Fatality at Landenouse Spring (Source de Landenouse) France

[Belmont]

There was a GUE diver who died in France a few days ago, he was helping another diver outside a cave in Landenousse.

 

[tamas970]

Any details/background?

There was a GUE diver who died in France a few days ago, he was helping another diver outside a cave in Landenousse.

 

[boulderjohn]

Cave Diving Fatality - Landenouse, Lot

 

[Tortuga68]

There's a thread on TDS with more details

 

[Quero]

According to the combined information in a published news report and a video interview of a police spokesperson, the diver was washed over a cascade and was pulled from the water still alive late in the morning on January 28th. He received CPR for an hour and a half but died in the late afternoon. He was diving in a group of four, three visiting divers and a French guide. The police officer interviewed stated that the water was very high and the flow was especially strong that day. We all know how news reporters can get it wrong, but that's some of what was reported, at least.

A series of posts on a French cave diving forum says that the victim became entangled in a tree branch, during which time his buddies were trying to free him and were giving him air. But when rescuers finally freed him, he fell back into the water and over the spillway, sunk to the bottom and had to be pulled out a second time. One person in that thread pointed out that it had rained a lot over the weekend and that the water was high and running fast.

Questions are being asked about whether conditions were too severe for undertaking the dive, and also there some mention in yet other sources that this wasn't really a cave diving accident, but an accident that could have happened even to a swimmer since the water was about 2 to 3 meters higher than normal in the basin.

 

[Hetland]

Questions are being asked about whether conditions were too severe for undertaking the dive, and also there some mention in yet other sources that this wasn't really a cave diving accident, but an accident that could have happened even to a swimmer since the water was about 2 to 3 meters higher than normal in the basin.

I understood that it took place during cave diving instruction.

 

[Quero]

I understood that it took place during cave diving instruction.

Perhaps it did, but I didn't see any mention of that in the reports I read. One report refers to the French diver as a "moniteur" which is a term used for instructor, so it may be the case that they were in a class, but instructors would frequently guide dives with fun divers, I presume. I didn't see any mention of the objective of the dive, so it's hard to say whether it was a training dive or not based on those sources. Some sources say only that the group were there to do an excursion in the "galleries" or the caves themselves, but of course that would be the case whether or not it was a training dive. One report says three Swedes and a French diver while another says one Swede two Germans and the French diver, if you think that might be a clue as to whether it was a course dive or a fun dive.

Regardless, reports indicate that the accident occurred as soon as they entered the water:

Dans des circonstances encore floues, il semblerait que le spéléologue suédois se soit fait happer par le courant, lors de la mise à l'eau. Il se serait alors accroché à un branchage. Mais, épuisé, ne parvenant à se maintenir, il aurait lâché, se trouvant emporté vers le système de débordement.

(Rough translation: While the facts are still emerging, it appears that the Swedish caver was caught by the current upon entering the water. He apparently grabbed a branch. But then, exhausted, he could no longer hold on and let go, finding himself carried towards the spillway.)

 

[TSandM]

I checked the GUE forums. There is no mention of this being a class. The accident is reported there to have occurred BEFORE the team entered the cave. There are no further details.

The track record is that accidents that involve GUE divers are generally eventually reported in full. Look at the writeups on Jim Miller's death for an example.

---------- Post added February 4th, 2013 at 10:02 AM ----------

I found additional information. It was a Cave 1 class. Two students were washed out of the basin into a wall which apparently helps contain the overflow. One fell 25 feet into the river and survived; the other was caught in the wall, and they had to move rocks to free him. He also fell into the river. He did not survive.

 

[Quero]

Yes, I had read that his arm was caught between rocks.

If there is a lesson to be taken from this, it's one about suitable conditions for undertaking a dive, any dive. If reports of the water in the basin being 2-3 meters higher than normal are correct, then it should have been expected that there would be extremely fast flow as the basin drained back to its usual level. I read an interview of one official in which he stated that if the water had been just 50 cm lower, the fall to the stream below would have been prevented. I read one post from a local saying that already in the afternoon on the day of the accident the water in the basin was much, much lower, nearly normal, so the water must have moved very fast over the spillway to achieve that normalization so quickly.

---------- Post added February 5th, 2013 at 09:52 AM ----------

As for the "wall" that TSandM mentions, keeping in mind that I've never been there but have only read descriptions and seen photos of the site, it appears to be a dammed up spring creating a basin that's 8 meters deep at normal water height. Below the dam wall is a stream that runs a very short way to the Lot River.

 

[Adobo]

Yes, I had read that his arm was caught between rocks.

If there is a lesson to be taken from this, it's one about suitable conditions for undertaking a dive, any dive. If reports of the water in the basin being 2-3 meters higher than normal are correct, then it should have been expected that there would be extremely fast flow as the basin drained back to its usual level. I read an interview of one official in which he stated that if the water had been just 50 cm lower, the fall to the stream below would have been prevented. I read one post from a local saying that already in the afternoon on the day of the accident the water in the basin was much, much lower, nearly normal, so the water must have moved very fast over the spillway to achieve that normalization so quickly.

---------- Post added February 5th, 2013 at 09:52 AM ----------

As for the "wall" that TSandM mentions, keeping in mind that I've never been there but have only read descriptions and seen photos of the site, it appears to be a dammed up spring creating a basin that's 8 meters deep at normal water height. Below the dam wall is a stream that runs a very short way to the Lot River.

To start, I have never been diving at this site and know as little about it and its nature as the next person here.

I agree that examining the suitability of conditions that this team/class was diving in is perfectly valid. However, I don't know that lots of rain and fast flow in of themselves were sufficient reasons to call the dive/class. After all, what's another 3 meters of depth for divers, particularly ones who have tech dive training? And cave divers dive in fast flow all the time. Not uncommon at all in Florida. I might be out on a limb but I suspect heavy rains and strong flow would not cause a class to be cancelled in Florida if viz is still at acceptable levels.

There are some questions as to whether the elevated water levels caused another hazard - one that was perhaps not intuitive to that group. In another forum, there are discussions taking place about whether or not the diver got caught up in a siphon caused by differential pressures. Here is an interesting video that was linked in that other forum:

Delta P - YouTube
​

To be clear, I haven't seen any new information that definitively points at a differential pressure hazard being the cause of this incident. Rather, it seems to be just another possibility that the speculators are tossing around.