Vortex Missing Diver Incident - Aug 2010

[Hetland]

The News Herald
Search continues for missing Vortex Springs diver | search, continues, springs - News - The News Herald

Search continues for missing Vortex Springs diver
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August 21, 2010 06:55:00 PM
JAY FELSBERG | Florida Freedom Newspapers

PONCE DE LEON — The search continued Saturday for a missing Tennessee diver at Vortex Springs north of Ponce de Leon on County 81.

__________, 30, from the Memphis, Tenn., area, was reported missing according to Lt. Harry Hamilton of the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office. McDaniel’s vehicle and personal affects were found but there was no sign of the diver.

__________ had not been seen since Wednesday, according to HCSO.

On Friday, three dive teams explored the more than 1,600-foot-long cave where __________ was believed to have dived but found only equipment, including air bottles, at the head of the cave.

Three other teams went in Saturday but were unable to find __________’s body.

The cave is considered a challenging dive even by experienced divers, according to divers at the scene. The cave twists and turns, bottoming out at 165 feet below the surface, according to Master scuba trainer Ron Boyce, one of the divers who searched the cave Friday morning.

Other divers said it is necessary to travel a good portion of the cave in single file as the cave narrows, and it is essential for divers to decompress as they exit the cave. Divers drop off bottles with a mix of nitrogen and oxygen on the way in to use to decompress.

None of the divers that searched the cave Friday evening or Saturday could get through the crevasse after thoroughly searching the rest of the cave, and Jeff Loflin, who coordinated the search Friday and Saturday, called any attempt to do so “extremely dangerous,” due as much to the extreme difficulty getting out as getting in. One diver called the approach to the location “incredibly tight,” and Loflin said visibility was “zero” due to clay, sand and silt.

“It’s grim back in there,” diver Jerry Murphy said.

Marson Kay went in Saturday and reported that the guide line for divers was cut. Kay said a diver might have gotten through the crevasse without equipment, but the layout of the area and in the poor visibility it would have been easy to get disoriented.

Kay and diver James Toland said there were recent scratch marks that showed someone had been in the area.

The last death at Vortex Springs involved 64-year-old man in May 2009 who apparently died of a heart attack.

__________’s family was at the scene, having driven from Tennessee and arriving Friday evening.

Guide line was cut???

 

[Dive-aholic]

If Vortex is correct by saying that the diver in question was not supposed to be behind the grate, then this marks the fourth diver in less than three years to die because they foolishly broke the number one rule of cave diving. It will be interesting to learn more about the individual's certification levels, to see if Vortex was correct or incorrect. (I don't want to speculate on what might have been a mistake on Vortex's part.)

The diver did not have any cavern/cave training. This is not speculation.



The map posted in this thread is a very rough and limited map. There is a lot more passage to that cave that's not on that version. There is about 1500' of "main line" passage and bottoms out in the high 150s in the last 500' or so. This is also the smallest/tightest part of the main passage.

Guide line was cut???

Broken is probably a better word.

 

[Meister481]

The clay isn't an issue until you get back 1500' or so. It's REALLY small back there at that point. The flow is very heavy once you get back to the last clay bank/breakdown area, not to mention 150+ feet deep. Nasty area.

No training and back in a SM section of cave 150+ feet deep. Nothing good could have come from this. It almost sounds like a made up story in a dive magazine on the dangers of cave diving, but alas, it's true. Avoidable tragedy.

I'm pretty interested to learn how he got into the cave. A bump key would do it, but why?

Another issue is the gas required to get back to that point. I looked at my last dive there and to get to 1500' back I used 55 cubes of an aluminum 80, under half the capacity of 2 hp100's and about 20 cubes of O2 for the entire 100 minute dive. A diver with only a deco bottle would need very large cylinders to make it back there with proper reserves.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

When all the details are released things will be a lot clearer. No sign, gate or anything else could prevent this. Attitude is everything in diving, be it OW or cave. The wrong attitude and ego makes for dangerous situations. Thankfully all who tried to recover the body made it out ok. Some people think the cave at Vortex is safe and easy. Truthfully it is, until something goes wrong. The area beyond the gate can be as dangerous as any that I have been in, deep and silty. Hopefully someone will read about this and decide to look for training before breaking any training standards. My last dive there was with SuPeRbUgMaN and SPD135. There was a large collapse in the system the next day, if any OW divers had been in the tunnel before the gate that day they probably would have died. With proper training its an inconvienance, not an emergency.

 

[wjefferis]

There has been talk on the thread about accident analysis and while someone who is cavern/cave trained knows what this means I realize that many do not. I wanted to try and explain for those you might not already know.

"Accident Analysis over the years has played a big role in developing the safety guidelines for safe cave diving. The NSS-CDS in the late 1970s organized a study of the cave diving fatalities for which information existed. As a result of this study, Sheck Exley discovered that three primary safety violations accounted for, at least part of, all of the fatalities. The three safety violations were the beginnings of organizing a list of safety guidelines that could be taught to new cave divers and shared with current cave divers in the hopes of making cave diving as a whole much safer. In 1983, Wes Skiles, who was the Training Chairman for the NSS-CDS, expanded the safety violation list to account for two other accident-contributing factors. The lists of these safety violations and contributing factors are presented as Accident Analysis" (NSS-CDS Workbook, 2002).

