Lake Pleasant fatality - Arizona

[DandyDon]

MCSO: Man dies during dive trip at Lake Pleasant

LAKE PLEASANT — A 55-year-old man died while diving at Lake Pleasant Saturday night, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department.

MCSO lake patrol deputies responded to a call of a possible drowning at the lake just after 8 p.m.

Officials say the man was diving with a group of 10 divers near Lake Pleasant Harbor when he became unresponsive.

Firefighters performed CPR, but were unable to revive the man who was pronounced deceased on scene, according to MCSO Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez.

Enriquez said lake patrol detectives have taken over the investigation. The diver is not being identified at this time.

 

[JohnnyC]

Nothing on the local diving groups. I don't really feel like asking.

 

[chillyinCanada]

That's a really deep lake. It's also an altitude dive. A lot of possibilities exist.

The article says the group had been at a 60' depth.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Reads as medical to me or potentially IPE?

55-year-old man dies after becoming unresponsive after scuba diving at Lake Pleasant

 

[BFRedrocks]

No one around here treats Pleasant as an altitude dive.

Except maybe Suunto. Phoenix is at about 1,100-1,200 feet AMSL, so 1,700 feet AMSL for nearby Lake Pleasant isn't much of a change.

Seems like it would have been something medical as this weekend at the Lake, water temps were 63-65 F with maybe 15-20 ft visibility away from the shore (near shore it's like 2-6 feet because of all the classes), and nothing much at issue with Vista Point this time of year. The water level is still relatively low, so it's generally more difficult getting down to and up from the water to the parking lot than the actual diving. Terrible news though, regardless of the circumstances.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Except maybe Suunto. Phoenix is at about 1,100-1,200 feet AMSL, so 1,700 feet AMSL for nearby Lake Pleasant isn't much of a change.

Seems like it would have been something medical as this weekend at the Lake, water temps were 63-65 F with maybe 15-20 ft visibility away from the shore (near shore it's like 2-6 feet because of all the classes), and nothing much at issue with Vista Point this time of year. The water level is still relatively low, so it's generally more difficult getting down to and up from the water to the parking lot than the actual diving. Terrible news though, regardless of the circumstances.

All the reports that I've read that included it, said that he was observed having trouble at 60' during the dive and brought to surface.

If the reporting is accurate, yes would appear to be medical, IPE or perhaps bad air?

 

[broncobowsher]

The elevation at Lake Pleasant is entirely irrelevant. Both for this incident, and in general. It was not a factor in this incident, and the small change in elevation is irrelevant in general considering the elevation of all of the surrounding areas is anywhere from 1200-1700 ft anyway. You have to go out west to get below 1000ft, and gotta go way south to get higher than 2000ft. And all of these changes are over a very significant area. The change in pressure is MINUSCULE, both at the dive site, getting to and from the dive site, as well as the surrounding areas.

It's not Everest and it's not the Rockies. You can believe what you want, that doesn't make it true.

Thank you!

I have no idea why the slight elevation of the lake has ANY factor to someone who was having problems at depth. It is like arguing if a train was doing 55 or 56 MPH when it hit a car running the crossing. You are forgetting what the reported data is. Go back, read the accident again. This isn't a case of DCS because they drove up a mountain after diving. This is someone who was having problems at 60' down.

Any further discussion about the altitude of this dive in regards to this tragic accident will be reported and ask admin to delete.