Divers death

There was a diving fatality yesterday on the wreck of the Chester A.
Poling (stern section, 100 fsw) off Eastern Point in Gloucester, MA. A
single tank diver was found unconscious and out of air at approximately
85-90 fsw on the wreck. He had been diving alone. A diver surfaced
off the wreck to alert those onboard that a diver was in trouble.
Another diver brought the victim to the surface where he was
subsequently recovered by a Coast Guard vessel, which was one of two
that had been called on scene. Attempts to revive him were
unsuccessful. A helicopter met with the vessel at the USCG station in
Gloucester. The diver had been diving from the Cape Ann Diver (Cape
Ann Divers, Gloucester, MA).

Our group also diving on site and aboard the Donna III assisted a
recovery swimmer in the effort. Approximately 30 min elapsed from the
time the captains and crew on the Cape Ann Diver were made aware of the
problem to the time of recovery of the victim by the USCG vessel. Two
rescue swimmers from the Cape Ann Diver escorted the victim to the USCG
vessel. Water temperature was 35-36 degrees and air temperature was
28-30 degrees. Seas were approximately 3 feet with winds West-
Southwest 15-20 kt.

The following is speculation: The diver likely experienced a free-flow
early in his dive, which emptied his tank rapidly on the bottom and the
diver drowned. It is unclear why the diver was not brought to the
surface by the first diver to encounter the victim.

http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/g/gstoryv2.pl?slug-FATEDIVE

Some pretty, uh, disturbing things in there....

Here's one;

Dotteror told the policeman that Kalinowski had come to him underwater and took his extra regulator. After Kalinowski took two breaths from it, he handed it back, the Worcester man said.

After Dotteror took two breaths, Dotteror said, Kalinowski took the regulator back. When he refused to return it, Dotteror started for the surface.

Another scuba diver, Shane Duclas of Chicoppee, told police he later brought Kalinowski up after finding him on the barge's deck.

The man did not have a regulator to an air tank in his possession, Duclas said.

Click to expand...

"Refused to return it"?!

Something I don't understand......

>>Dotteror told the policeman that Kalinowski had come to him underwater and took his extra regulator. After Kalinowski took two breaths from it, he handed it back, the Worcester man said.

After Dotteror took two breaths, Dotteror said, Kalinowski took the regulator back. When he refused to return it, Dotteror started for the surface. <<

If Kalinowski took Dotteror's "extra" regulater, why were they passing it back and forth? Wouldn't Dotteror still have his primary regulator?

Could someone please explain this to me?

This is about the scariest thing I've seen on this board.

the description in the story sounds absolutely bizarre.

It seems like it can be difficult to get a good synopsis of accident events from a non-diver, as I assume is the source for the article.

[PURE SPECULATION-CONJECTURE]But, based on what's being reported, it sounds to me like the OOA diver (Kalinowski) may have grabbed the primary second stage of Dotteror. From there, maybe they both forgot about Dotteror's octo, they panicked and didn't share or ascend properly. After not getting his primary reg back immediately, Dotteror, feeling endangered and wanting to just get away from the OOA diver, bolted to the surface, and Kalinowski drowned shortly thereafter.[/PURE SPECULATION-CONJECTURE]

If what I'm speculating is true, it would seem to support the idea of using a long hose primary with a bungee-necklace backup. A panicked OOA diver is likely to go for the reg in your mouth, the one they can see delivering air, not an octo clipped off somewhere on your right side. And if they do grab that one, then you'd be happy that your backup air is just inches away, under your chin.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved. What a horrible thing to go through.

Rick

The sentence that doesn't sound right especially if taken literally is,

" The man did not have a regulator to an air tank in his possession ."

Gearhead once bubbled...
It seems like it can be difficult to get a good synopsis of accident events from a non-diver, as I assume is the source for the article.

Click to expand...

I also agree with this statement.

Well I don't know what to make of this..........

Another diver death (the fourth MA diver to die this season) is so tragic. Cape Ann Divers is the top charter boat company around here (they keep up the moorings and ferry the most divers) and the Poling is the most popular wreck.

I have dove off both their boats many times and have many dives on the Poling. AOW is required for this dive and the crew and captains are excelllent. I was planning on diving the Poling next weekend and my last dive on her was on the day after Thanksgiving.

I just hope this death is finally a wake up call for people: this is New England, it's not the F'n carribean, this time of year there isn't much margin for the error, the water is 35deg. You screw up and you are going to die.

Diving alone with a single tank at 100' at this time of year is not acceptable and that other diver who shot up to the surface after air sharing went wrong, all I can say is maybe you aren't ready to dive an advanced wreck at this time of year if you can't keep your cool. There's no reason this guy should have died on the bottom out of air with all these people around him. If you don't want a 7' hose and you don't want to practice fine, just don't sign up for the Poling in feb.

I challenge anyone who knows this guy to defend diving alone with a single at this depth. These deaths are just not acceptable and I'm sure there will be ramifications for the whole community.

I'm so upset and mad, I feel bad for this man and his friends and families, but, what the hell happened out there.........

Anyone know who the captain was that day?

A single tank at 100' with no buddy, and not at least an "H" valve, is another matter. It cuts your margins substantially.

IMHO, the failure to successfully share gas to the surface is inexcusable. When the smelly stuff hits the air mover, you first have your own kit and redundancy, and then you have whoever is with you. This diver reached a "buddy" with a working gas supply, and died because that gas was not shared successfully with a controlled ascent.

Second, a freeflow at 100' on a single tank with no isolation capability is not a death sentence. It requires immediate action, but even with a single, if you have anything approaching rational gas management skills you can make a CESA and still have the gas to make the surface. You won't enjoy it, but you'll get there. Even if you have low gas at the time, a few breaths will get you there if you REALLY need to be. Worst case might be that you get bent due to an unsafe ascent rate, but assuming this guy was within the NDLs the hit shouldn't be life-threatening.

The write-up I quoted is deeply troubling. Its troubling because either the diver who he came to did not have a functioning spare second stage, or for whatever reason either or both of them failed to use it.

I don't understand the root cause of the incident here. What I do understand is that a diver died - and that it was avoidable.

I would love to see a full incident report on this, along with analysis of the dead diver's gear. If he had a malfunction of his SPG or something similar (e.g. he thought he had gas when in fact he was out), that might explain how he came to be out of air suddenly at 100'. Any kind of freeflow incident simply isn't a CF-style emergency - yeah, its a big problem, but it shouldn't lead to you expiring.