Article on Death In Ginnie Springs

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Rosborne

Contributor
Messages
175
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Location
Canada
# of dives
500 - 999
I'm going to say that I think the conduct of the police in this matter is not unusual.

Unless something points to a suspicion of a criminal nature, then it is a dive accident.

Dive accident analysis is not a police matter.

In my area, the ME's office would likely be the one testing the tank and having a quick look at the scuba gear.
 
I am not cave certified - but I always thought it was a team approach to diving. Same or near same configuration and gas contents and reserve. Why would he chose not to dive the same mix in this team setting?
 
As I read the article, you are saying that the findings of a respected cave instructor, which were that the gas inside the cylinder matched the markings on the cylinder and the symptoms demonstrated by the diver, are sufficiently dubious as to render the cause of the accident completely unknown.

Clearly, you liked Carlos, and you took some heat for defending him. But I think your article is specious.
 
As I read the article, you are saying that the findings of a respected cave instructor, which were that the gas inside the cylinder matched the markings on the cylinder and the symptoms demonstrated by the diver, are sufficiently dubious as to render the cause of the accident completely unknown.

Clearly, you liked Carlos, and you took some heat for defending him. But I think your article is specious.

Actually, I'm not sure it rises to the level of specious. Ridiculous and silly is closer.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
This is a follow up article to one I wrote about a year ago. I managed to get some research done on the incident so I decided to put together another piece.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/../../robert-osborne/death-in-the-devil-redux_b_4826464.html

Please feel free to comment.

Robert

Keep digging and something will eventually come out.

The story we have been fed while possible is implausible.

There must be a little more to it.
 
Keep digging and something will eventually come out.

The story we have been fed while possible is implausible.

There must be a little more to it.

I don't know why there has to be more to it.

A couple of years ago a man in south Florida was planning to do a dive but had an accident that broke his foot. He could not dive for a couple of months, and when he got back into it, he took his doubles for a dive on the Hydro Atlantic, with a maximum depth of about 170 feet. He remembered that they had been filled with air when he broke his foot. He remembered wrong. They were filled with 36%, and his failure to double check that memory proved fatal.

It can happen.
 
People, including experienced people, do stupid/careless/lazy stuff all the time. I thought the gun was empty until I pulled the trigger, I thought the garage door was up until I put the car in reverse, I thought my air was turned on .......

I see nothing that makes the having the wrong gas implausible.
 
A little over a year ago, I was present for a dive incident in which the content of the tanks was a factor. The diver was rushed to the hospital, and the police convened to look at the gear. The analysis was done by a respected dive expert, a man often called upon to do body recoveries--Edd Sorenson. Analyzing a tank is not rocket science. He did it in front of everyone while the police took notes. The police asked questions that showed that they did not know a thing about this process or its significance. We had to explain the concept of oxygen toxicity to them. They accepted those results, as I would have if I were in their shoes.
 
When forensic evaluation of a diver's gear is called for here in the Seattle area, the gear is sent to one of the local dive shops, where the gas is analyzed and the gear is tested. I wonder if there is ANYWHERE where there are enough diving accidents for a police department to employ diving specialists. My guess is that they always depend on outside experts, and I have no doubt at all that a respected cave instructor can analyze the contents of a tank.
 

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