Cave diving incident

[jepuskar]

I just found this thread, from another board, about a 1991 cave diving accident that took Parker Turner's life. It is rather long, with two accounts. One, from the diver with Parker on this dive, and also one from George Irvine, one of many support divers for this dive.

I read both accounts and am just sitting here trying to imagine what these divers felt like during and after this occured.

I apologize if this has been talked about before on here, but I feel it deserves more attention giving the nature of how experienced these divers were at the time.

http://www.yorkshire-divers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1422

 

[oceancrest67]

This is such a tragic incident. The unpredictable nature of cave diving ought not to be taken for granted...even by some of the most experienced cave divers. I am a DM, with cavern and intro cave experience...but moving into a full cave set up is something to think about...not quite convinced that full cave is the route to go. What for? Why? I enjoy wreck diving...and even with wrecks...penetration is problematic and unpredictable. The thing with my diving philosophy is show some humility and respect for mother nature.

Just my 02

 

[MikeFerrara]

This is such a tragic incident. The unpredictable nature of cave diving ought not to be taken for granted...even by some of the most experienced cave divers. I am a DM, with cavern and intro cave experience...but moving into a full cave set up is something to think about...not quite convinced that full cave is the route to go. What for? Why? I enjoy wreck diving...and even with wrecks...penetration is problematic and unpredictable. The thing with my diving philosophy is show some humility and respect for mother nature.

Just my 02

well a meteor could come crashing through the roof and kill me as I sit here in my office too.

Diving in an over head environment has some inherant risks to be sure but most caves..."most" are pretty stable. I had a good size rock fall and land on my tanks once but that could even happen in a cavern

 

[vetdiver]

I remember hearing about this incident - it happened right before I moved to central FL and did my cavern/intro courses. Very sad.

The mass ignorance about cave diving really used to get to me - you know, most of the time, you hear about accidents that occur as a result of people not following their training (or not having the training to be where they are!), and THIS is why caving gets such a bad rap. This sort of tale is really the exception rather than the rule, isn't it? - and that was always how I responded to people who asked me what the heck I was thinking. Follow the rules and stay within your training and abilities...and you remove yourself from 95% of the cave accidents you hear about!

I have to agree with Mike. I could be hit by a drunk driver. Airplane debris could fall out of the sky and squish me. A disgruntled employee could bomb my office building. All the more reason to live every day to the fullest and do the things I love (including diving in a water-filled hole in the ground, not that I get the chance to do that where I live now).

 

[crawford]

This is such a tragic incident. The unpredictable nature of cave diving ought not to be taken for granted...even by some of the most experienced cave divers. I am a DM, with cavern and intro cave experience...but moving into a full cave set up is something to think about...not quite convinced that full cave is the route to go. What for? Why? I enjoy wreck diving...and even with wrecks...penetration is problematic and unpredictable. The thing with my diving philosophy is show some humility and respect for mother nature.

Just my 02

This probably the only cave diving fatality I've ever heard of where something completely out of the divers control caused his death (i.e. act of God, cave collapse, etc.).

 

[oceancrest67]

It is certainly true that being in an auto-accident is a far more likely scenario than being involved in a cave diving accident. It is also true that keeping within the strict rules takes away some of the risk. Still...living life to the fullest...means keeping one's life going. Are there any stats on married cave divers vs. single cave divers? Is this more of a single diver's activity? Just curios.

 

[MikeFerrara]

It is certainly true that being in an auto-accident is a far more likely scenario than being involved in a cave diving accident. It is also true that keeping within the strict rules takes away some of the risk. Still...living life to the fullest...means keeping one's life going. Are there any stats on married cave divers vs. single cave divers? Is this more of a single diver's activity? Just curios.

I don't have any statistics but my wife and I are both married and cave dive together and the vast majority of the cave divers that we know are married.

 

[crawford]

It is certainly true that being in an auto-accident is a far more likely scenario than being involved in a cave diving accident. It is also true that keeping within the strict rules takes away some of the risk.

Staying within the rules takes away nearly all the risk. There is almost never a death where everyone shrugs their shoulders and says the cave got him. Almost always, clear and obvious rules were broken, or poor judgement caused the accident. Hence my serious study of all cave diving accidents

I'm also married and cave dive, but my wife isn't a cave diver, which is good for my wallet, but bad for ability to get away and dive.

 

[sitka diver]

U guys ready to come to Alaska to do the lava tube???

 

[JaxvilleDiver]

Are there any stats on married cave divers vs. single cave divers? Is this more of a single diver's activity? Just curios.

Of all of the cave divers I know (my wife and I included), I only can think of a couple that are not married.