Accident report released, Poseidon Discovery MKVI, Norway

[Kris69]

The accident report has been released. I do not dive a rebreather but the report is interesting reading anyway. Apparently after the dive with his friends, he decided to go diving again without a buddy (can not verify this). Read it here:

http://mkvi.poseidon.com/downloads/Accident_Report_IR-2010-05-31-1.pdf


Regards,
Kristian

 

[Gill Envy]

When will this industry create an objective third party to investigate accidents?
g

 

[Jax]

When will this industry create an objective third party to investigate accidents?
g

I don't understand; it seems you think the report would not be objective?

After the technical inspection of the unit and reviewing the log files from the unit, representatives of the Norwegian government Diving school in Bergen (HiB) has established that the unit in question has functioned the way it is supposed to do, and that the accident was not caused by equipment error.

I realize the report was released by Poseidon, but was Poseidon the investigator?

 

[Cave Diver]

When will this industry create an objective third party to investigate accidents?
g

Do you feel this report was biased? If so, why?

Do you feel that a third party would have the same ability to recognize and troubleshoot problems that the manufacturer has?

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I agree with John. The report is very clear and thorough.

And Gill, where do you think one would find an objective third party that is an expert in every type of equipment divers use in the world? That would be impossible. Also, it is common for investigators to go to the design companies for their analysis of equipment in accident situations in non-diving situations. Why wouldn't they do the same here?

 

[Cave Diver]

The report is very clear and thorough.

I'm just glad to see a detailed report from anywhere after an accident.

 

[TSandM]

I think this is simply another example that, no matter what you do, if someone is sufficiently bent on doing something, they will do it regardless of good advice, warnings, or alarms.

 

[tc]

When will this industry create an objective third party to investigate accidents?
g

"The industry" has no authority to investigate accidents.

Not saying they couldn't do so if the wanted to but no one would talk to the investigators sent by "the industry".

When a dive accident occurs (At least in the US) any dive professionals/ dive charters/ dive shops/ gear manufacturers/ etc. involved will normally be told by their liability insurance carrier not to discuss the accident with anyone. While unfortunate for the family and friends of the victim the concern on the part of the lawyers is that one of those folks could make a statement that could become the basis for or evidence in a civil liability case.

Folks are under no legal obligation to discuss an incident with a private investigator or investigator appointed by a non-governmental agency, and with the folks listed above most would refuse to discuss the incident in order to comply with the directive from their insurance carrier. Depending on how the policy is written the carrier could potentially deny coverage if the insured ignored their instructions.

So the simple answer to why "the industry" does not investigate accidents- no one would talk to them, making any investigation they conduct incomplete at best.

 

[Gill Envy]

sorry folks, I through that comment out there without having time to qualify it.

I'm happy to see an analysis on an accident for a change and don't want to sound like some ungrateful perfectionist, this report is definitely an improvement over the usual lack of information all together, but it's unclear from reading the conclusions, exactly what the third party report said vs what was concluded by the manufacturer.

I will perpetually be skeptical of a manufacturer concluding that the cause of an accident is diver error, and any of us finding any solace int that. This sure does sounds like serious diver error, but I agree with some that the error is so illogical that it makes you wonder if there were extenuating circumstances.

Clearly relying on the manufacturer for their conclusion is problematic because of the inherent conflict of commercial interest. I so wish we had a better system for analyzing such accidents more objectively and I do understand there are many challenges to creating such a system, but it must be done! Ideally, anyone with a conflict of interest would recuse themselves in any such an investigation.

I have seen electronics work intermittently. Do we know how reliable these black boxes are? If there was a melt down in the electronics, what would prevent the system from recording a bunch of false data? Or on the other hand, at the threshold of functional voltage, could the black box have recorded true warnings codes from the controller without the warning system having enough juice actually function at normal volume/brightness etc to catch the divers attention?

I do have to say I am VERY skeptical of rechargeable batteries on life support. I have been using rechargeable batteries for years in non-life support equipment and have observed them doing erratic things, such as sometimes not taking a full charge even when the charger says they are done charging. Good charge or not, when they reach the end of the charge you get little if any warning before they drop dead. It seems to me that adding a rechargeable battery to a set point controller is placing a potentially weak link in a critical life support chain.

Sincerely,
George

 

[Cave Diver]

Thanks for the clarification.

I have seen electronics work intermittently. Do we know how reliable these black boxes are? If there was a melt down in the electronics, what would prevent the system from recording a bunch of false data? Or on the other hand, at the threshold of functional voltage, could the black box have recorded true warnings codes from the controller without the warning system having enough juice actually function at normal volume/brightness etc to catch the divers attention?

You're assuming that the "black box" operates off of regular battery power. I'm no engineer, but I think if I was designing something to record operating conditions that it would have independent operating circuitry and battery power and thus be unaffected by anything going on with the main electronics. Whether this system is designed that way or not I have no idea.