Incidents List
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Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details -
1987 6 21 Fortin Richard USA Police Assigned as police diver, rescued four people from an overturned boat, attached a towline, sank from view and drowned -
2006 12 4 ASRV Australia Caldive 130 Atmos. ASRV "Remora" annual trials 'Black Carillon"from "Seahorse Standard", broken winch wire, 2 Caldive personnel on seabed for 15 hours, recovered to near surface, transferred to deck on SCUBA, no injuries, then the other wire broke, (Close to double or even a triple fatality?),"Remora" on seabed. Condition not reported, recovered over 4 months later (April 2007) by a USN team. -
1972 0 0 Not Recorded Tunisia Cocean 57 SCUBA Ashtart field, installation of a shackle on an anchoring pipe. Diving SCUBA/Trimix from SBM Installer I. Descent along the chain - High swell, chain moving in chain direction in upper zone, vertically up and down (4 to 5 meters) below 60 m where it was almost horizontal in reduced visibility water. Chain hits Scuba tanks braking the attachment between tanks. Diver catches the chain to prevent further hit, movement of water removes mask and one fin. After releasing the chain, diver could replace mask and locate the fin and come up, the buddy diver was watching above in a zone with visibility (bubbles still coming up), both returned safely at surface..... -
1967 0 0 Maclean Edward (Ted) Australia Divcon 130ft S/S Air Ashmore Reef, NW Australia, Water depth 130ft Died in Deco Chamber , Combination of Missed Deco and heat exhaustion. Incident happened late 1967. Drill Barge Investigator owned and operated by Zapata. <br />longstreath.com -
1943 6 11 Isnor Oswald Canada Article relating to the award of a George Medal and two posthumous commendations for brave conduct to Canadian civilians. "Commendation - Oswald Isnor of Halifax, chief diver on a salvage ship, who was killed while helping to salvage a "very large and valuable cargo of rubber tires" from a grounded ship'. Reported in the Edmonton Journal in June 1943 -
0 0 0 Shambhu Article on rescue divers working the Varanasi Ghats in the Express of India in 2008. “In another incident, a diver, Shambhu, died while trying to extract a defective water-pump from a well in the Central Hindu School at Varanasi". No details. -
0 0 0 Hansen Charles 'Big Charlie' USA Article in Time Magazine dated October 1934 referring to an attempted gold salvage operation HMS 'Hussar', sank 23rd November 1780 off New York in the East River near treacherous Hell Gate, rumoured to be carrying gold. Robert Roy Hansen dived from the Tug 'Terminal' using an armoured diving suit - "Eleanor" - invented by salvage company president, Thomas P. Connolly, & Weighing 675 Ib. on deck, the suit has a head and body of steel, with grotesque protuberances for eyes and something that looks like a nose. Of rubber reinforced by interwoven copper strips, the arms and legs become flexible when subjected to high underwater pressure. The two parts of the suit join at the waist instead of around the neck. The diver goes down without an airhose, carries an oxygen bottle, a respirator, caustic soda to absorb carbon dioxide. The tall, gangling, muscular man who went down encased in ''Eleanor" is a crack deep-sea diver named Roy Robert Hansen. He worked on the S-51 and S-4 jobs when those U. S. submarines went to the bottom (TIME, Oct. 5, 1925; Dec. 26, 1927). His father, a diver called "Big Charley," was killed working in the Great Lakes, and "Big Charley's" father also lost his life diving. The Terminal's procedure was to pay out 2,000 ft. of cable with Hansen in "Eleanor" at the end, then drag him along against the swirling tide. Though the depth was never more than 112 ft., Hansen thought it the nastiest job of his career, said he was bumped against rocks and whirled around until he was groggy. By week's end he had encountered six drowned hulks, identified none as the Hussar. But Diver Hansen appraised as practically nil the chances of the rival salvage vessel 'Josephine'. Wearing ordinary diving-suits, the Josephine's divers worked only during slack tide, 20 min. twice a day. Reported in Time Magazine -
1987 11 18 Batuecas Sgt. Francisco Javier Arroyo Spain Army Army engineer died during a training dive at the Navy diving centre in Cartagena whilst on a diving course. Reported as 'death may be due to natural causes and not an accident' by the forces spokesman, but no details. Reported in 'El Pais' -
