Accident on Southern Cal Oil Rigs Dive

[Jonny Wishbone]

Understand that when your number is up and its time to go, it doesn't matter what you are doing and how much knowledge and experience you have, a mistake will be made because it is part of the equation. If today was your day to die and you knew you were going to be hit by a truck, you would stay home and think you have beaten death by not going anywhere only to choke on a piece of chicken you fixed yourself for lunch and die. You cannot alter this so I do not believe the guy was careless. In his mind he did check and did have the right regulator in his mouth and was breathing from the correct tank. I apologize to those of you that believe we are in control of our own destiny as I have no intention to offend anyone here. Its just the way I'm wired...

 

[boulderjohn]

Understand that when your number is up and its time to go, it doesn't matter what you are doing and how much knowledge and experience you have, a mistake will be made because it is part of the equation. If today was your day to die and you knew you were going to be hit by a truck, you would stay home and think you have beaten death by not going anywhere only to choke on a piece of chicken you fixed yourself for lunch and die. You cannot alter this so I do not believe the guy was careless. In his mind he did check and did have the right regulator in his mouth and was breathing from the correct tank. I apologize to those of you that believe we are in control of our own destiny as I have no intention to offend anyone here. Its just the way I'm wired...

Really? How does this mechanism work? Is there a being who decides what day you will die and how you will die, meaning that you have absolutely no control over any of it?

You can test this if you wish. Go to a 4-lane freeway and walk across it during heavy traffic in the dark of night. If it is your time to die, you will be hit. If not, you will come through just fine.

If you are right, then you have no reason to follow any safety protocols whatsoever.

 

[Hatul]

This question is not meant to be snarky at all: but how does someone start off a dive on their pony reg rather than primary? I carry an AL30 pony with pony reg held against valve with a loop of bungee cord. I sling pony on my left side. Pony reg is totally different model from primary.

Primary is on a long hose and secondary necklaced.

There is absolutely no way I’m going to mistake my pony reg for primary.

I wonder if the confusion is more of an issue for those who mount their pony off back tank?

I agree. I don’t want to criticize a dead man but he made some pretty big mistakes. And I’m not taking nitrox on a dive close to the MOD at a site with no bottom. And the pony has air not nitrox. Yes check the SPG frequently and don’t assume because you’re an experienced diver you don’t need to check your SPG. An AI computer with the display on the computer face has a safety advantage.

 

[raftingtigger]

...and don’t assume because you’re an experienced diver you don’t need to check your SPG.

Agreed.

And don't feel that just because you are an experienced, well trained, alert diver, that you can't make a fatal mistake. While I try really hard to learn from my and others mistakes, I do realize that I too may be the subject of a similar post. I pray not, but it is a risk I willingly take to enjoy the sport I love.

 

[Jonny Wishbone]

boulderjohn, you are clearly one of the ones that my apologies would go to and I mean that with sincerity. I tried to be as politically correct as I could without dragging in scripture as this is not a forum of religion. Yes, you do have control over your day to day actions with free will, and actions we do, may come with a consequence. If one welcomes death, by all means it is easy to invite into your life. Life is not failsafe, however, I am saying that when your number is up, it is up and thats it. If you were able to save yourself or someone was able to save you then it would go under the "near miss" forum. Based on the questions in the beginning of your reply it is clear that you don't agree with scripture and thats ok. I'm sure there are no children on this forum and we are all adults here and topics like this are taboo. So what do you say we just let it go and move on? Those who can relate to what I said will relate to it and those who don't, won't and its all ok. Happy diving...

 

[boulderjohn]

Based on the questions in the beginning of your reply it is clear that you don't agree with scripture and thats ok.

I am not going to comment on this any more because it is off topic for this thread, but you can be sure that I am very well aware of the philosophical issues involved here, including the scriptural references to this, which are few and far between. If you believe what you believe, I suggest you do a search of these issues of your own.

 

[Marie13]

I agree. I don’t want to criticize a dead man but he made some pretty big mistakes. And I’m not taking nitrox on a dive close to the MOD at a site with no bottom. And the pony has air not nitrox. Yes check the SPG frequently and don’t assume because you’re an experienced diver you don’t need to check your SPG. An AI computer with the display on the computer face has a safety advantage.

I always have air in my pony. One of the reasons I recently went with a Perdix AI for single tank and SM was having all my info on my wrist.

 

[Hatul]

About gear configuration. One where there is a risk of confusing regulators is an accident waiting to happen. A DIR diver would not make such a mistake, but even if not DIR regulators should not be dangling with risk of confusion.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

So heartbreaking and sobering. I am sure for those who know him personally this renews the pain. I know because I recently read the DAN accident report about a friend of mine, it was harder to read than the coroner report. I wish you peace and healing.

In both cases these were experienced divers who made simple mistakes that were lethal.

It is a good reminder that all those simple checks are so important to keep ourselves and those we love safe.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

The more I think about this the more I'm convinced the real take home message is to look at - and comprehend - your SPG reading frequently. That simple step would have prevented this tragedy, prevented HalcyonDaze's scare, and did prevent an incident in my own case.

My non-incident was a SM dive where I was using a LP 72 (max 2250 psi) as my primary tank and a AL 30 as my back-up/buddy on a solo dive. The plan was NOT to breath off the 30, but carry it only as my back up. 10 minutes into the dive I realized I was on the 30 and not the 72. In that time I had checked my 72's SPG 3 times. Each time it was "wow, I'm doing really good on my air consumption" (please note that with a LP 72 the SPG drops much slower than with a HP 100) until the 3rd time when I said "this is ridiculous, what am I breathing off of". Yup, my pony which was now 1/2 full. Quick switch as well practiced, and I had an excellent and uneventful dive.

Did I make a mistake - most certainly. Was it a big problem - no, BECAUSE I both frequently check and think about my SPG reading. Please understand I am not lambasting either the deceased or HalyconDaze, but using the 3 of us as examples and teaching points.

Were there other things that could have prevented this tragic death? Absolutely, but this ONE basic habit could have prevented a bad outcome from all the others. Bill Powers gives several very good suggestions and I endorse them all, but to me the real take home message is LOOK AT YOUR SPG!

Yep. For me it was a couple factors that piled up, but what sealed it was that I was on what I considered an "easy" dive in comparison to my usual recreational fare - a low-exertion drift dive at a max depth of 75 ft, with the primary objective being to vet the new buddy's dive skills. Suffice to say said buddy got an advanced skills test, a free dive trip, and dinner out of the deal for saving my overconfident hide.

I've been a lot more paranoid about checking gauges since and carry a pony for deeper dives (the second stage for which is an R190, versus the Cyklons on my main tank - hard to get those confused). The pony however was something I was already considering since I do a lot of SOB (Same Ocean Buddy) diving and the idea of a single point of failure started to worry me.