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As with the case of most diving fatalities, there are typically many unanswered questions. The cave diving community used to be very good at analyzing the fatalities & coming up with solutions to reduce those fatalities. Things have changed,.... & the information has dried up.
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One "Why Question" I would like answered is: Why do training agencies no longer train divers to drop their weight belts when they are in trouble? He was on the surface! If he dropped the belt he might still be here. When I started OW my instructor said "If you are found dead still wearing your weight belt it is because you were a fracking moron and that cost you your life." This seems like a no brainer and yet an alarming number of divers are found dead still wearing their belts. DROP THE FRACKING WEIGHTS!
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Btrax - 6/16/2015 3:56 PM 
I have to agree with both of you. Accident analysis has taken a nosedive, i do not know why. In the military i was with a team that worked accident analysis in order to reduce future accidents - the whole purpose was to REDUCE accidents by finding the why and preventing the next one. As for the weights, well Rich nailed it—Drop em you can get another set, can’t get a new life.
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My training agency make me cover it in my OW classes. I teach my students both weight pocket & weight belt removal, ditching & donning.
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Totally agree with Rich but this guy must have already been in panic mode before he hit the surface and lost all sense of procedures. I saved a lady on a dive that was under extreme panic and she never knew who helped her until 1/2 hour later when she became coherent enough to ask. In that situation I didn’t release her weight belt as we were moored on a buoy above a wreck with 15 other divers on the bottom. I think every situation is different but I wonder who was budded up with him and what they saw or experienced.
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I think ditching weights is a last ditch thing and they haven’t admitted to themselves that they are that deep in trouble until it’s too late.
In rescue class they teach you to ask the stressed diver to hand you their weights, then you drop them :)
In a 3 mil with a steel tank I only have 4 pounds of lead, I’m not sure dropping them will make that much difference :(
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Greg - 6/17/2015 10:40 AM
Proper weighting is also critical in helping to avoid panicked situations on the surface. If you are way over weighted, you’ll feel like you can’t get positively buoyant while floating on the surface. You’ll use energy to stay afloat by kicking. You’ll max out the flotation of your BC which will cause air pressure to be released from the relief valves. That will freak you out even more which will cause more panic. At some point, training and experience needs to take over and remind you what’s keeping you from floating. Drop your weights, take deep breaths, lay your head back, get low in the water, and relax.
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Yep drop the weightbelt. And where was his dive buddy. ..
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Kudos to lbrooks for finally asking the question about the dive buddy. And what were the other people on the boat doing when this man called for help? Authorities are still bickering on who should handle the investigation, Coast Guard or Sheriff’s office. And here’s something really weird. Over the weekend local TV stations were reporting that the Coast Guard could not even locate the charter boat. Now you cannot even find the charter boats name online. Is something nefarious going on here?
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I met Jerry a few years ago, but didn’t know him other than that one quick meeting. I never dove with him but knew he was gonzo for diving. I saw a news story today (video) in which his family said they were told his air was turned off. Perhaps there is more to the story, but regardless my first question was why, if he were at the surface calling for help, did he sink again. Ditching weights or establishing buoyancy would have at least resulted in a body at the surface that could be treated and/or resuscitated. It’ll be interesting to see what the investigation turns up.
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From Greg: Proper weighting is also critical in helping to avoid panicked situations on the surface. If you are way over weighted, you’ll feel like you can’t get positively buoyant while floating on the surface. You’ll use energy to stay afloat by kicking. You’ll max out the flotation of your BC which will cause air pressure to be released from the relief valves. That will freak you out even more which will cause more panic. At some point, training and experience needs to take over and remind you what’s ke...
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