Terrible News! Cave Diver dies at Ginnie!

[jimdiverman]

I just heard about a cave diver death at Ginnie last night. Has anyone seen or heard any details yet? My heart goes out to the family of the diver. This is very distressing.

I made 4 cave dives at Ginnie last week...

 

[jeandiver]

I just heard about a cave diver death at Ginnie last night. Has anyone seen or heard any details yet? My heart goes out to the family of the diver. This is very distressing.

I made 4 cave dives at Ginnie last week...

Jim:
A friend of mine and myself were diving in Ginnie Monday Evening. When we came up , we were told there was a recovery situation going on. I am still pretty shook up about it. I won't give any details until the IUCRR report come out. I think you can understand that.

Jean

 

[Dive-aholic]

There's a short report on CDF and TDS by Ken Hill. Basically, a RB diver was pushing a lead in the cave. He went in with his RB and a sidemount setup (small passage into this lead). No other details are available at this time.

 

[TennInstr]

Here is a link to some info on Cavediver.net. Terrible news as I head there this weekend. My prayers are with the family. IUCRR Notice - Fatality beyond the Hinkel - Cave Diver's Forum

 

[Medic0506]

Anyone hear anything else on the investigation or know when they'll be releasing information?

 

[mike_s]

There are some stories in the news media about it. There is more than one article, but they bascially say all the same thing... name removed with ****** per TOS.

Cave diver dies while deep into Ginnie Springs
By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Herald Editor

HIGH SPRINGS -- A certified cave diver from Switzerland was found dead inside the Ginnie Springs cave system Monday, March 10.

**** ******* started his dive in Ginnie Springs around noon Monday at the underwater entrance known as "Devil's Eye." He was diving alone, according to the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office.

****** was using a rebreathing system that allows a diver to stay underwater for a longer period of time.

But by 9 p.m. Monday, ***** had not returned, and another cave diver, Corey Mearns, went looking for him. ***** was found approximately 3,800 feet into the cave system.

"Due to darkness and safety concerns for the recovery team, it was decided to wait until the following morning to remove the body from the cave system," said Gilchrist County Sheriff's Lt. D. Slaughter.


******'s body was taken to the Gainesville Medical Examiner's Office, and the death is still under investigation by the Gilchrist County Sheriff's Office.





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[jeandiver]

Nothing else has been released by the authorities yet , so lets just wait until they and the IUCRR release their reports.

Jean

 

[deeper thoughts]

My prayers to the family

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I was all the way in mexico but heard about it the same day, no details were known at that time but from what I know the guy was on a MEG with sidemount and was fairly experienced and even a tech instructor (to some level). He was still pretty new to rebreathers though and from what I have read about the cave he was on the wrong side of some minor restrictions. This proves that using a rebreather in a cave is even more of a gamble than in open water and that soloing a cave for explorations sake and with no buddy is probably not a good idea eh.

Nearly all cave deaths are from human error and I would expect this to be no different.

 

[Dive-aholic]

NWD, not all of the information you received is correct.