Accident at Lake Rawlings Sunday 05/27/2012

[BDSC]

Thanks for the post. We'll see how this sorts out but the timelines suggest that the diver wasn't discovered as missing until everyone surfaced following the safety stop. Sounds odd to me. At the latest the instructor would have noticed someone missing at the beginning of the stop and I doubt they would have hung around doing an optional 3 minute stop when someone was missing.

I agree it sounds odd. I can't imagine an instructor not noticing a diver is missing until a safety stop was completed.

I was talking to a local instructor here in the Raleigh area and he said when they get to the part where they are doing the tour around the quarry, he pairs up buddy teams. (He keeps his classes to a max of four.) Before the dive and during class he goes over what it means to be a good buddy and what you should and should not do and even thought they are new divers, he expects them to display, at least to some degree, those buddy skills. I'm not sure if teaching that is required anymore but he does it. He said he always tells them if he turns around, he better not find one diver missing. It better be two.

 

[HIGHwing]

I agree it sounds odd. I can't imagine an instructor not noticing a diver is missing until a safety stop was completed.

Well you know what they say about teaching Open Water, "You're either in control, or out of control". Based on what we understand which includes the information herein, it appears impossible the student diver ever left the deep water portion of the tour. The entire concept of her transiting with the class to the other side of the lake for the 3-minute safety stop, is improbable at best. There were far too many witnesses underwater for that to go "unnoticed".

I'll be watching the PADI Consumer Alerts Page to see if the instructor gets expelled in the coming days/weeks. A very similar thing happened on April 14th, 2012 where a ratio violation was cited in a fatality [Oasis Diver Grand Turk] and PADI expelled the Dive Shop and the Instructor(s) on May 23rd, 2012. I'll be surprised if we don't see an equally aggressive stance by PADI on this this accident. It's reasonably clear we have a standards violation (do not leave students unattended either on the surface or underwater) which proceeds a fatality; I see no reason why PADI would conclude this accident warrants a dissimilar outcome.

 

[AwkwardSwimmer]

So I don't normally post on scubaboard. I really normally avoid it but I have been following this post with interest.

Well you know what they say about teaching Open Water, "You're either in control, or out of control". Based on what we understand which includes the information herein, it appears impossible the student diver ever left the deep water portion of the tour. The entire concept of her transiting with the class to the other side of the lake for the 3-minute safety stop, is improbable at best. There were far too many witnesses underwater for that to go "unnoticed".

Following the facts of this incident I would like to say that I agree with HIGHwing. Based on where the skills were completed, where the body was found, and where the group exited this water you can reasonably put together where the group swam underwater.

As terrible as it is, accidents happen and occasionally the dive community loses a diver. Whether is was a medical issue, equipment problem, poor planning or poor decision making at specific time of the incident tragedy can still strike. BUT FOR A DIVER TO BE LEFT BEHIND?? If we are to learn from this, as is the purpose of this forum, we need to realize that instructors must have their head screwed on straight. Looking at the established timelines of when the group entered the water, when they exited the water, and when others were notified of a missing diver there are terrible issues I see with all of this.

Instructors must be constantly verifying that their students are with them (even if it is just a quick head count)
Instructors must respond appropriately when issues arise such as a diver who is missing. Even if they just got mixed up in another group it is a dire necessity for safety and proper role modeling that every incident is treated seriously. How does it go? "Diving is serious fun"
Instructors MUST be able to say when they have made a mistake. From what people have been saying it seems that the group was out of the water for a decent amount of time before any in water search was initiated, before anyone else even knew that there might be a problem.

How did NONE of this happen?? It has also been stated that the instructor was the owner of a dive shop, presumably a seasoned instructor. I use the word seasoned and not experienced because experience should keep at least some of this from happening...or is that me being to optimistic?

