MRXRAY
Contributor
Wow. Very tough news! My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved!
Accident at Vortex Springs 8-20-10
- Thread starter Cave Diver
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My prayers go out to the victim, his family, and to those involved in his recovery.
c
c
My strongest best wishes and thanks to the brave and stoic folks who do these recovery dives. May you dive safely.
God bless...can't sleep worrying about it...
ElleDrewinTN
Registered
A friend directed me to this thread today and as a friend of the missing diver, I feel compelled to post about him.
I don't want to disclose his name out of respect for his family but I would like to say that B has an amazing zest for life. He's an inspiring individual who loved not only to dive but to climb as well. His facebook is scattered with all kinds of pictures of his random adventures, whether they are underwater or on a mountain, and I would be lying if I said I didn't envy how adventurous he was and even aspire to be more like him in that regard.
This is hitting a small community back here in Memphis pretty hard. B was a huge influence in our community of friends a few years ago, when we were all a lot younger and "wilder" if you will. Not only did he throw some of the best events, his house parties are almost legend around here. He is always the life of the party where ever he goes and his smile and ability to have a good time is infectious. I know that I, along with many others fear that we are going to have to face the fate of having to hold on to memories instead of laughing with him per usual.
Not only was he the life of the party in his younger years but, imo, matured into an amazing humanitarian as well. This is not the first time tragedy has struck his family. Two years ago this Sept he lost his younger brother very unexpectedly. His younger brother had donated all his organs and this touched B in a way that changed him forever. Instead of losing himself in his grief, he with his older brother created a foundation to honor their little brother. The foundation raises money to spread awareness about organ donation. B is also an active member of the Donate Life community and would take every and any opportunity to educate about how important organ donation is. He is actually the reason I have a little heart beside my photo on my driver's license now. What hurts my heart the most, is that if B has met his untimely fate, he was robbed of donating the very thing he advocated so valiantly, life.
Thank you all for your heartfelt concern, warm thoughts and prayers for not only him but his family and friends as well. I will be forwarding this thread along to several other friends of B and will continue to pray alongside this wonderful diving community for not only a friend but for the search teams as well.
Much love,
A worried friend in TN
I don't want to disclose his name out of respect for his family but I would like to say that B has an amazing zest for life. He's an inspiring individual who loved not only to dive but to climb as well. His facebook is scattered with all kinds of pictures of his random adventures, whether they are underwater or on a mountain, and I would be lying if I said I didn't envy how adventurous he was and even aspire to be more like him in that regard.
This is hitting a small community back here in Memphis pretty hard. B was a huge influence in our community of friends a few years ago, when we were all a lot younger and "wilder" if you will. Not only did he throw some of the best events, his house parties are almost legend around here. He is always the life of the party where ever he goes and his smile and ability to have a good time is infectious. I know that I, along with many others fear that we are going to have to face the fate of having to hold on to memories instead of laughing with him per usual.
Not only was he the life of the party in his younger years but, imo, matured into an amazing humanitarian as well. This is not the first time tragedy has struck his family. Two years ago this Sept he lost his younger brother very unexpectedly. His younger brother had donated all his organs and this touched B in a way that changed him forever. Instead of losing himself in his grief, he with his older brother created a foundation to honor their little brother. The foundation raises money to spread awareness about organ donation. B is also an active member of the Donate Life community and would take every and any opportunity to educate about how important organ donation is. He is actually the reason I have a little heart beside my photo on my driver's license now. What hurts my heart the most, is that if B has met his untimely fate, he was robbed of donating the very thing he advocated so valiantly, life.
Thank you all for your heartfelt concern, warm thoughts and prayers for not only him but his family and friends as well. I will be forwarding this thread along to several other friends of B and will continue to pray alongside this wonderful diving community for not only a friend but for the search teams as well.
Much love,
A worried friend in TN
OP
Elle,
Thank you for your insight. Once more details about the incident are known we typically start a condolences thread in memory of the victim. You should probably be aware that the threads here in the accident section usually go over details about the dive and discussions about what went wrong. While we try to keep it as respectful as possible, sometimes it can be very difficult for friends and family to follow along, due to the nature of the conversation.
Our thoughts go out to you and other friends and family members.
-John
Mark Michaud SELAUSAR
Contributor
For informational purposes as there have been questions concerning the Vortex "system". I am one of the few divers that dive this passage a good bit. Just had Lasik so I am out of the water for another few weeks. Bugman (Mat) is another, that dives it with me, or me with him and he is assisting in this. Please keep him, and the other recovery divers, in your thoughts as this is an awful thing to have to do.
Vortex cave is not very long. 300'p to the gate at 120 ffw. Off to the left of, and before, the gate, is a section of very silty s/m cave that has been permanently gated. A person could squeeze past if they wanted. Before that (toward the entrance) is another little section that doesn't go far but a person could get stuck there too. Beyond the gate it goes maybe another 500 or 600' tops (estimation). There is a duck under that can be done in b/m, and then a section about 250' long that is best done in s/m. Belly to back in b/m digging throught he sand if you go through in b/m. Before that section there is a fissure crack, and before that a passage that is low and silty and maybe not diveable. At least one other, and myself tried to push it and it is too nasty. After the low section it opens up and dead ends. This is all around 120ffw. Just before the dead end it goes right and down to about 150 ffw. It goes left at this point and is only backmountable for a few feet. Sidemount goes a few hundred feet at most, last time I was there. It is not an extensive cave like JB or the likes, but it is not a novice dive either. Vortex Cave has claimed more than a few lives and only a few were over medical reasons.
