Natasha
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Here's some current scuba news. Dive company sued after deaths
icordle@herald.com
A Miami law firm has filed the first wrongful death suit against Peter Hughes Diving of Miami Lakes, seeking $10 million for the family of a crew member who drowned when the Wave Dancer capsized in Belize during Hurricane Iris.
The 120-foot boat, carrying 20 members of the Richmond (Va.) Dive Club and a crew of eight, was hit the night of Oct. 8 by a storm surge from the devastating hurricane, with winds of 140 mph. Seventeen passengers and three crew members were killed when the boat was swept into mangroves and embedded in 15 feet of mud. Three passengers and five crew members survived, including the boat's captain.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, alleges that the company's captain insisted on taking the passengers on a dive to ensure full payment despite the impending hurricane; cut off nearly all communication; failed to heed numerous warnings to take passengers to shore; improperly tied down the boat; and did not provide life jackets.
``This is just a senseless tragedy,'' said Bill Huggett, a Miami maritime attorney with Huggett & Watford who filed the suit.
Peter Hughes, president of Peter Hughes Diving, defended his crew, saying in a statement that evidence suggests a tornado may have caused the boat to capsize.
``I know our crew did all they could to protect each and every individual,'' Hughes said. ``They sought shelter in accordance with our hurricane response plan, but there was simply no way for them to predict that Iris would change directions and head straight for Big Creek or that the vessel, crew and passengers would be faced with the rage of the suspected tornado contained within this already devastating hurricane.''
The suit was filed on behalf of the husband, daughter, mother and sister of Eloisa Johnson-Hall, a 30-year-old Belizean chef who worked aboard the Wave Dancer. A second suit, on behalf of the mother and two sisters of Brenda Wade, 29, an assistant chef, will be filed today, said Nelson Ayala, admiralty investigator for Huggett & Watford.
According to the lawsuit, which also lists Peter Hughes, Wave Dancer Ltd. and Capt. Philip Martin as defendants, the dive company would earn its entire fee as long as one dive was made. The captain, therefore, took passengers to the closest dive spot and made a dive. And to maintain control of the crew, he disconnected radio transmission receivers throughout the vessel, leaving only one in the wheelhouse operable, the suit alleges.
Unable to communicate with the boat and knowing it was in grave danger, the Belizean military sent a special helicopter carrying a banner instructing the boat to return to port at once. The government also sent an evacuation order, which the captain ignored, the suit alleges.
The captain took the boat up inland waters, passing Belize City, where he could have docked and secured passengers and crew in high-rise hotels, according to the suit. Instead, Hughes and the captain jointly decided, by radio, to keep everyone onboard the vessel and ordered the crew to give the passengers a ``hurricane party,'' the suit says.
Johnson-Hall called her husband on a cellphone, saying she wanted to get off the boat, but the captain wouldn't let her and took the phone away, the suit alleges. The captain fired another crew member when she stepped off the boat -- intimidating the other (crew) members of the crew, including Johnson-Hall.
Another boat chartered by the Richmond Dive Club, the Belize Aggressor III, was tied to the same Big Creek dock as the Wave Dancer, the company said. That boat remained tied up, but the Wave Dancer was swept 400 feet away.
Martin, the company said, tried to save lives and aided survivors. He even swam across the channel to seek assistance from the other boat.
``All of us at Peter Hughes Diving are in a state of grieving disbelief and shock,'' Hughes said, offering condolences to the families involved. ``Nothing like this has ever happened to our diving family during our 30 years in the charter business.''
Herald staff writer Yves Colon contributed to this report.
icordle@herald.com
A Miami law firm has filed the first wrongful death suit against Peter Hughes Diving of Miami Lakes, seeking $10 million for the family of a crew member who drowned when the Wave Dancer capsized in Belize during Hurricane Iris.
The 120-foot boat, carrying 20 members of the Richmond (Va.) Dive Club and a crew of eight, was hit the night of Oct. 8 by a storm surge from the devastating hurricane, with winds of 140 mph. Seventeen passengers and three crew members were killed when the boat was swept into mangroves and embedded in 15 feet of mud. Three passengers and five crew members survived, including the boat's captain.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, alleges that the company's captain insisted on taking the passengers on a dive to ensure full payment despite the impending hurricane; cut off nearly all communication; failed to heed numerous warnings to take passengers to shore; improperly tied down the boat; and did not provide life jackets.
``This is just a senseless tragedy,'' said Bill Huggett, a Miami maritime attorney with Huggett & Watford who filed the suit.
Peter Hughes, president of Peter Hughes Diving, defended his crew, saying in a statement that evidence suggests a tornado may have caused the boat to capsize.
``I know our crew did all they could to protect each and every individual,'' Hughes said. ``They sought shelter in accordance with our hurricane response plan, but there was simply no way for them to predict that Iris would change directions and head straight for Big Creek or that the vessel, crew and passengers would be faced with the rage of the suspected tornado contained within this already devastating hurricane.''
The suit was filed on behalf of the husband, daughter, mother and sister of Eloisa Johnson-Hall, a 30-year-old Belizean chef who worked aboard the Wave Dancer. A second suit, on behalf of the mother and two sisters of Brenda Wade, 29, an assistant chef, will be filed today, said Nelson Ayala, admiralty investigator for Huggett & Watford.
According to the lawsuit, which also lists Peter Hughes, Wave Dancer Ltd. and Capt. Philip Martin as defendants, the dive company would earn its entire fee as long as one dive was made. The captain, therefore, took passengers to the closest dive spot and made a dive. And to maintain control of the crew, he disconnected radio transmission receivers throughout the vessel, leaving only one in the wheelhouse operable, the suit alleges.
Unable to communicate with the boat and knowing it was in grave danger, the Belizean military sent a special helicopter carrying a banner instructing the boat to return to port at once. The government also sent an evacuation order, which the captain ignored, the suit alleges.
The captain took the boat up inland waters, passing Belize City, where he could have docked and secured passengers and crew in high-rise hotels, according to the suit. Instead, Hughes and the captain jointly decided, by radio, to keep everyone onboard the vessel and ordered the crew to give the passengers a ``hurricane party,'' the suit says.
Johnson-Hall called her husband on a cellphone, saying she wanted to get off the boat, but the captain wouldn't let her and took the phone away, the suit alleges. The captain fired another crew member when she stepped off the boat -- intimidating the other (crew) members of the crew, including Johnson-Hall.
Another boat chartered by the Richmond Dive Club, the Belize Aggressor III, was tied to the same Big Creek dock as the Wave Dancer, the company said. That boat remained tied up, but the Wave Dancer was swept 400 feet away.
Martin, the company said, tried to save lives and aided survivors. He even swam across the channel to seek assistance from the other boat.
``All of us at Peter Hughes Diving are in a state of grieving disbelief and shock,'' Hughes said, offering condolences to the families involved. ``Nothing like this has ever happened to our diving family during our 30 years in the charter business.''
Herald staff writer Yves Colon contributed to this report.
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