Lost Diver at Mill Pond Rescued

[ianr33]

+1 on this . . .

Was this some kind of circuit? They put in the initial jump to the ?? line but thought they could just do a visual at the end of the jump to the gold line?

Sorry for all this basic stuff . . .

look at this map of JB (Click on "resources" then "map") CaveAtlas.com » Cave Diving » United States » Jackson Blue Spring
Find the "Goodman Syphon" down at the bottom left. The tunnel in question is below the word "Syphon"
The divers (presumably) ran a line from the goldline to the line that is in this tunnel. It's not shown on the map, but this tunnel turns into sidemount country and soon comes back out to the main tunnel. The line ends tied to a rock (chicken head rock?) This rock is on the left side (going in) of the main tunnel. Gold line is on the right side. In normal good viz the gold line can be easily seen. Just beyond this rock is another white line that goes up into a rift. Sounds like the diver in question trashed the viz and got lost trying to find the main line.

This side tunnel is pretty straightforward in sidemount , imagine backmount would make a mess.

 

[Jax]

look at this map of JB (Click on "resources" then "map") CaveAtlas.com » Cave Diving » United States » Jackson Blue Spring
Find the "Goodman Syphon" down at the bottom left. The tunnel in question is below the word "Syphon"
The divers (presumably) ran a line from the goldline to the line that is in this tunnel. It's not shown on the map, but this tunnel turns into sidemount country and soon comes back out to the main tunnel. The line ends tied to a rock (chicken head rock?) This rock is on the left side (going in) of the main tunnel. Gold line is on the right side. In normal good viz the gold line can be easily seen. Just beyond this rock is another white line that goes up into a rift. Sounds like the diver in question trashed the viz and got lost trying to find the main line.

This side tunnel is pretty straightforward in sidemount , imagine backmount would make a mess.

So, the proper 'run' would be

(a) a jump from gold to the X tunnel line, follow the X tunnel line, then run a reel from the end of X to the gold?

or

(b) a jump from gold to the X tunnel line, run a reel from the end of X to the gold line, and then follow the continuous path?

Seems like any way you look at it, the Principle of Guideline wasn't followed.

Was this also diving beyond experience / ability?

---------- Post Merged at 06:16 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:56 PM ----------

From: WMBB.com

Around noon on Monday, a group of divers made a phone call to Cave Adventurers informing them about a fellow diver who was lost. What happened next determined the difference between a body recovery and a rescue.

"We know exactly what to do, we have everything already pre-prepared, tanks filled, tanks ready to go, everything just needs to be thrown in the back of the truck," says Frank Gonzalez, manager of Cave Adventurers. On Monday, Gonzalez and Edd Sorenson, owner of Cave Adventurers and Cave Instructor, did just that. "He [Gonzalez] laid in the bed of my truck while I drove 90 miles per hour to the site, putting my equipment together," says Sorenson.

Sorenson says from the time he got the call to the time he was in the water at Blue Springs, 11 minutes had passed. He says that is unheard of, but also made a big difference. "It was the difference between bringing out a live individual and a body," says Sorenson.

Sorenson is the owner of Cave Adventurers and has been part of the International Cave Rescue and Recovery Team for 14 years. This rescue is his third, but the diver was the fourth that he saved. However, he says rescues are usually uncommon. "There are no rescues, it's 99.999 percent body recovery," says Sorenson, who says that's one of the first thing his instructor taught him 14 years ago.

 

[ianr33]

The start of this tunnel is maybe 40 feet further on than the start of the Horseshoe circuit. The entrance to both look somewhat similar. Suspect they jumped to the wrong tunnel by mistake. Should have been obvious though when it got really tight in backmount.

I agree it's a lack of situational awareness. Have seen this myself. New (backmount) cave diver trying to wedge himself in a sidemount bedding plane at 100 foot depth. Ended up grabbing his ankles and pulling him backwards. Was just amazed anyone could be that stupid.

 

[Jax]

That makes it much more clear.

So, one would assume they had not done this tunnel before? Or hadn't done it in a very long time?

Isn't the correct course of action to buddy up with someone familiar with the route you wish to take?