As far as the key, there has only been 2 for some time. Eduardo had one and the desk had the other. The other has always been hard to keep up with. I have used Eduardo's on many occasions. We always lock the chain and lock, with the gate open. Not really a big deal. Wrap the chain around the grate and lock it. Pull the gate closed to keep ow divers from wandering in, or push it open and leave it. It takes work to move it either way. Whether or not a key was given out, I won't speculate. After reading everything on the web, victim may or may not be beyond the gate. My intro / cavern instructor recovered a diver who was on the exit side of the gate that others missed, and in one of the, above, mentioned areas.
As far as the comments about solo, Smith is talking out of turn, if he actually said that. News outlets are notorious for writing what they think you said. I took a police diving class with Mark Smith in 2002 or 2003. He is a reserve Dty with one of the Baton Rouge Parish SO's (east or west). Either way, it is such an uneccesary loss and my thoughts are with his family. Mark Michaud
Vortex cave is not very long. 300'p to the gate at 120 ffw. Off to the left of, and before, the gate, is a section of very silty s/m cave that has been permanently gated. A person could squeeze past if they wanted. Before that (toward the entrance) is another little section that doesn't go far but a person could get stuck there too. Beyond the gate it goes maybe another 500 or 600' tops (estimation). There is a duck under that can be done in b/m, and then a section about 250' long that is best done in s/m. Belly to back in b/m digging throught he sand if you go through in b/m. Before that section there is a fissure crack, and before that a passage that is low and silty and maybe not diveable. At least one other, and myself tried to push it and it is too nasty. After the low section it opens up and dead ends. This is all around 120ffw. Just before the dead end it goes right and down to about 150 ffw. It goes left at this point and is only backmountable for a few feet. Sidemount goes a few hundred feet at most, last time I was there. It is not an extensive cave like JB or the likes, but it is not a novice dive either. Vortex Cave has claimed more than a few lives and only a few were over medical reasons.
As far as the key, there has only been 2 for some time. Eduardo had one and the desk had the other. The other has always been hard to keep up with. I have used Eduardo's on many occasions. We always lock the chain and lock, with the gate open. Not really a big deal. Wrap the chain around the grate and lock it. Pull the gate closed to keep ow divers from wandering in, or push it open and leave it. It takes work to move it either way. Whether or not a key was given out, I won't speculate. After reading everything on the web, victim may or may not be beyond the gate. My intro / cavern instructor recovered a diver who was on the exit side of the gate that others missed, and in one of the, above, mentioned areas.
As far as the comments about solo, Smith is talking out of turn, if he actually said that. News outlets are notorious for writing what they think you said. I took a police diving class with Mark Smith in 2002 or 2003. He is a reserve Dty with one of the Baton Rouge Parish SO's (east or west). Either way, it is such an uneccesary loss and my thoughts are with his family. Mark Michaud
DogHouseDiver
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I was on Team 3 of 3 teams last night. I will not mention names at this time.
Holmes County Sheriff setup incident command with EMS and volunteers, and a few hours of safety discussion, dive planning, and gear preparation occurred before any attempt was made. The volunteers were divided by skill set and mission into 3 teams, 2 search teams and 1 support team. Team 1 was a team of 3 divers. Team 2 was a team of 4 divers. Team 3 was a team of 2 divers.
I will allow the members of teams 1 and 2 to post their own comments about their dives so as not to mis-inform. Both of those teams made long and deep penetrations and did not sight the victim. Great effort was made by those teams pushng both depth and restrictions in attempts to locate the victim.
Team one surfaced reporting no sighting. Team 2 geared up and began their further push. Team 3 departed approx 15 mins after Team 2 to perform the tasks below:
As part of Team 3 we placed stage bottles at the buoy and inside the cavern entrace past the turn for ourselves and other teams. We placed a rescue litter/recovery basket at the cavern entrance and secured it with weights. Then we searched from the gate and backward, thoroughly checking all of the shallower (108ft and up) portions beginning at the gate in the Piano Room and back. We checked all obvious and tight restriction passages in Sidemount throughout the Piano Room. We visually checked the side cave that is blocked by rebar and has an old boat rope in it. This area has reportedly had other victims in the past and a cursory search was made of this by Team 1 on their dive. There is evidence of rebar bend from past dives, but we saw no obvious disturbance of recent dives. Exiting the cave we searched all of the small offshoot passages and sand banks. We also searched the cavern/cave entrace area and the pipeline all the way to its restriction into the main basin. Our goal was to double check and rule out any of the areas from the gate and out, while setting up the litter for recovery teams.
Team 3 exited with no sight of the victim, Team 2 was approximately 20 minutes behind Team 3 carrying the bulk of stage and deco bottles.
