Lake Wazee accident

[Vtach]

Terrible tragedy...

It is rare that people are forthcoming enough to share details on events like this in order for others to learn.  Families going the grieving process many times find solace in making a difficult decision that may help someone else or prevent similar circumstances.  However, unless they are divers themselves and active on the dive forums, it is unlikely that they would even know the importance of sharing the facts or how to do it.  I hope that any of those involved will be able to share information before this becomes another accident that just gradually fades away.  I would like to think that at some point in time, post incident analysis becomes a priority for all accidents and maybe another situation like this could be prevented.

My prayers are with the family and friends of those involved.  

[Leadking]

I will state that I do not want to hear the "families views" or "official report" of what happend only. Diver fatalities are a reality of the sport and if I should die while diving, I would hope that others would learn from and prevent a similar event.  As someone who has recovered a diver's body, I want to go on record that after reading the "official" report-they blew it. I was there, and what I saw and experienced at 150' was NOT in the report.

[matt t.]

A little more information:

[schultz]

A little more info again:

[Vtach]

Posted on MNScuba, take it for what it is worth from the media;

[matt t.]

Statement from survivor:

[jmohns]

Such a shame!!! In my honest opinion..... we asked the mods of this website to create us this area so we could analyze and dissect every portion of the incident. This is not disrespectful nor is it degrading to the family of the loved ones lost. This is frankly how we have evolved as divers and as a sport. I am a fireman by career, and when we have a fatal fire or some other really "nasty" call we sit down as a group and talk. No we don't sit around and point fingers, nor do we hold hands and sing songs, but we do talk about the incidents, what went right, wrong, what worked, didn't work.... you get the point. This is usually done as soon as we have the trucks back in service. As far as diving goes, I am fairly new (less than 10 yrs in the sport) and I am currently qualified for the 150 mark as well, so yes... I am incredibly interested in what happened so I don't potentially make the same mistake. Maybe it was a gear issue, maybe it was medical, maybe it was psychological.... who know, lets please keep to the facts and do what we do best here, make a good honest opinion so we cal all as a comunity can learn from it.
James

[aknelsonone]

Here is the whole story. This time something to read.  Still something to guess.....



In an earlier news story It was mentioned they used air. I would like to have this confirmed by a reliable source.

Andy

[Vtach]

I am not a big Scubaboard fan but there is quite a bit of information on the accident there.  Take it for what it is but some of it is hard to rebuke as rumor.



In the mean time, since the family is talking to the media and obviously interested in sharing the story, it would be appreciated if timm_hagen would share his information to dispel any rumors and provide some details on this accident, like what bottom gas were they breathing.

[jasondbaker]

We are starting to get more information from the surviving diver and family members -- albeit, through the media.  I still have lingering questions.

-- Several news articles report that these divers were experienced divers, passionate about diving and liked to push the limits.  Keith Cormican suggested these guys had the training to dive to depths of 150ft.  Did they have the formalized training to dive at the depths they were diving (reportedly around 200ft)?  How many previous dives did they make to these depths?

-- We keep reading that they were diving on air.  But the media doesn't understand the difference between air, nitrox, trimix, etc.  What gas mixtures were they carrying on their dive?

-- Did this incident occur on the first dive of the day or did they make an earlier dive?

-- What did the dive profile look like? How long at what depths?

-- Why were two of the three divers diving at a deeper depth while one diver was essentially diving solo at a shallower (although still deep) depth?

-- The surviving diver reported that he had a leak in a tank that caused him to surface.  What was his tank and gas configuration?  Assuming he had more than one tank or a pony bottle, if he had a leaking tank (blown o-ring, reg free flow?) why didn't he switch to a pony bottle for his deco obligation?

-- Was the surviving diver experiencing DCS symptoms or was he taken to HCMC as a precaution due to missing his deco stops?

-- Were these deaths the result of bad luck (i.e., heart attack), cascading set of events, or lack of proper dive planning? Or all the above?

I hope we get answers to these questions from the accident investigators over the coming weeks and months.  I'm sure there are other questions I'm not thinking of at the moment.