One dead and one Missing at Buford Springs (FL, USA)

[Marie13]

I thought the Sheriff's report was very detailed (from a surface perspective) considering it was released less than 24 hrs after the event.

Agreed. And have to give those teenagers kudos for paying attention to what the divers were doing and giving such a detailed statement.

 

[lukeb]

Agreed. And have to give those teenagers kudos for paying attention to what the divers were doing and giving such a detailed statement.

I was thinking the same thing when I read what they did. It is a very remote spot, I'm sure they felt pretty helpless when they realized the divers were in trouble. They did a good job to do everything they did to try and help.

 

[johndiver999]

I don't know how someone can conclude that three teenagers did a good job when they apparently watched a guy lay face down on the surface for an extended period of time without noticing that the guy was not breathing or blowing bubbles. But who knows what really happened, I'm sure it was traumatic for the kids to see that and they definitely don't have any responsibility to supervise the adults or give CPR etc.

The story seems strange, one guy makes it to the surface and then floats face down and another never makes it back? My first thought was maybe bad gas got both of them, but the answer is probably more mundane.

Can you normally see light from 137 in that cave?

Is there info about the pressure in the tanks?

Maybe they got lost and one guy was able to bolt to the surface after running out of air, but ascended too fast?

 

[lukeb]

I don't know how someone can conclude that three teenagers did a good job when they apparently watched a guy lay face down on the surface for an extended period of time without noticing that the guy was not breathing or blowing bubbles.

I think considering these kids were only 15 and 17, they did remarkably well. I would suggest that a lot of adults in a similar situation (assuming no knowledge of scuba), would also be hesitant to approach a diver, thinking that maybe this behavior was normal (remember we are looking at it from the perspective of divers).

I think the good job they did was recognizing a problem, doing what they could to help (trying to get a fully rigged diver from the spring entrance would not be easy), and calling for help. They then gave an apparently detailed account of what happened to help the LEOs on scene.

Remember as well they did not ask to be put in that situation, the situation was placed upon them.

 

[jlcnuke]

I thought the Sheriff's report was very detailed (from a surface perspective) considering it was released less than 24 hrs after the event.

It wasn't as bad as many news reports of dive accidents tend to be. I don't particularly like that their report said the divers were "properly geared", since their gear was not proper for the diving they apparently did however.

 

[ktchan]

The story seems strange, one guy makes it to the surface and then floats face down and another never makes it back? My first thought was maybe bad gas got both of them, but the answer is probably more mundane.

Probably the simplest explanation. Run out of air, dump air in BC/weights, swim for it, don't make it and pass out before reaching surface.

 

[Tracy]

It wasn't as bad as many news reports of dive accidents tend to be. I don't particularly like that their report said the divers were "properly geared", since their gear was not proper for the diving they apparently did however.

Maybe, we don't know that. We don't know what dives they were doing. Computer downloads will show that later.
Buford is a beautiful site well suited for open water diving. There is no issue diving there responsibly in a single tank. Down to about 70', it is a vertical ascent to open water.
With the normally clear water and peaceful location, I could easily understand wanting to go for a quick dive.
Just because some choose to break rules doesn't mean everybody should be punished.

 

[UCFKnightDiver]

In the report it mentioned the teenagers overheard the divers discussing if they had enough gas for a second dive. Then one of the deceased divers was found down around 137ft and the other floated up. My guess is they both ran out of gas and one diver tried to make it back to the surface but drowned before he could get there and his residual buoyancy from the swim up carried him to the surface.

 

[SlugLife]

The juveniles believed the discussion was in regards to going back down into the “cave” and whether or not they had enough air in their tanks to complete their dive. One of the divers is believed to have mentioned that he possibly had a leak in his tank.

It's probably a safe assumption they were diving single-tank. However, given this info, they're also diving on partially-full tanks, along with potentially a regulator or valve leak.

One possibility is even that one diver has their regulator fail completely, and they both started with partially full tanks, tried to air-share, but in the process ended up both downing.

“Appeared to have appropriate diving equipment.” Wonder if that means single tank or doubles.

Probably means normal store bought and not home made rigged stuff.

My expectation is that the police simply mean they appeared to have equipment appropriate for diving in general, but not making a "professional" evaluation about whether they were equipped for a specific kind of dive.

According to the IUCCR post on the incident, the incident involved "openwater divers", which would indicate single tanks. The IUCCR recovered the 2nd diver from 137' according to the report.

Maybe, we don't know that. We don't know what dives they were doing. Computer downloads will show that later.
Buford is a beautiful site well suited for open water diving. There is no issue diving there responsibly in a single tank. Down to about 70', it is a vertical ascent to open water.
With the normally clear water and peaceful location, I could easily understand wanting to go for a quick dive.
Just because some choose to break rules doesn't mean everybody should be punished.

I'd be curious to see the depths/downloads as well from both dive-computers. That could indicate a likely cause. Their recovery depths (surface and 137ft) unfortunately doesn't tell us much about what kind of dive they did, just where their bodies ended up.

While I still leave a good percent-chance on "shouldn't have been diving in a cave", I'm also starting to see signs of potentially not-enough air, or an equipment issue. Many scuba-deaths, can be traces to multiple things going wrong at the same time. So it's entirely possible we have (a) inadequate training (b) inadequate air for the dive (c) and equipment failure (d) getting lost and (e) panic all at the same time.

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I'm not trying to start any debates here, but I often see "never dive alone." However, when two divers die, in a scenario like this, I'm also reminded of "Buddy diving is like solo-diving, but with a Buddy-hazard." It seems unlikely that both divers would have died, except for the actions or encouragements of one of the divers.

 

[SlugLife]

In the report it mentioned the teenagers overheard the divers discussing if they had enough gas for a second dive. Then one of the deceased divers was found down around 137ft and the other floated up. My guess is they both ran out of gas and one diver tried to make it back to the surface but drowned before he could get there and his residual buoyancy from the swim up carried him to the surface.

If his BCD was positively-bouyant, at the time he drowned, the BCD would only continue to become more bouyant as it continued towards the surface, and the air expands. Similarly, if the BCD was negatively-bouyant at the time, then the dead diver would sink, and then sink faster, as the air in their BCD compresses.