Having made no sighting, calls went out to additional recovery divers experienced in sidemount, restrictions, and deep diving (mix). The search was postponed around midnight. Team 3 re-entered to recover 3 stages and relocate the rescue basket to a spot in the cavern out of plain sight to O/W but easily accessible to Saturday's recovery team.
The family arrived onsite during the dives, and they are very appreciative of the efforts of all the EMS personnel and volunteers. My heart goes out to them.
Recovery efforts are scheduled to resume at 10am Saturday. Additional specialty divers are enroute to continue the search and recovery.
Holmes County Sheriff setup incident command with EMS and volunteers, and a few hours of safety discussion, dive planning, and gear preparation occurred before any attempt was made. The volunteers were divided by skill set and mission into 3 teams, 2 search teams and 1 support team. Team 1 was a team of 3 divers. Team 2 was a team of 4 divers. Team 3 was a team of 2 divers.
I will allow the members of teams 1 and 2 to post their own comments about their dives so as not to mis-inform. Both of those teams made long and deep penetrations and did not sight the victim. Great effort was made by those teams pushng both depth and restrictions in attempts to locate the victim.
Team one surfaced reporting no sighting. Team 2 geared up and began their further push. Team 3 departed approx 15 mins after Team 2 to perform the tasks below:
As part of Team 3 we placed stage bottles at the buoy and inside the cavern entrace past the turn for ourselves and other teams. We placed a rescue litter/recovery basket at the cavern entrance and secured it with weights. Then we searched from the gate and backward, thoroughly checking all of the shallower (108ft and up) portions beginning at the gate in the Piano Room and back. We checked all obvious and tight restriction passages in Sidemount throughout the Piano Room. We visually checked the side cave that is blocked by rebar and has an old boat rope in it. This area has reportedly had other victims in the past and a cursory search was made of this by Team 1 on their dive. There is evidence of rebar bend from past dives, but we saw no obvious disturbance of recent dives. Exiting the cave we searched all of the small offshoot passages and sand banks. We also searched the cavern/cave entrace area and the pipeline all the way to its restriction into the main basin. Our goal was to double check and rule out any of the areas from the gate and out, while setting up the litter for recovery teams.
Team 3 exited with no sight of the victim, Team 2 was approximately 20 minutes behind Team 3 carrying the bulk of stage and deco bottles.
Having made no sighting, calls went out to additional recovery divers experienced in sidemount, restrictions, and deep diving (mix). The search was postponed around midnight. Team 3 re-entered to recover 3 stages and relocate the rescue basket to a spot in the cavern out of plain sight to O/W but easily accessible to Saturday's recovery team.
The family arrived onsite during the dives, and they are very appreciative of the efforts of all the EMS personnel and volunteers. My heart goes out to them.
Recovery efforts are scheduled to resume at 10am Saturday. Additional specialty divers are enroute to continue the search and recovery.
If Vortex is correct by saying that the diver in question was not supposed to be behind the grate, then this marks the fourth diver in less than three years to die because they foolishly broke the number one rule of cave diving. It will be interesting to learn more about the individual's certification levels, to see if Vortex was correct or incorrect. (I don't want to speculate on what might have been a mistake on Vortex's part.)
If they were correct, then I would take issue with a supposed "expert" claiming the individual got into trouble due to solo diving, when accident analysis shows the much more dangerous rule to break is diving without training.
One thing we can all learn from this incident: tell someone your dive plan. This man is putting the lives of many other divers at risk as they search for him, and he eliminated all chances of it being a rescue instead of a recovery.
And friend of the assumed-deceased, please realize as others have stated that this is a thread for the discussion of the mistakes made by the deceased. We all wish to be respectful of the dead, but we must dissect their errors to learn from their mistakes. If your friend broke rules, which is often the case in a cave diving death, we will be discussing that, and it is very likely that such discussion would tend to be unsettling for a friend of relative of the deceased. There will be a memorial thread, or might already be, in the Passings forum, and that threat should contain nothing other than "prayers" and "memories" and other kind sayings. Feel free to read what you wish, but please be informed of the topics of discussion so you can choose to avoid discussions that might disturb you. I am sorry for your loss.
If they were correct, then I would take issue with a supposed "expert" claiming the individual got into trouble due to solo diving, when accident analysis shows the much more dangerous rule to break is diving without training.
One thing we can all learn from this incident: tell someone your dive plan. This man is putting the lives of many other divers at risk as they search for him, and he eliminated all chances of it being a rescue instead of a recovery.
And friend of the assumed-deceased, please realize as others have stated that this is a thread for the discussion of the mistakes made by the deceased. We all wish to be respectful of the dead, but we must dissect their errors to learn from their mistakes. If your friend broke rules, which is often the case in a cave diving death, we will be discussing that, and it is very likely that such discussion would tend to be unsettling for a friend of relative of the deceased. There will be a memorial thread, or might already be, in the Passings forum, and that threat should contain nothing other than "prayers" and "memories" and other kind sayings. Feel free to read what you wish, but please be informed of the topics of discussion so you can choose to avoid discussions that might disturb you. I am sorry for your loss.
OP
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