Accident in Bali Sunday 5th October 08

[Kaltim Diver]

I didn't see the actual incident reported but the Jakarta Post (English language newspaper published in Indonesia) said today a Divemaster may be charged over an incident causing the death of a Taiwanese diver and serious injury of the buddy.

I can't post the URL yet but Google "Negligent' diving instructor likely suspect in Taiwanese tourist's death" and The Jakarta Post to get the article.

Supposedly happened Sunday so would be the 5th of October. No more details than in the article.

KTD

 

[almitywife]

story here: 'Negligent' diving instructor likely suspect in Taiwanese tourist's death | The Jakarta Post

Negligent' diving instructor likely suspect in Taiwanese tourist's death

A diving instructor may be declared the sole suspect in a diving accident in which a Taiwanese tourist was killed and her husband injured, Bali Water Police said Monday.

"We have collected enough evidence to name Nyoman Mardiana, the diving instructor, as a suspect," head of the law enforcement unit at the Bali Water Police Adj. Comr. Rai Suwandi told The Jakarta Post.

"The charge will be centered on the fact that he had left the tourists unsupervised during the dive. So he was negligent about the safety of his clients."

During the initial questioning session, he added, Mardiana admitted he left the tourists and went to the surface for about five minutes to fetch a camera from the waiting boat.

Mardiana claimed the tourists had specifically asked him to get the camera.

When he dived again, Mardiana reportedly stated, the tourists were not where he had left them. Mardiana said he believed the fatal accident took place when he was still on the surface.

"Actually he should have ensured nothing was going to happen first before he left the tourists and went to the surface to get the camera," Suwandi said.

He said Mardiana would be charged with negligence resulting in loss of life, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

The accident took place Sunday in the area off Tanjung Benoa, about 30 kilometers southeast of Denpasar. Tanjung Benoa is the island's center of water sports.

The Taiwanese couple, Mong Bo Xue and Hao Ling Xia, took a diving trip with Mardiana. When the diving instructor eventually found the couple both were unconscious. He took them straight to the hospital.

Hao Ling Xia was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Her husband is in intensive care at the Kasih Ibu Hospital. Hao Ling Xia's body was taken to the Sanglah Central Hospital in Denpasar.

The details of the accident and the cause of death remain sketchy. Investigating officers currently believe the couple's scuba tanks had run out of oxygen, and will release further information in the next few days.

According to local newspapers, Bali Water Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Oka S Wara planned to summon the managers of Rai water sports, where Mardiana worked, to question them over the company's safety procedures.

"We will consider revoking the company's license if they fail to convince us they applied the right safety procedures," Wara said, as reported by Nusa Bali.

 

[ShakaZulu]

So, is it that easy to get in trouble as a divemaster? What about the divers looking after their own safety? Were they not certified? It's all BS if you ask me.....

 

[DandyDon]

Who knows. The story called them tourists. Might have been Discover students. They were both unconscious when he found them? Based on such scant and possibly incorrect info, it's lucky one of them is alive - but if they were Discover divers, no way he should have left them to get a camera - regardless of whose idea it was. But got to wonder about the facts....??

 

[Kaltim Diver]

One of the things that terrifies me when I'm leading or instructing on a dive is - what happens if the people you are leading get split up? Two DSDs, one panics and heads for the surface, the other stays on the bottom? Trying to get six students onto the bottom, five are on the bottom and one heads up? I've no idea of the depth of this incident above, however the temptation to just sneak up and grab a camera/spare mask/whatever often occurs, but I've never been able to bring myself to leave anyone behind without at least another experienced diver (DM if possible) in control.

I still haven't heard if the other victim has fully recovered, hard to imagine how both could have become unconscious on the bottom though, and lucky to have recovered anybody. The newspaper reports in this country generally aren't the most reliable (i.e. "ran out of oxygen").

KTD

 

[Gombessa]

"Actually he should have ensured nothing was going to happen first before he left the tourists and went to the surface to get the camera," Suwandi said.

