How serious a screw-up was this?

[Quero]

I don't personally think it's the operator's screw up at all. Not even 1/10. It is entirely the diver's and his buddy's responsibility to make sure that the team is ready to hit the water. If the boat crew assists in setting up gear, that's a bonus (and may deserve a tip) not an obligation. The obligation rests squarely and completely on the shoulders of the diver--quite literally, too, since the tank is strapped to his back.

Here where I work, we often set gear up for our divers, or at least assist them. But we leave the air off after we test tank pressure for the duration of the boat ride out. Once we reach our dive site, it's up to the divers to turn their air on, release the bungies or whatever is holding the tank, and gear up. It's no more our responsibility if the diver forgets to turn on his air than it is if he forgets to defog his mask or strap on his dive computer, or grabs the wrong fins.

New divers often feel a little rushed. It's one effect of task loading. That's why it's so very important to go through the checks consciously--it slows things down and keeps your thinking organized so that oversights like forgetting to turn on air are prevented.

 

[freewillie]

I'm still pretty much a newbie, but if there is anything I've learned from hanging out here on SB the diver is ultimately responsible for their own gear and their own actions. Predive routine is to avoid these situations. If the guy just checked his reg by purging to see if it was working before hs went over the side he would have realized his air was off. If nothing else he should have checked how many PSI he had before entering the water. As for seriousness, I would rate it a 9/10 mistake for any diver newbie or experienced since can have very dire consequences.

I almost did something similar. Was about my second dive after certification. I put my first stage on the tank but wanted to turn the air on just before I put my BC on. When I clipped the last buckle realized I had put it on without turning on the air. I sheepishly admitted to my buddy during buddy check he needed to turn my air on.

fun and safe diving to all.

 

[DevonDiver]

My only real question is - what happened to the buddy check?

I see this a lot with moderately experienced divers. They get comfortable in the water and that leads to complacency. There's no reason not to do a comprehensive buddy check before each dive. The buddy check exists to forewarn the diver about any equipment malfunctions (because we aren't pscyhically linked to our kit) and to ensure that human error doesn't lead to an incident.

I guess that some divers feel they are beyond making mistakes. Complacency sets in.... until eventually they do make a mistake and it bites them in the arse.

I've seen divers make simular mistakes on several occasions. The worst incident I saw (in terms of potential risk) was a diver who entered the water with his air-off, his mask around his neck and his fins under his arms. He hadn't quite inflated his BCD enough (because the air was off) and he 'knew' that a 3 second squirt of his LPI would give him enough buoyancy. Giant stride entry. Sinking. Instant panic. Boatman tossed him a line and recovered him. Humiliation. Lesson learnt. (p.s. his buddy couldn't help him, as he hadn't waited and already swum off to the descent line at the front of the boat). The diver concerned was a rescue diver, with 200+ dives.

I've also read reports of divers (including some highly experienced) who have died because of simular, very simple human errors.

To the OP. What you heard about was a diver experiencing a reality check. That reality being:experience does not make you infalliable... and a diver is never 'beyond' the basic, core skills and drills that were taught on their entry-level scuba courses. LEarn from that divers' lesson...and be wary of complacency as your experience increases.

I don't want you to think I am being 'preachy' about this. I certainly can't be 'holier than thou', because I've had simular wake-up calls along my diving development.

 

[Scott L]

Oh, I thought this was about the update change. :chuckle:

 

[Frosty]

Hey DD--It wasn't the OP that got caught out.it was other divers on the same boat.

 

[ktkt]

The worst incident I saw (in terms of potential risk) was a diver who entered the water with his air-off, his mask around his neck and his fins under his arms. He hadn't quite inflated his BCD enough (because the air was off) and he 'knew' that a 3 second squirt of his LPI would give him enough buoyancy. Giant stride entry. Sinking. Instant panic. Boatman tossed him a line and recovered him. Humiliation. Lesson learnt.

I am a little blown away by this. I don't have all that much experience yet, but so far, all of my boat entries (both giant stride and rolling out of the inflatable) have involved:
1) Fins on.
2) Mask on.
3) Reg in mouth.

Are any of these nonstandard?

