Diver Down: Fatal Distraction

photo by Mike Ange

A mysterious moray lures a diver into the danger zone

Diver Down: Dive Accidents, Close Calls and How You Can Avoid Them

Each Diver Down case presented on Seaduction.com is written by the author of "Lessons for Life" the #1 column at SCUBA Diving Magazine from 2001-2009.  Each case is based on a real incident that has been thoroughly investigated through official sources and the accounts of participants and witnesses. Names and some minor details have been changed to protect victims and their families.

By Michael Ange

John was suddenly short of breathe.  It seemed suddenly impossible to get a full breath from his regulator.  Looking from side to side, he tried to find his buddy, but they had somehow become separated.  Once again, he drew hard on the regulator getting very little, if any, air.  Then panic struck and he began clawing his way to the surface.  He popped to the surface screaming for help.  He kicked hard, trying to stay afloat.  His regulator was not working although he didn’t understand why.  Struggling to keep his head above the surface, he waved frantically although his screams turned out to be mostly useless gurgles as his head drop rapidly below the surface. 

The Diver

John was a reasonably experienced open water diver in his late forties and in reasonably good health.  He had been certified for five years and made two or three trips per year to local destinations near his inland home.  He also made at least one trip a year to a tropical destination where he would participate in a number of activities including two or three days of diving.  Although he was a fairly active diver, he never participated in any continuing education classes beyond his open water training.  

The Dive

John and his wife were taking their annual vacation to a popular Caribbean Dive Spot.  Their first day of diving had gone extremely well and the second day held the promise of being another fantastic day.  Seas were so flat calm that the surface of the water almost looked like glass, even in the channel the water appeared crystal clear.  The divers had boarded a head boat with a dozen or so other divers heading out to dive two popular reef sites.  The first dive was scheduled to be in about 50 feet of water on a site that promised moray eels, pristine segments of reef, and huge schools of yellow tailed snapper.  The divers entered the water to find no current and visibility well in excess of the 50 feet in depth.  Although they realized that John, a noted air hog, might run somewhat short on gas, he and his wife had optimistically planned a one hour bottom time however, they also agreed to turn back towards the boat when they reached one half of their gas supply and to surface if either of them reached 500 psi.  The dive proceeded extremely well with the divers taking in beautiful marine life as just as they decided to turn the dive swimming back towards the boat, John spotted a beautiful moray eel swimming along the top of the reef fully exposed – a sight John had never seen before.  Motioning to his wife, he quickly took off in pursuit of the eel hoping to snap a picture with his small point and shoot camera. 

The Accident

John apparently swam with the moray for about five minutes leaving his wife and dive buddy way behind as he took off in pursuit of the eel.  His wife struggled to keep up for a few moments before giving up and surfacing.  She began a leisurely swim on a calm surface towards the back of the dive boat as John continued his pursuit oblivious to her absence, until his regulator began to breathe hard.  He attempted to draw air from the regulator several times and he was observed by another buddy team who clearly thought he was in distress.  The other divers were swimming toward John to provide assistance when panic struck and he shot toward the surface.  The divers looked up and saw that John had made it to the surface.  They could also see that the dive boat was close by so they continued their dive.  Meanwhile, John was struggling.  He flailed at the water in an attempt to stay afloat and continuously pushed his inflator button unable to understand why his BCD would not inflate.  He waved and attempted to scream before slipping beneath the surface.  It took only four or five minutes for the boat’s Divemaster  to locate John on the bottom.    He was lying motionless with his mask removed and his regulator out of his mouth.  His quick release weight pockets were hanging loosely in front of the BCD – they had obviously been pulled out but had not actually been dropped.  His cylinder was empty.  The Divemaster  brought John immediately to the surface where he obtained assistance in getting him back on board the boat.  Un fortunately their best efforts at resuscitation were unsuccessful. And John was pronounced dead after being transported to the nearest dock and a local medical facility by EMS personnel.

Analysis

John’s enthusiasm led him to make several mistakes beginning with the failure to stay with his buddy.  Even though the divers had agreed that on this dive, John would lead and his wife would follow, he swam away from her at a pace that she was unable to match.  In only a couple of minutes, he was able to swim so far ahead that she could barely see him in spite of the pristine visibility.  Had John stayed with his buddy, his second mistake would not have proved fatal.  John became so engrossed with the environment that he failed to monitor his air supply.  He had somewhat less than one half tank of air before he saw the moray eel.  Swimming hard in an effort to keep up with him, he depleted his gas supply so quickly that he was apparently unsure of what had happened.  The witnesses to his rapid ascent, never saw him check his gauge and it was, in fact, still tucked inside the BCD pocket when the Divemaster reached him.  Still, in spite of both of these errors, John managed to reach the surface a hundred yards or less from the boat.  The Captain immediately spotted John and yelled for him to drop his weights and inflate his BCD.  From the Captain’s vantage point, it appeared as though John never attempted to orally inflate his BCD and we know that he did not effectively dump his weights, although he tried.  Oral inflation and weight dumping are two vitally essential safety skills that every diver should master.  Unfortunately, even in initial training, they may not be given the emphasis they deserve and most divers will go through an entire diving career without practicing these skills again after their initial certification.  They should be practiced to the point that they become reflex reactions and then the skill should be reviewed several times each diving season to ensure the diver’s ability to perform them efficiently in a real emergency.  John either didn’t know how or lacked the reflexive memory to orally inflate.  Although he tried, he was apparently unable to physically get his weights to clear his body so that they would not drag him down.  Since he began his ascent from a depth of around forty feet and the ascent was uncontrolled, it is likely that he was also diving negatively buoyant or that he actually dumped the air from his BCD upon reaching the surface in his failed attempts to inflate.  Had he been neutral at 40 feet, he should have been positive when he reached the surface.  Ultimately, his inability to perform these two skills cost him his life.

Lessons for Survival

·         Stay with your buddy.  Recent statistics from the British Sub Aqua Club demonstrate that diving solo or while separated from your buddy is a significant contributing factor in fatal diving accidents. 

·         Review vital skills at the beginning of every dive season and periodically throughout the season.  A trip to shallow water or a local pool for a fun afternoon provides an ideal opportunity to review these skills. 

·         A refresher is a good idea.  Even if you actively dive a few times a year, a SCUBA tune up with a qualified instructor at the start of the dive season is a great way to start off the year. 

·         Know your gear.  John was initially trained with a weight belt and later switched to a weight integrated BCD.  There is no evidence that he received any training in dumping the weights or every practiced the skill with his new equipment configuration.