3 Divers lost on the Spiegel Grove

[pt40fathoms]

Panic, tunnel vision resulting from the panic, which I don't doubt for one moment was a major driving factor.

A silted out enclosed space, and no line leading to safety and or air.

A dive made into a deep enclosed space with insufficient air (based on the rule of thirds).

I could go on, but I'll resort to keeping this short.

All this and more are lessons we all hope our students can learn without first hand experience, and take serious notice of. It doesn't always happen, and once we're finished with them, they are free to do as they wish. It's tragedies like this that make us step back and pause, asking ourselves the question "will anyone I know, or had as a student, make similar errors in judgement that lead to tragedy".

This was no doubt supposed to be a happy event, with everyone looking forward to recounting the days dives later that day over a few golden refeshments. I just hope that many of you reading this thread who are new or even experienced divers, take a moment and realize just how this happened, and take steps to ensure we never talk about you in this forum! I know I will.

 

[Missdirected]

This was no doubt supposed to be a happy event, with everyone looking forward to recounting the days dives later that day over a few golden refeshments. I just hope that many of you reading this thread who are new or even experienced divers, take a moment and realize just how this happened, and take steps to ensure we never talk about you in this forum! I know I will.

Excellent post.

 

[Cacia]

yea, I agree. This is not a mistake new divers make. This is a lesson for experienced capable divers who are pretty sure the dive will be no problem. Divers get called to do certain dives, a certain way and no one can really change that.

Nothing more than "note to self" is really effective or reasonable.

We all like to reserve the right to do a given dive the way we choose, sometimes you miscalculate.

I am really impressed with the divers that did the recovery dive. Outanding, took guts.

 

[trtldvr]

Catherine,
As one of the divers from the Sheriff's Office involved in the recovery, thankyou for your post, and I as I have mentioned in an erlier post the techies from Key Largo did the the real hairy diving.
I guesse guts were involved, but the bigger factors that I was most impressed with is something that all divers at all levels could walk away with. The recovery was very well planned and more importantly everyone involved showed great discipline in sticking to the plan. The recovery was to be carried out in stages. It is often tempting when in the situation to do more, to make it easier for the next stage, this is where divers get into trouble. A face to face conversation took place on the boat deck between teams befor the next stage began. It was made clear to all involved that if anyone ran into difficulties with completing their task as planned that they must stop and we would discuss it on the surface and adjust the plan if needed. Noone was to change the plan on the bottom.
This planning and discipline greatly increased safety. Just something to think about.

 

[uspap]

trtldvr

I've dove with the head of the sheriffs dive team locally. (recreationally not professional). Your skills are impressive. In reading the thread it became obvious the mistakes made. I would be interested in knowing the thought process and planning that went into the recovery. I know it goes way beyond running a line and stage bottles. That info might stop others from thinking it requires little thought. What were the hidden possibilities you had to take into consideration? I'm not looking for a recount of the recovery. I'm interested in the planning that should go into this type of dive.

 

[Missdirected]

trtldvr

I've dove with the head of the sheriffs dive team locally. (recreationally not professional). Your skills are impressive. In reading the thread it became obvious the mistakes made. I would be interested in knowing the thought process and planning that went into the recovery. I know it goes way beyond running a line and stage bottles. That info might stop others from thinking it requires little thought. What were the hidden possibilities you had to take into consideration? I'm not looking for a recount of the recovery. I'm interested in the planning that should go into this type of dive.

I'd be interested in hearing this as well. I especially liked this point, " It is often tempting when in the situation to do more, to make it easier for the next stage, this is where divers get into trouble."

Reminding, yet again, to not push that envelope.

 

[my1ocean]

Been away from SB for a while. Came across this one and thought I could contribute to the last bit here.
Dunno if this thread is still active or not, but I'll throw in my two cents.

Before the dives to locate the bodies, there was a face to face meeting with the survivor. He was able to describe things he saw and aspects of the wreck that let the initial dive team know where to look. The bodies were located and that was it for the first day. When the bodies were located the divers were disciplined enough to know that there needed to be a cohesive plan for removal rather than "just go and get them".

A recovery dive team was assembled from a pool of qualified divers. The team met with all the agencies involved the morning of the proposed recovery. Everyone was breifed on who was involved and what was to be expected from each diver and surface support personel. Ego's were stowed. They had to be. Everyone realized for this to come off without a hitch, there was no room for heros.

On site, each member of the recovery team was well briefed/debriefed before and after each dive. The most important thing we did was the face to face between dive teams. The team just surfacing went over everything they did on the dive and described, in detail, where things were left and how. As trtldvr stated, no one did more than their job and any dive alterations were made on the surface with ample communication. Everyone knew at all times what everyone else was doing. No surprises. The recovery couldn't have gone smoother.

The lessons go back to your open water training. Plan your dive, dive your plan. One thing I would add to this mantra; start with a good plan.