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Commentary Final Report Into Stephen Keenan’s Fatal Dive Completed
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Thread Status: Hello
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Read the original post on DeeperBlue.com...
I have a few points to make about this incident. I should point out I base my opinions only on what I’ve read in the report and my own experience of diving under the arch (albeit some time ago – in about 2005). I think it can only be a good thing to have an open discussion about these things. DB is probably the best place to post this because there’s probably a better chance of a more open and uncensored discussion than on other forums. As a community we have a responsibility to learn from incidents and make sure they don’t happen again.
In terms of how this incident could have been avoided, there are two things I would point out:
The first point being the apparent lack of preparation dives. By this I mean specific recce dives in the Blue Hole near the arch – specifically by the diver in this particular case. From the report it sounds as though the diver was certainly capable of the dive in terms of her apnea capacity. But it seems she lacked familiarity with the dive site. I was surprised to read that dive time estimates were calculated at a different site altogether.
A series of progressive recce dives could begin with briefly viewing the arch opening, to short hangs at the arch, and extend to a partial entry and exit from the same side (perhaps into both openings). A series of such dives at the site would have
Of course, the visibility issue could have been resolved so easily simply by attaching something highly visible, such as a bright strobe. Anything that would make it absolutely unmissable at depth. During my traverse I think we just tied on a white t-shirt – but that was enough to make it visible from some distance.
It seems to me that Stephen himself was, in effect, their means of making the ascent line more visible at the bottom. This approach obviously made timings that much more critical. In my view, this approach was fundamentally flawed.
I would say that the factors that led to the incident were a combination of the diver’s lack of familiarity with the dive site, the reliance on Stephen’s presence to guide the diver to the ascent line, and the missed timings.
Maybe this approach had worked in the past, but perhaps only because timings happened to work out exactly as planned and the divers were more familiar with the arch and knew where to find the ascent line.
In terms of how this incident could have been avoided, there are two things I would point out:
The first point being the apparent lack of preparation dives. By this I mean specific recce dives in the Blue Hole near the arch – specifically by the diver in this particular case. From the report it sounds as though the diver was certainly capable of the dive in terms of her apnea capacity. But it seems she lacked familiarity with the dive site. I was surprised to read that dive time estimates were calculated at a different site altogether.
A series of progressive recce dives could begin with briefly viewing the arch opening, to short hangs at the arch, and extend to a partial entry and exit from the same side (perhaps into both openings). A series of such dives at the site would have
- Given the diver more familiarity with the shape and size of the arch, especially by viewing the arch from both sides – entry and exit.
- Given more realistic estimates for timings and confidence that the dive is actually achievable.
- Highlighted potential problems in terms of logistics, timings and communication.
- But most importantly, it would have become apparent that you cannot easily see a line at the opposite end of the arch. Which leads me to my next point…
Of course, the visibility issue could have been resolved so easily simply by attaching something highly visible, such as a bright strobe. Anything that would make it absolutely unmissable at depth. During my traverse I think we just tied on a white t-shirt – but that was enough to make it visible from some distance.
It seems to me that Stephen himself was, in effect, their means of making the ascent line more visible at the bottom. This approach obviously made timings that much more critical. In my view, this approach was fundamentally flawed.
I would say that the factors that led to the incident were a combination of the diver’s lack of familiarity with the dive site, the reliance on Stephen’s presence to guide the diver to the ascent line, and the missed timings.
Maybe this approach had worked in the past, but perhaps only because timings happened to work out exactly as planned and the divers were more familiar with the arch and knew where to find the ascent line.
