers, saw the commotion and at first did not realize it was his group that was involved. Upon learning of the situation he immediately went down to search for the victim. He found her rather quickly, unfortunately too late. He had lots of trouble getting her off the bottom. The victim was large, some 250 pounds. The instructor did not have enough air to get lift sufficient to pull her up and had to kick to the surface. If it were not for his pony bottle he may not have been able to recover her.

According to the LDS the instructor experienced a great deal of squeeze in his dry suit to the point of bruising his body. He didn't have the air to eliminate the squeeze. He is quite distraught and will not teach the rest of the year and possibly never again.

The vicitim's buddy indicated that she tried to get the victim to ascend a bit when she realized how deep they had gotten. The victim in panic pushed her away. Whether the victim was entangled at this point is unclear. However all indications are that she was stuck on something.

The LDS doubts the embolism finding at this point and believes it is strictly a drowning case. There was no stripping of the gear by the buddy at depth as reported here.

I may know more once my friend returns from vacation. then again We may never know more.

Questions in my mind are why the group was so large and why a night dive to a planned depth of 60ft.

Condolences to all involved.

Alan

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Just a small point of clarification from a previous post--a wet suit at 80 feet in fresh water doesn't have much buoyancy.

My condolences to all involved.

SeaRat

 

[doctormike]

John C. Ratliff once bubbled...
Just a small point of clarification from a previous post--a wet suit at 80 feet in fresh water doesn't have much buoyancy.

My condolences to all involved.

SeaRat

Absolutely true... but it is also important to remember that it doesn't take much to start an uncontrolled ascent, if you are even a little bit positive.. once you are separated from the weight system, buoyancy will continue to increase as you rise, making it harder and harder to kick back down.

 

[mwilding]

80' at night in Dutch Springs in a wetsuit is a brave thing to do as the second thermocline is at about 55' and it gets real cold fast...

Brave is not the word for making an 80' dive at night in Dutch Springs in a wetsuit without even an advanced certification...

 

[BILLB]

The report that the visibility was bad tells me that the divers were too deep and stirring up the bottom silt. The cove usually has the best visibility. I have taken videos there with visibility of 60 feet.

A night dive planned for 60 feet in this cove leaves the divers with not much to see or reference to. Almost everything that may have been observed in the day time would not appear at that depth. It appears that the divers went to a deeper depth so they could have references.

There is no mention that this group dove the cove during daylight hours either. This is a prerequisite for any AOW training night dives.

Our hearts go out for the young lady and her family. I also feel the pain that the instructor must still be experiencing.

 

[Cudabait]

Very sad, indeed.

Hopefully, formal witness statements will add a much higher degree of clarity.

Deepest condolences to mother and family.

 

[SCUBAMedicBill]

I am heart broken every time I hear of a death or serious i I am heart broken every time I hear of a death or serious injury resulting from SCUBA Diving. Especially when it involves someone so young and new to the sport. But it is important for us as an industry to not let XCasey's death be in vain. We must take this tragady and learn from. We should use it to remember that what we do for sport is dangerous and can result in death or serious injury. We must remember that no dive is "routine". if we approach each dive fully understanding the risks, and making sure that we are prepared for any problem that arises, we will go to enjoy many future dives. Let us take this tragady, and use it to teach ourselves, our students, and our buddies so that no one will have to feel this pain again. My hope and prayers go out to her family and friends, and to her, that she may be at peace. I hope I didn't sound too much like a editorial.