Whatever happened with "Drifting Dan?"

[scjoe]

From the outset Dan has generally gotten trashed by the local dive community. He certainly made mistakes that created the situation, which will reduce any damages a jury may find, but I don’t think that necessarily absolves the dive operator from not knowing they were leaving him in the ocean.

I am not surprised that Dan has not admitted to doing anything wrong. I am not sure anyone has.

If the DM has claimed that someone answered for Dan, he might have a hard time convincing a jury of that unless someone steps forward and admits it. Unless that person admits to intentionally answering for another (an unlikely event), the explanation will be he had a similar or the same first name as Dan. That kinda puts the poor DM back in the box again.

I have always been puzzled as to why the buddies Dan got separated from at the start of the first dive were not looking for him on board at the end of the dive just to make sure he made it back.

I can easily believe that someone adrift in that channel in fog for 3 to 5 hours (reports differ as to the time) might well be afraid they weren’t going to make it.

In the end, this looks like a series of mistakes that individually might not have resulted in Dan being left behind, but together added up to a perfect storm for Dan.

 

[Scott L]

From the outset Dan has generally gotten trashed by the local dive community. He certainly made mistakes that created the situation, which will reduce any damages a jury may find, but I don’t think that necessarily absolves the dive operator from not knowing they were leaving him in the ocean.

I am not surprised that Dan has not admitted to doing anything wrong. I am not sure anyone has.

If the DM has claimed that someone answered for Dan, he might have a hard time convincing a jury of that unless someone steps forward and admits it. Unless that person admits to intentionally answering for another (an unlikely event), the explanation will be he had a similar or the same first name as Dan. That kinda puts the poor DM back in the box again.

I have always been puzzled as to why the buddies Dan got separated from at the start of the first dive were not looking for him on board at the end of the dive just to make sure he made it back.

I can easily believe that someone adrift in that channel in fog for 3 to 5 hours (reports differ as to the time) might well be afraid they weren’t going to make it.

In the end, this looks like a series of mistakes that individually might not have resulted in Dan being left behind, but together added up to a perfect storm for Dan.

Nice post. It sems a simple head count in addition to a voice acknoweledged roll call
should be universally adopted due to the defences allegation and the real posibility of a similar situation occuring...

 

[Oside Jimc]

Neighbors have been going through a nasty divorce. Two years later, the lawyers are $250,000 richer.

The Lawyers see green by making the client see red.... They do love to stir the pot.

 

[CompuDude]

Trial is set to start 2/1. Then perhaps things will finally get really interesting!

I'm REALLY tempted to pull down some of the papers in this case.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Opening arguments;
Scuba diver sues, says boat left him behind | carlock, dive, attorney - News - The Orange County Register

A scuba diver left at sea by a charter boat crew in 2004 thought he would never make it back to shore, his attorney told a jury Tuesday.

"At some point he knew he was going to die. He just wondered how," Scott P. Koepke, lawyer for Daniel E. Carlock, told a civil jury in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Scuba diver sues, says boat left him behind

Carlock filed a $4 million lawsuit against Ocean Adventures Dive and Sun Diver Charters in January 2005. The trial will deal with his allegations of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Defense attorneys said in their opening statements Tuesday that Carlock, 51, was careless and didn't follow rules for safe diving, City News Service reported.

"This is a case more about trying to shift responsibility to others and not taking responsibility for yourself in an adventure sport," said Stephen L. Hewitt, who represents Ocean Adventures Dive Co.

Carlock didn't confirm who his diving buddy was before the dive, Hewitt said. He also surfaced far from the oil rig where he was supposed to come up and should have tried to swim closer to the vessel before it left, Hewitt told jurors.

On the morning of April 25, 2004, in foggy conditions, Carlock was left about seven miles off Newport Beach, after he was separated from about 20 other divers.

At the second location, the boat staff members noticed Carlock was gone, and called the U.S. Coast Guard to the second dive site to look for him.

In 2004, the Register reported that Carlock was swimming with three dive buddies when he had problems equalizing the pressure in his ears and fell behind. He tried following his partners' bubbles, but he lost them.

He decided to end his dive after 15 minutes, but when he surfaced, he was 400 feet down current from an oil platform where the boat was anchored. He figured he couldn't make the up-current swim and decided to wait, blowing his whistle as loud as he could.

"I figured when the dive was over, they would realize I was missing and come looking for me," Carlock said at the time.

They never came.

Carlock's attorney said Tuesday that Carlock floated, prayed, took pictures of himself and kept a log of what was happening with a waterproof pencil and slate attached to his wetsuit.

Boy Scouts sailing back to the Newport Sea Scout base from Santa Catalina Island rescued Carlock after five hours.

Crew trainee Zack Mayberry, 15, was on watch at the stern of the Scout's century-old tall ship, Argus.

Mayberry thought he noticed a balloon or debris floating in the sea. He grabbed his binoculars to take a closer look. About 150 yards away, Carlock's head was sticking out of the water, and he was waving a bright, yellow-green tube.

Mayberry handed the binoculars to a friend, who confirmed. "Man overboard!" they yelled.

The Boy Scout troop from San Diego had drilled the rescue procedure just a day before.

The Scouts gave Carlock warm clothes, a sandwich and hot coffee.

Koepke, Carlock's attorney, said that his client was badly sunburned from being in the ocean for hours and developed skin cancer. He had the cancerous lesions removed but continues to suffer physical and emotional trauma, Koepke said.

Bradley A. Snyder, an attorney for Andy Huber, a member of the dive crew, criticized Carlock for not establishing who his diving companion was before entering the water.

Carlock claims that Huber was his dive buddy.

Snyder said that Huber was on board teaching a student at the time.

Matthew Monroe, attorney for Sundiver Charters, said the captain did all that was required of him and performed a "textbook search" when he realized Carlock was missing.

Defense attorneys say the cancer Carlock developed likely had its origin when he lived under years of sunshine in Florida.

City News Service and staff writer Brian Martinez contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: jcassidy@ocregister.com or 714-704-3782

 

[Teamcasa]

More here:
Trial begins in lawsuit filed by diver left stranded in ocean | Los Angeles Wave - Community News, Sports & Entertainment | Regional News

In Part: "This is a case more about trying to shift responsibility to others and not taking responsibility for yourself in an adventure sport," said Stephen L. Hewitt, who represents Ocean Adventures Dive Co.

 

[Scott L]

As I recall from reading the thread months ago the captain/captain's crew relied upon the guest's diving leader for a roll-call/head-count. I believe this misjudgement will cost the boat's insurance carrier some bucks....

 

[drbill]

When I was diving the King Neptune, we required a visual confirmation during roll call. The DMs were usually very good at getting to know names and faces quickly. I only remembered the beautiful single ones.

 

[Teamcasa]

More today:
From the THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Captain: Don't blame me for leaving driver behind | carlock, dive, second - News - The Orange County Register

 

[merxlin]

The title is not a quote, 2 sentences of testimony and 9 paragraphs of rehash. Gotta love it.