Malarkey?

 

[David Bali]

Hi y'all, sorry responded this thread so late, haven't been here for a while and just saw this today

Actually I wonder why these accidents didn't happen more often
I am sure many non-fatal accidents went unreported.
for those of you who don't know, tanjung benoa is literally a 'tourist trap'
these tourists usually come from taiwan, korean and china
and are almost all on group package tours on a five day trip
one day's activity will be left out purposesly by the tour operators and are call 'free program' day.
but actually this ain't free at all
they are taken to tanjung benoa to one of the watersport companies
doing parasailing, snorkeling and diving (discover scuba diving)
and the tour guide stands to benefit from kickbacks from the operator

this 'kickback' problem does not limit to watersport/diving only, almost everywhere the guides take their guest to they want to make a buck on it. There was an incident where the guide left the whole bus of tourists stranded because the tourists refuse to buy anything when the guide took them to these 'tourist traps', so he does not make any money off them. pissed off, he drove off with the bus and left the tourists in bedugul, 2hours or more away from their hotels . We have a joke: 'the guides will charge commission even when visiting the toilet'.

Returning to diving;
some of the 'instructors' in tajung benoa are not instructors at all
they maybe DMs or even an OW diver
that aside, many of these tourists don't speak english or very little
and how do they understand the dangers involved if they don't even know the language???
in this case I do not know more details, but from indonesian media this guy was called 'dive guide', so it could have been he is not even an instructor. and according to the local report, at the time the current was running pretty hard, which is no place to take a DSD diver to at all

this problem is a vicious cycle; the local tour operator charge the guide a charge per head on the group, last I heard it was USD40 per head, so for a 20 pax group he'd have to pay $800 to the operator. so he'd have to make the money back somehow, and this is the result... guide will find a watersport company who pays the most kickback, which mean they make less and thus need to find ways to cut their cost, one way is to use divers who are not instructors who demand a higher salary/charge

to their credit I heard some guides will try to translate the DSD briefings
but with so many of their guests doing diffrent things at the same time
I am sure he cannot concentrate on only the DSDs
on top of that the tour guides are not divers (at least most of them)
even when translated, he may not be able to convey the true meaning of the briefing to his guests.

My heart goes out to the husband who lost his wife here
this is their honey moon. Can you imagine???

For certified divers, almost nobody goes to tanjung benoa
polution and the constant trampeling by tourists has left its mark here
we go to tulamben, nusa penida, tepekong and menjangan area for diving
but never tanjung benoa

I remember once an instructor told me
for openwater course students just take them to tajung benoa,
because when learning diving they won't notice their surrounding
and this way can save a lot of costs compare to dive on other sites in bali
but I disagree, thats why I never take my divers to tajung benoa

in Hainan, southern china, they conduct the more discover scuba diving than anywhere else in the world, its even worse from what I heard
discover scuba divers were not even taught about equalizing (and they don't have a language barrier)
and the DM/instructor would take them down until their ear hurts
and took them up when they complain and conclude the activity
I don't think every operator is like this but I've heard from many instructors on this matter which makes me think this is very credible, and if you read chinese you can go to many chinese traveling blogs talking about this matter...
I've never dived in Hainan but again from everyone who's been there before, they all say the reefs are in a very poor state there. What a shame, this is about the only place in china to dive, has been trashed too..

So avoid these two places if you can...

 

[orangiraffe]

Which Dive school is that? I thought of heading down to Bali this December. Gosh. What a freak accident. :depressed:

 

[scorpiofish]

Two DSDs, one panics and heads for the surface, the other stays on the bottom? Trying to get six students onto the bottom, five are on the bottom and one heads up?
KTD

If a student bolts to the surface, everyone goes back up. I wouldn't have 6 students without an assistant.

 

[H2Andy]

this is total b.s.

if these divers were certified divers (and no one seems to know whether they were or not), the dive master is guilty of nothing