There was a brief ScubaBoard thread about a diving fatality this past January in Italy: Cave fatality - Solagna, Italy. I myself did not even notice it, and I was unaware of it until I stumbled upon a recent discussion of the aftermath and the response of the instructor's agency (IANTD). After investigating the incident, IANTD determined that there were no violations of standards and declined to discipline either the instructor or the intern who was actually supervising the student. Literally hundreds of IANTD instructors and divers have protested this decision. In response, IANTD has expelled or otherwise disciplined the leaders of this protest.
All the information can be found on this FaceBook page. It is important to read both the initial statement and the attached documents to get a full feel of the issue. The primary author is not a native English speaker, and it is sometimes difficult to follow the details. This document is written in more clear English and better describes the situation. Here is a quick summary of the situation as I understand it. If I am mistaken, please correct me.
1. The student was taking an introductory level cave diving class. The actual instructor for the class was not in the immediate vicinity of the incident but was elsewhere, working with another student. An instructor intern was working with the students in the introductory class.
2. There is some concern that the cave was too difficult for an introductory level course. It contains a number of severe restrictions. You can judge for yourself by reviewing this video of the entry, which was provided at the end of the FaceBook page.
3. The students were sent from the entrance in one minute intervals, meaning that the students were each diving solo for that portion of the dive and could not follow the diver in front of them.
4. The students were to navigate the first part of the entry alone and with no guideline to the surface. They were to continue unguided until they found the beginning of the guideline, at which point they would begin to follow that line (which can be seen in the video).
5. The victim did not see the guideline and went past it to a side tunnel that led to nowhere. As it became tighter, the student, knowing the cave had restrictions, apparently tried to fight through it. He become completely stuck so that the intern was unable to get him out when he found him. He died while stuck in that restriction.
6. Upon completing its investigation, IANTD determined that there were no standards violations. The instructor was allowed to go on instructing, and the intern was determined to have completed his internship satisfactorily.
All the information can be found on this FaceBook page. It is important to read both the initial statement and the attached documents to get a full feel of the issue. The primary author is not a native English speaker, and it is sometimes difficult to follow the details. This document is written in more clear English and better describes the situation. Here is a quick summary of the situation as I understand it. If I am mistaken, please correct me.
1. The student was taking an introductory level cave diving class. The actual instructor for the class was not in the immediate vicinity of the incident but was elsewhere, working with another student. An instructor intern was working with the students in the introductory class.
2. There is some concern that the cave was too difficult for an introductory level course. It contains a number of severe restrictions. You can judge for yourself by reviewing this video of the entry, which was provided at the end of the FaceBook page.
3. The students were sent from the entrance in one minute intervals, meaning that the students were each diving solo for that portion of the dive and could not follow the diver in front of them.
4. The students were to navigate the first part of the entry alone and with no guideline to the surface. They were to continue unguided until they found the beginning of the guideline, at which point they would begin to follow that line (which can be seen in the video).
5. The victim did not see the guideline and went past it to a side tunnel that led to nowhere. As it became tighter, the student, knowing the cave had restrictions, apparently tried to fight through it. He become completely stuck so that the intern was unable to get him out when he found him. He died while stuck in that restriction.
6. Upon completing its investigation, IANTD determined that there were no standards violations. The instructor was allowed to go on instructing, and the intern was determined to have completed his internship satisfactorily.