2009 12 8 Kelly Stephen Australia Arafura Pearls Arafura Pearls pearling (farm) operation at Elizabeth Bay, about 50km northwest of Gove in Arnhem Land, 3.15pm on Tuesday. Aged 36, "He had come up from Victoria� (reported as new to the job, had started less than 12 months previously) and “was performing routine farm maintenance work, the water wasn't exceptionally deep but he went down, came up six minutes later, went down again and then when they pulled him back up he wasn't breathing." Transported 48 km to Gove Hospital failed. Doctors declared him dead on arrival in the emergency ward. Awaiting incident report. Reported by NT News.com.au -
2016 12 19 Castiglione Leticia Nerina Argentina Raul A. Negro S.R.L Salvage and Diving Company SS/Air Approx. 18:10 hs. Monday 19-Dec Commercial diver Leticia Castiglione, an Argentine. 37 years of age Diving for the Company Raul Negro. Operating in reflotamiebro on a sunken barge TAF 317. Km 1204,5 MI RP. Leaving bottom and arriving on the surface assisted by the two surface divers who with personal from the PNA used CPR. Unconscious she was transferred to land and taken to the School Hospital where they performed life saving tasks of reanimacion.amplia CORR Hs. At 20:20 The Head of Intensive Therapy reported the death of the Commercial Diver Leticia Castiglione, cause of death to be determined by the coroner. Federal Court Judgment No. 1 was given to Dr. Carlos Soto Dávila - Facebook -
2010 4 8 Ojeda Rodrigo Argentina 30 Apparently the 32 year old diver was killed during construction of the Maldonado tunnel in Buenos Aries, possibly a decompression incident. All we know is that city mayor went into print in August saying he found it 'serious' that they had “failed to inform the company�, that the urban development minister and director of works “have concealed the death of a worker on the site that is the most important of his administration�. No other details. Reported in Diario Cronica and Partido de la Cuidad -
1996 1 0 Palin Carl UAE 18 S/S Air Apparently surfaced normally but lost consciousness, into zodiac, transferred to DDC (13 minute surface interval), at 60' no response, down to 165', partially regained consciousness, behavioural issues, sedated with valium, doctor locked in, gradual decompression, mated to a sat system two days later at 60', cardiac arrest, resuscitated but no brain stem, activity then suffered another cardiac arrest. -
1904 12 18 Hatrickichi Sakamoto Australia Topsides Apparently murdered by two Malays. Data to add, TC -
1989 10 3 Hartley James USA MVN for Healy Tibbitts Apparently injured whilst working on an outfall sewer project at the Owls Head Water Pollution Control Project located in Brooklyn. Court case 'HARTLEY v. CITY OF NEW YORK, 163 Misc.2d 540 (1994) in November 3, 1994'. No details. Loislaw.com -
2002 8 9 Ramsey Gary USA Army Corps of Engineers S/S Air Apparent DP, Dam 52 on the Ohio river, . Died after being trapped inside a temporary dam for nearly 50 minutes while caulking cracks near a water intake valve, (may have been surfaced rapidly and suffered embolism) Recovered with no pulse. Lexington Herald Leader -
2020 6 21 Pybus Andrew John GOM Subsea 7 Sat Andy Pybus (born December 15th, 1960 ) British national, sat diver when lockout to the bell on board DSV Seven Pegasus Liberian flag working in USA waters at GOM suffered a cardiovascular issue and died. Under investigation -
2000 11 23 Moscow USSR Military An elite, specially-trained team of combat divers guards the Kremlin against potential attackers trying to gain access to the Kremlin through the sewers underwater from the River Moskva and the underground network of sewers. But any would-be transgressors would be met by sinister-looking combat divers - known as strategic-purpose divers. The first units of combat divers were set up in the 1960s to combat underwater saboteurs. They now form part of the Presidential Bodyguard Service. The divers all have officer's rank and get free flats in Moscow. As well as patrolling the sewers, they also inspect the River Moskva around the Kremlin, protect all the presidential residences from offshore and accompany the president when he goes to the Black Sea resort of Sochi. A special underwater pistol was designed as a non-automatic four-barrel gun loaded in the same way as a hunter's rifle, by opening the breach. The bullets look strange too. A bullet is actually a long needle or a "nail" as the divers call it. The nails can kill at a distance of six to 17 metres, depending on the depth. The divers say that underwater fighting with knives only exists in films. A basic principle of underwater combat is that whoever attacks first, wins. Even the slightest wound could be lethal underwater because water pressure leads to massive loss of blood which renders the diver useless in seconds. If their oxygen supply is cut, the special purpose divers have a small reserve balloon attached to their chest with enough oxygen to get to the surface, Reported in the Russian weekly newspaper Versiya and BBC -