This is kind of important right now since I hope to be there in a few weeks!

 

[Stoo]

I have nothing but respect for all of you who do these dives safely. Keep doing them that way. Please.

Like Jim, diving in holes isn't my thing. (I tried it about 30 years ago, damn near died, and haven't seen the need to try it again!) I prefer my lakes "Great"!

None the less, did I read that there has only been four people ever rescued after being lost in a cave, and that this "Edd" character managed to save three of them? WTF is up with THAT???

Seriously, you hole-divers need to start calling this guy Saint Edd and figure out a way to clone him.

Edd, if you're out there, you rock man. That's quite an accomplishment, but one that I suspect you would be happy to have come to an end any time. Well done!

PS The world-famous Jill H. was just up at my place diving for a few days with me and after listening to her yarns, I am more convinced than ever that you people are all certifiable. Just sayin'...

 

[bamafan]

Newspaper article about the incident. Marianna's Own 'Aquaman': One Cave Diver's Miraculous Rescue and the Man Who Saved Him

 

[CamG]

Thank you Kevin for sharing more information.
I think the conversation on the thread has been good.
Jax thanks for sharing the information from WMBB.com.
Learning from incidents is what it is about.
To allow this to go unchecked would be service to no one but a civil frank look at the failures / breakdowns could save others.

One huge lesson for me is simple, FOLLOW THE RULES YOU WERE TAUGHT!
Teams make mistakes, individuals make mistakes.
Surviving them is more difficult but hopefully never to repeat them again.

Cave diving is not for everyone and those who declare "not for me" right on I salute you!
There is a dangerous trend starting to rear its ugly head and soon enough it will be fatalities amongst the card carrying community.
There is a difference between tourist cave divers and local cave divers know which you are and dive accordingly.
Dive within your training and limits, be honest with yourself.
Awareness takes time and experience to gain, conservatism is a good thing when dive planning.

As a side note I hope that Cave Adventures and Edd do receive all that this extraordinary service brings.
I know for myself I WILL remember to patronize and be grateful for their service.
Every time I have called, have stopped in been treated very well and service was incredible.
THANK YOU Cave Adventures and ALL the staff!

CamG

 

[TSandM]

I'm still fretting with this. As I read Kevin's advice, they should have put in BOTH jumps -- to the beginning, and to the end of the line -- before starting down the passage? I've never done that -- in fact, most of the time, I wouldn't know the line came back to the main line. A lot of the time, my team will look at a jump and ask, "Shall we try this?" And we put the spool in and try it. I've turned around a bunch of times because a passage developed characteristics I didn't like -- too low, too tight, too silty, or too whatever for my state of mind on that day. There's nothing wrong with going to see . . . that's what I did my Full Cave to learn how to do.

If someone were to do that with this line (which I've never seen), would they have been committed to trouble? Or were there further decisions they made that caused the real problem? After all, the other buddies got out.

 

[PfcAJ]

Its easy to run into trouble by thinking "it'll get better if I keep going. It HAS to open up some, right?". And it never does. Dangerous.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

I'm still fretting with this. As I read Kevin's advice, they should have put in BOTH jumps -- to the beginning, and to the end of the line -- before starting down the passage? I've never done that -- in fact, most of the time, I wouldn't know the line came back to the main line. A lot of the time, my team will look at a jump and ask, "Shall we try this?" And we put the spool in and try it. I've turned around a bunch of times because a passage developed characteristics I didn't like -- too low, too tight, too silty, or too whatever for my state of mind on that day. There's nothing wrong with going to see . . . that's what I did my Full Cave to learn how to do.

If someone were to do that with this line (which I've never seen), would they have been committed to trouble? Or were there further decisions they made that caused the real problem? After all, the other buddies got out.

Lynne, lets see if you understand this. What you said is great textbook diving, now get into the real world. If what I said had been done, there would be three divers who didnt need to be rescued. Nothing worng at all about what you are saying, but keep in mind that it is painfully evident sometimes common sense lacks in a lot of divers. If you are suppose to do a jump that would have a series of left hand turns, and you take a hard right, I bet you would question where you were. That evidently didnt happen here. It is not that complicated.