I'll be watching the PADI Consumer Alerts Page to see if the instructor gets expelled in the coming days/weeks. A very similar thing happened on April 14th, 2012 where a ratio violation was cited in a fatality [Oasis Diver Grand Turk] and PADI expelled the Dive Shop and the Instructor(s) on May 23rd, 2012. I'll be surprised if we don't see an equally aggressive stance by PADI on this this accident. It's reasonably clear we have a standards violation (do not leave students unattended either on the surface or underwater) which proceeds a fatality; I see no reason why PADI would conclude this accident warrants a dissimilar outcome.

It is crucial to watch for what PADI's decision is on this matter. Expelling this divers instructor will show that in their opinion the instructor was completely at fault for what has happened. There is absolutely no excuse for any instructor to lose a student for such a long amount of time.

Not only should something like this should never happen, but so many parts of this story should never happen.

To be fair...if they don't it will provide us other information. It could show us that this was a just a freak accident, it could show us where we should tighten up our safety going beyond established standards or common practices.

I'm sorry I didn't quote other people in this, the information I am drawing from comes from this forum and from people I have spoken with at the quarry. If anyone has any corrections or additional information I would love to hear it.

 

[Nylorac]

I personally believe that 6 to 1 is too high for new open water divers, especially without a DM. There should be specific visibility per student standards as well.

I disagree with a previous poster, diving can be dangerous. You can lose your life doing it, this isn't something that agencies want to focus on as it is bad for marketing but it's the truth.
I believe the probability is sufficiently low that the rewards are worth it, however that's a decision I make and involve my family in that risk assessment. Others should do the same.

I feel so bad for this loss. I agree that in a cold, limited viz location 6 to 1 is too high for new divers getting certified. I also agree that visibility (and water temp/gear) should be considered for per student standards. My certification was at Dutch Springs, PA - cold and murky. No previous experience in cold water gear - hood, gloves, seven mil and extra weight. It was NOTHING like the pool we trained in and I found it very intimidating. During the air sharing skill I just lost it and bolted - luckily the DM helping just grabbed my leg and pulled me back (we had eight being certified and our instructor, 2 DMs and a trainee). He kept me calm, I stayed down and finished and we discussed what to do/not to do afterward. It was a valuable experience and taught me to stay calm - I don't think there is much better advice. So while it is not required I would recommend that anyone getting newly certified especially in cold water look for a dive shop that brings extra hands to help for open water certification.

 

[HIGHwing]

I personally believe that 6 to 1 is too high for new open water divers, especially without a DM. There should be specific visibility per student standards as well.

It's a neat thought isn't it? What you're really saying is that the training organizations should not only provide a training framework with education and community standards, but also purposefully create a system of standardized judgment. I don't think you can standardize judgment, or even conclude that you could be all inclusive in your attempt. Even if you did provide visibility minimums, I think you'd discover the concept becomes quickly impractical. One diver falls down in the sand, silt, goo, or whatever and you've got a dust storm, algae soup, or other obscuring phenomenon. Do we suddenly whip out our mythical VMG (Visibility Measuring Gauge) and determine we just violated standards, or do we train our divers a little harder in the pool and have those students as prepared as possible for the environments we utilize? Does an instructor acknowledge s/he may have to delay a class if our judgment foretells the environment requires a dive professional to student ratio that is not sufficient on this day? My answer is yes, and this situation is already conveyed in the various agencies’ instructor manuals.

Many environmental variables impact visibility including the fact that the visibility is not always equal at equal distances when the sun is factored into an area of water where there is a large concentration of suspended material present. You recalled your Open Water class in your post. At some point in that class you were likely asked to work the compass with fin cycles, essentially you were asked to estimate straight-line distance. I would wager that on average most [student] divers are going to have a significant difficulty accurately estimating distance underwater. I can foresee a lot of frustrated divers calling the training organizations stating the conditions were so bad that it was like 2” of vis! I can also recall hanging on a deco stop recently in the blue-space of the ocean thinking man the visibility is either amazing or nothing.