2000 7 14 Poore Tommy USA SCUBA American, vesssel husbandry work on a vessel in the Houston Shipping channel, reported missing, body recovered two days l;ater. No commercial qualifications. NAOCD/cDiver -
0 0 0 Not Recorded USA 24 SCUBA American, Vallejo, California. Sewage outfall pipe (1,800 feet long), diver entered via a manhole on SCUBA and a lifeline. Lost lifeline. Body recovered the day after. Following lawsuit awarded significant damages to the diver's widow. No details. Mentioned in a blog on OD. -
1905 6 4 Hayes Daniel USA S/S Air American, town of Keokuk in Iowa, clearing lake drainage pipe, sucked under the refuse and against a boulder, he and tangled hose trapped by differential pressure at around 15:00 hours on the 3rd of June. Rescued by two government works divers 24 hours later and pulled to the surface "unconscious and almost dying" -
1980 0 0 Not Recorded Bahrain Taylor Diving 0 S/S Air American, Taylor Diving (Bahrain) jumping from the deck of a barge into the water, wearing a Swindel, umbilical connection between helmet and harness caught on a projection, ripped off from both helmet and harness, body later recovered from seabed, possibly broken neck -
1920 0 0 Cram J H USA Porter Brothers American, sued his employers claiming that he been incapacitated for some time after “his hoses were caught� and his air cut off -
2000 5 28 Cronland Kyle USA Bulldod Diving American, Southern Indiana Gas and Electricity Company, Cinergy Power Plant, Indianapolis, Ohio River, zero vis, removing mud from a locked out pump. Pump cells all suck water from a common screen cell. Apparently either diver walked around dividing wall into common cell then was pulled or wandered into a live pump. Drowned when umbilical was cur (Did he have a bailout??). Cause given as incorrect lock out/rag out procedues. Offshore Diver/NAOCD/cDiver/Indianapolis Star -
1999 11 11 Not Recorded USA Southwest Marine American, San Diego, This was reported as a drowning fatality by a possibly untrained SCUBA diver doing commercial work. No details, possibly dual report of death of Ramsey Downie reported a month earlier (Died 8/10/1999). NAOCD/cDiver. -
1974 0 0 Trautman Richard Wayne Egypt Buck Steber American, salvage diver, injured during suez canal clearance operations. Law suit in 1982. No details -
2006 0 0 Not Recorded Trinidad American, rumour only, No details, thought to be ADC member Double report for Denis Cartright (Below)? -
1901 6 14 Anderson Martin USA Rodgers Salvage 18 S/S Air American, reported as asphyxiated, heavy bleeding from eyes nose, probably nicked hose, lost air, squeeze, differential pressure. -
2000 5 5 Warzack Mathew USA Lindahl Marine S/S Air American, reported as "Diver was sucked into a 9 ft diameter intake. Lost communications with diver after 15 minutes, body recovered 40 minutes later. Improper tag-out procedures. 3 Citations, informally Settled". No other details. NAOCD/cDiver -
1903 8 1 Gunderson Charles USA S/S Air American, repairing a Boat, Reported as “Dashed to River's Bottom. HELMET IS BENT ON HIS HEAD. Accident While Repairing Propeller of the Disabled Eastland. Engines Are Started Up. Hard to Remove Helmet�. Reported in the Chicago Daily Tribune -
2005 11 24 Jones Zakarij Mason USA PDCoF 60 SCUBA American, Professional Diving Charters of Florida, Ft Lauderdale, Vessel "Pro diver II", He drowned, Contrary to initial USCG report, it was a sports dive, hospital "lost the medical records", reports contradictory -
1997 0 0 Tucker John Venezuela 9 S/S Air American, Porto Cabala, Inspection dive during the salvage of the vessel "Zinnia", stopped responding to surface/line signal, stand-by found him on the bottom, unresponsive, helmet flooded. -
1974 10 0 Marlin J. C. USA S/S Mixed Gas American, pipeline pull-in into a J-tube, pipeline jammed, diver investigating, it moved and caught his hand, broken thumb and forefinger, he either climbed directly to the surface himself or was pulled up by the crew, into the DDC but died, decompression incident -
1898 3 22 Williams Henry Cuba Merritt Wrecking Company S/S Air American, one of the divers on the tug "Chief" died Havana from chronic haemorrhage of the stomach "It was not unexpected. Mr Collins was ill before he left the United States" -
