Lake Iso Melkutin fatality - Finland

[DandyDon]

Google translation...

The missing diver was found drowned in Loppe - a man in his forties from the capital city was an experienced dive

The disappearance of the man was observed as the other two divers of the party ascended to the surface.

A missing diver on Lake Iso Melkutin has been found dead. The Häme Police Department says the man has been brought to the surface. He is a man of about 40 years from the metropolitan area.

The accident occurred on Lake Iso-Melkutin in Loppi, Kanta-Häme. The rescue department received an alarm on the lake shortly before half past one in the afternoon.

The case is being investigated by the police as a cause of death investigation and no further information is available.

The rescue agency reports that the missing diver was part of a larger dive company. The members of the party had first searched for the missing by their own means.

On-duty firefighter Paavo Löyttyniemi says the diver was found missing when two other divers from the dive team surfaced.

"The missing diver was part of a trio of dive crews and an experienced diver," Löyttyniemi says Saturday afternoon while searching.

The diver was searched with a sonar from the boat and four divers.

- The search area is about a hundred times a hundred meters.

In addition, several units of the rescue service were present.

Iltalehti (switching to another service)previously reported that the diver is suspected of being stuck in the directional ropes at the bottom of the lake to help divers navigate.

However, this suspicion is not confirmed by Löyttyniemi. He says Lake Iso-Melkut is deep and muddy.

- The visibility on the bottom may have been really poor.

The average depth of water is approximately 20 meters.

 

[Dr Herring]

May he Rest In Peace.

It’s an easy dive spot. Quite easy to navigate, no currents or such. Last time I was there; the lines drawn at the bottom were quite orderly too.

I can’t help but wonder if there’s more than getting stuck on the lines involved. Like a medical emergency.

Maybe some of our Finnish members can shed a light on that. But I don’t think we’ll ever know.

 

[almostDIR]

I have been there once last year, the visibility was only about three meters back then in November but it should be more this time of the year. I have understood something between 5 and 10 meters would be usual at this time of the year.

the guide line hypothesis was by the Finnish yellow press as far as I know so I am not sure how credible that hypothesis is. the lines were in pretty good order when I was there. the fire department announced that their rescue operation broke some guidelines and they would thus need repairing before other divers would be able to continue there safely but they didn't mention the deceased diver entanglement to the lines.

to me the more likely hypothesis would be a medical emergency. there is also couple of tree trunks on the bottom which might be possible to get entangled on if having very poor visibility and very bad luck. As the news article said the bottom is pretty muddy. The lake goes steeply to over 20m depth at the point where divers normally enter (maybe 30° angle or more despite the bottom being gravel and sand, it looks weird underwater because sandy bottom is not normally nearly that steep of an angle) so it is easy to get deep-ish very quickly. It should go near 30m at the center with most of the deepest area being closer to 25m or so. I didn't get to the deepest point back then because my drysuit was leaking a bit, will check it some other time this year.

 

[almostDIR]

The Finnish police released additional information about the accident. It was found that the diver's tank valve was only "a little bit open" which caused increased breathing resistance at depth (they went to about 25m) and carbon dioxide buildup which eventually lead to drowning. The information was released to improve diving safety.

I started to turn valves always fully open this year. No more quarter turns back. To me it seems they have done exactly the classic turn-the-valve-accidentally-close-then-open-quarter-turn mistake and it cost the man his life

 

[Hiszpan]

...or it could have gotten closed banging off the tree trunks.

 

[almostDIR]

...or it could have gotten closed banging off the tree trunks.

not likely unless he was swimming backwards the whole time. Banging to a tree trunk would roll the valve open not closed.

At least now we can maybe agree that the education against the quarter turn rule should be enhanced. There has been recent close calls reported on this board as well. It is way too easy to accidentally turn the valve almost close when using the rule but if the valve would be completely closed you would notice it so fully open approach is much safer.

(I have a saying that humans never learn until someone dies first. Close calls are not enough to wake people up. Maybe this accident helps saving lives in the future )

 

[DandyDon]

At least now we can maybe agree that the education against the quarter turn rule should be enhanced. There has been recent close calls reported on this board as well. It is way too easy to accidentally turn the valve almost close when using the rule but if the valve would be completely closed you would notice it so fully open approach is much safer.

Been there. A Cozumel boat captain closed mine to ¼ open after I had checked it, right before I rolled in. I try to inform anyone who works for tips that I want mine open all the way. Another time my home bud closed mine all of the way while I was waiting in line to enter. He worked with screwdrivers every day and still got it backwards. At least I knew before I entered.

 

[michael-fisch]

If you touch my gear while I'm wearing it, I'll slap your hand - Hard!

Michael