As an instructor who frequents this quarry, I think six divers in 20’ of visibility is manageable if the students are all rock-stars. However, I’m very conservative. I’ve been known to bring a DM for as little as one student in prior outings, for a special use case (not environmental). I make no condemnation of having one professional with six students, but that presumes the divers are kept in the shallow water at all times, in the best visibility portions of the lake, and essentially (whether or not the divers know it) if I were doing the class the students would constantly be swimming their tours against the quarry wall with a 25’f bottom and me on the outside of all the divers. In this arrangement, the divers can’t go down, they can’t go left or right, and they’ll still have a good time seeing things along the way.

I think you'll find that in warm, calm, and clear Caribbean waters (or similar conditions); an instructor would have no problem conducting a class of 8-students throughout the open water checkout dives. In fact, you'd be surprised to know it's probably done somewhere nearly every day. The major training organizations allow such ratios, because frankly, it's manageable under certain circumstances provided efficiency is not your primary objective.

Veteran quarry divers may rush to point out the necessity of lower ratios, perhaps via additional assistants. The aforementioned represents a valid strategy to maintain visual contact with all the students in the class both underwater and on the surface. The training organizations appear to have acknowledged long ago the environment should be the largest variable to the education process, and they rely on instructors using their best judgment to keep the class safe.

This isn’t a new concept, and it isn’t as if this type of accident happens with any frequency, but this accident is a crystal clear reminder of how quickly things can go so terribly wrong.

 

[Colliam7]

I was at Rawlings that weekend and can provide these additional insights:
The Victim was found in 50+ ft of water, facedown Regulator out. I presume that the diver was found near the boats on the ledge at 50 ft, based on the various descriptions.
The Instructor did not have a CA Thank you. That was presumed, but not previously confirmed.
The Search for the Victim began shortly after 12:00 when a small group of divers (on shore) were notified that a diver was missing.
Overheard and third party information
3rd party - The instructor and class surfaced at approx 11:25 - 11:30 after completing a 3 min safety stop skill.

I suspect that what troubles many folks is the gap between when the group apparently surfaced (~11:30), and when the diver was noted to be missing (?). The search was started 'shortly after 12', but it isn't clear when the instructor noted there was a problem.

The other issue that has been raised, but not fully clarified is, 'Who was this diver's buddy?'. Several posts suggest that the victim's husband was the buddy. Is that accurate? Can it be confirmed?

Another issue that troubles me is the reported visibility. Yes, it is a quarry. But, I have been there a number of times in May (and June, July, and August), and 20' seems like rather poor visibility, for that site, at that time of year. However, if other divers who were present can confirm, it would be helpful.

Personally, I do not take OW student divers below 40' at Rawlings, simply because of the temperatures. That is NOT a criticism of the instructor in this case, rather a statement of my personal practices as an instructor, using Rawlings. I do take them to the edge of the drop-off on the opposite side (i.e. toward the bus). But, I let them sample the thermocline at ~40 ft, and then have them ascend to ~ 30 ft and continue the tour in the shallower areas. I know the area where I THINK the victim was found, but I could be wrong. It does not happen to be a site where I would take an OW student on Dive 3, OR Dive 4 for that matter.

I hope that we learn a) whether the 'tour' included taking divers to that particular depth and area identified, and b) what the actual time interval was between the group surfacing, and a diver being noted as missing. The data presented so far do not seem to be entirely understandable.

 

[HIGHwing]

Expelling this divers instructor will show that in their opinion the instructor was completely at fault for what has happened. There is absolutely no excuse for any instructor to lose a student for such a long amount of time.

The expulsion was official yesterday.

 

[BDSC]

The expulsion was official yesterday.

Was it just the instructor or the entire shop?

Nevermind. I just checked their website and the owner/instructor no longer appears on the website as part of the staff.

 

[hypertech]

The expulsion was official yesterday.

Where do you find this information?

 

[BDSC]

I suspect because HIGHwing is an instructor, he has access to information like that thru PADI that most of us won't be able to find. Probably an area on the PADI website that only professional level folks can log in to.