Even if I didn't have much air in my BCD, it would take only a tiny kick to put me on the surface. I have to actually concentrate to descend the first ten feet or so, i.e. exhale fully, make sure not to kick, etc. Are people who sink much easier generally overweighted, or is there another factor at play?

With mask on and reg in as you stand at the edge of the boat, you'll definitely know if your air is completely off. You could miss the fact that it's only open a tiny bit if you haven't checked your regs, but that's much easier to fix, since you still have air.

 

[Kilili]

It's your responsibility to check reg, air pressure, etc., before jumping in the water. Be proactive, it's your life.

The only person that screwed up was the diver.

 

[Quero]

I am a little blown away by this. I don't have all that much experience yet, but so far, all of my boat entries (both giant stride and rolling out of the inflatable) have involved:
1) Fins on.
2) Mask on.
3) Reg in mouth.

Are any of these nonstandard?

Nope. What is nonstandard is showing off with a "fancy" entry. I've seen people enter with the mask in their hands (their reasoning is that they will clean the baby shampoo--or whatever--off in the water before putting the mask on. I've seen people enter without their regs in their mouths (they claim it's an air-saving technique--these same people sometimes inflate their BCD orally to save tank air). I've seen people enter holding their fins rather than having them on their feet (they say it saves time on the dive platform for better "traffic flow"). But I've never seen anybody do all three of these at once! The humiliation for the diver who did this was well-earned!

I personally enter the water with all my gear in the place it will be during the dive--fins on feet, reg in mouth, mask on face.

 

[DevonDiver]

I am a little blown away by this. I don't have all that much experience yet, but so far, all of my boat entries (both giant stride and rolling out of the inflatable) have involved:
1) Fins on.
2) Mask on.
3) Reg in mouth.

Are any of these nonstandard?

Even if I didn't have much air in my BCD, it would take only a tiny kick to put me on the surface. I have to actually concentrate to descend the first ten feet or so, i.e. exhale fully, make sure not to kick, etc. Are people who sink much easier generally overweighted, or is there another factor at play?

With mask on and reg in as you stand at the edge of the boat, you'll definitely know if your air is completely off. You could miss the fact that it's only open a tiny bit if you haven't checked your regs, but that's much easier to fix, since you still have air.

Yep...it's a fool-proof system, that goes a long way to keeping divers safe. It ceases to be fool-proof when it is not used (the same as buddy checks).

Being a safe scuba diver requires some self-discipline. I think that there is actually a lot of 'unspoken' peer pressure that can lead divers to abandoning these safe practices. They associate buddy checks, and formal water entries, with being a newbie. They don't want to look like a 'novice', so they disassociate themselves from the sort of procedures taught on entry-level courses. Of course, there is also plenty of bad role-modelling from 'dive pros' that reinforces this peer pressure.

The only reason why a diver would feel that they don't need to bother with a buddy check, or a safe water entry, is because they haven't yet experienced a dangerous incident. Not experiencing an incident has nothing to do with their skill or experience... it's just a matter of inevitability. Self-discipline to adhere to the proper skills and procedures keeps you safe when the inevitable happens. It's the mark of a competant diver, not a clueless newbie.

 

[TSandM]

It isn't necessarily unspoken pressure. I have experienced an OWSI loudly mocking me on a boat: "Same reg I used last dive? Yup! Same BC I used last dive? Yup! Good to go!" Peter had to get noisily in the face of an instructor/guide who complained, "At this rate, we're going to be doing a NIGHT DIVE . . ." because we were doing an efficient and quick buddy check -- which no one else on the boat was doing, or had done.

Now, admittedly, if you're doing a hot drop or something and you wait until they call the gate open to begin your checks, I can see the crew being annoyed. But in all other situations, people should be PRAISED for having the diligence to go through a plan and check their gear. It certainly saves wear and tear on the dive crew doing rescues!

There are two messages I'd like to get out to all the new divers who come onto ScubaBoard. One is not to abandon the good habits somebody tried to teach you in OW. Do your checks, plan your dive and dive your plan, and stay with your buddy. The other is to have some kind of strategy for managing your gas. Neither of those things is ubiquitous in general diving.