1. Failure to be properly trained or exceeding the level and limits of one’s training. (A major contributing cause of cave and cavern diving fatalities).

2. Failure to use a continuous guideline from the entrance of the cave and throughout the dive. (The most common direct contributing cause of cave and cavern diving fatalities).

3. Failure to reserve at least two-thirds of the beginning air supply for exiting the cave. (The second most common direct contributing cause of cave and cavern diving fatalities).

4. Exceeding the maximum depth limits for your level of training or the complications of depth (increased breathing gas usage); maximium depth limit for cavern or basic cave is 100 feet, and 130 for any other recreational cave diving activity. Also exceeding the Maximum Operation Depth (MOD) of the gas used. (The third most common direct cause of cave and cavern diving fatalities.)

5. Failure to carry at least three battery powered lights. (A major contribution factor).


These are the "five rules of cave diving." I hope this helps to clear things up a little.

 

[Cave Diver]

There has been talk on the thread about accident analysis and while someone who is cavern/cave trained knows what this means I wanted to explain for those you might not already know.

Something else that people without cavern/cave training may not know is that most of the popular Florida caves have this sign near the entrance as a warning to untrained divers.

 

[sabbath999]

Something else that people without cavern/cave training may not know is that most of the popular Florida caves have this sign near the entrance as a warning to untrained divers.

Specifically, this is the one in Vortex:

 

[Sludge]

I have been asked to copy a post I made on another forum:

... my missing friend.

I'm hoping you won't come back to view the posts here. If you do, you'll probably come to the conclusion that cave divers are the hardest-hearted people around.

We aren't really that way. But if you look at the history of cave diving it is filled with examples of us trying to convince the world cave diving isn't "the most dangerous sport around." Most of the people that die in underwater caves are't trained for what they were doing.

In the 1960s many, if not most, caves in Florida were closed to diving. But through a lot of positive publicity, most of them were opened to us later. But often, untrained divers venture into caves, and when they die, the public and the landowners can't differentiate between them and trained cave divers. So more caves are being closed to diving.

But the most telling aspect of this story is that experienced cave divers are unable to locate your friend. The places they are looking are very, very unstable and dangerous. I'll tell you this: I have almost 600 cave dives, and if I were asked to assist in this recovery, I would do so ONLY as surface support.

But believe this, you and his other friends and family are in our thoughts.

 

[Cave Diver]

The question most of us are asking is why do some divers think it's ok to dive alone or go into caves that are dangerous like this? What is it that these divers are looking for? Adventure? Danger? Death?

For a properly trained, and equipped diver with the right mind and skill set, cave diving is statistically not very dangerous, even when diving solo.

For those without all of that, especially the training, there are only so many times you can pull the trigger on an empty chamber before you finally find the bullet.

If you get scared in a cave, then it's probably not the place one should be diving. That's not to say there aren't those little moments where you may get a tingling feeling and think you probably shouldn't be there, but if it turns to actual fear, you've got bigger problems on the way. I hope you keep that in mind.

I know a few have asked the friends and family of Ben to not read any further but most of us can't and won't stop reading until closure is found. This message board is all we have that brings us closer to what has happened. There are hundreds of us back home (Memphis, TN) reading your every post and waiting, just waiting, wanting some closure of this tragic accident.

I'm sorry to say, but I think that as events unfold you are going to see a very different picture painted of your friend than the one you know. While I sympathize with your loss, accident threads can be very difficult for anyone remotely close to the victim.

 

[Hetland]

Thank you for clarifying. I'm sorry to the ones who have friends and family trying to recover Ben. We greatly appreciate all for their bravery and time. My prayers go out to all involved. I know a few have asked the friends and family of Ben to not read any further but most of us can't and won't stop reading until closure is found. This message board is all we have that brings us closer to what has happened. There are hundreds of us back home (Memphis, TN) reading your every post and waiting, just waiting, wanting some closure of this tragic accident.

Ultimately, this thread is about preventing the next person from being injured or killed. To do that, we (the community) will have to put "B's" every action and inaction under a microscope. It's not about putting him down, it's about making sure that his loss serves the greater good of keeping other people alive.

I've browsed the foundation that "B" served on. It's clear that he was a special person. While his organs won't go towards serving "B's" higher purpose, his story will.

The question most of us are asking is why do some divers think it's ok to dive alone or go into caves that are dangerous like this? What is it that these divers are looking for? Adventure? Danger? Death?

Divers dive for a variety of reasons. I couldn't imagine my life without diving. For me, it is something that is beyond therapy. It is impossible to take life's problems along with you underwater. No cell phones, no bills, no traffic, no family problems. It is a total and complete release from the world above. This is true in a tiny freshwater basin, with little to look at besides mud and gravel. When you add indescribable wonders of geological formations that few humans have ever seen, fossils, from creatures that have been extinct for thousands of years and the deep hulking wrecks in the gulf, or 20ft whale sharks gliding silently below you, or colors bright and vibrant beyond anything terrestrial (in an environment where those lights can't be perceived naturally) then the draw is even greater.

Humans are wired to push harder, explore further. We are also frail, and often, we push beyond our individual limits in our quests. We don't yet know limit caught up to "B". It could be something as simple as a heart attack, or it could be, as most suspect, that he got into trouble because he was diving beyond his training and experience.

For you, his friends, thinking ill of his choices is counterproductive. We only do it for the sake that such accidents won't be repeated.