1999 12 28 Mahoney Michael C USA Bisso Marine American, Mississippi river barge salvage job, oxy arc explosion, stand-by diver not dressed in. Diver was killed in an underwater explosion while performing "hot work" on the sunken barge. Early court documents from a civil action brought by Bisso Marine against OSHA when the investigation was transferred from USCG to OSHA shows that Mr. Mahoney's "autopsy revealed high levels of cocaine and TCH.....that Mahoney likely smoked crack cocaine on the barge shortly before making the dive." OSHA investigation complete. Citations on Appeal. Fine to be Paid, 4 Citations/$8250 NAOCD/cDiver -
1985 0 0 Arnold Al USA Taylor Diving American, mid-umbilical fitting pulled apart, lost gas, attempted to reach open bottom bell but found unconscious just outside. Did not activate his bailout. -
2010 7 27 McCullough Mike USA SCUBA American, mid twenties. Paraphrased from press reports:- “A SCUBA diver retrieving golf balls at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course drowned Tuesday afternoon, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department said. "The lady driving the boat to the green said she had seen him at the back edge of the green diving for balls but hadn't seen him in an hour and half," said one golfer. “We started looking around to see if we could see him and when we looked over the left side of the green, we saw his face down body limp under the water, about 15 feet (offshore). But he wasn't moving and there weren't any bubbles coming out. The witness and a staff member took a boat out, pulled the body aboard and took the victim to an adjacent dock around 4 pm. The witness said the body was without diving gear when it was spotted. He was pronounced dead at Kootenai Medical Center around 5 p.m He was working for a contractor who picks up golf balls and other debris from the lake bottom in the area. Tuesday afternoon his gear was still at the bottom of the lake, said the sheriff's department. “Our divers will recover that and investigate this as the case goes on�. CDA Press. -
2015 8 19 Koratko Mathew USA Harkand/Swiber 110m Saturation American, married, two children diving off the Swiber Quetzal, Bay of Campeche, riser installation operation. Accident in the water at 14:30 local, body taken ashore to Cuidad del Carrmen, no other details, Reported in the El Sur de Campeche. Complete news blackout imposed by Harkand and Swiber, Two conflicting and unsubstantiated reports - one indicated the fatality was due to stored energy in a member being cut was the cause - it sprang and crushed the diver's chest. A second report indicated that the one piece riser being installed crushed the diver against the structure - ie a lifting incident. If the lawyers keep this incident gagged it is unlikely that any lessons will be learnt. Later rumours indicate riser swung due to topsides crew moving/changing hang-off without the knowledge of the dive crew but without confirmation that is still just speculation. No further information has been released by Swiber, or the defunct Harkand. -
1999 0 0 Lilly Scott USA Global American, kidnapped in Nigeria, he was released and then returned to America where he was attending LST training when he was admitted to hospital in Lafayette and subsequently died of malaria. Reported on Offshore diver website -
1997 5 0 Lewis Brent R GOM American, jetting under a Casino barge (Isle of Capri) in Shreveport, no bailout, hose severed (pulled into pump inlet) ditched hat, drowned -
1992 0 0 Rogers Greg USA 11 S/S Air American, jetting off a lift barge, flooded band mask, recovered to DDC but did not respond to treatment -
1999 10 20 Not Recorded USA Jim Wright Marine Construction American, Incident occurred on the Isle of Bahia, Lot 80 (Inland of Lake Worth), reported as a drowning of unknown cause. Possibly a case of a sports qualified SCUBA diver doing commercial diving work. Investigation closed. Fines to be Paid, 3 Citations/$3,600 but no details. NAOCD/cDiver -
0 0 0 Witherow David Mexico American, head injuries during spoolpiece lifting operation -
1914 6 21 Cossoboom Canada Quebec Salvage Company 40 S/S Air American, From New York, working on the wreck of the “Empress of Ireland� (Sank in the St Lawrence Seaway after a collision with the loss of around 800 persons) recovering bodies, lost contact with surface, was recovered unconscious to the schooner “Josephine� by a Royal Navy diver from the Cruiser Essex, failed to respond to treatment, died 30 minutes later. It appears he dropped from the superstructure (80' water depth) to the seabed (130' water depth) and was squeezed. Reported in the New York Times -
1927 5 25 Harrison Edgar USA S/S Air American, from Catalina, speculative search for Aimee Macpherson (faked her own disappearance, but at the time was presumed missing/dead and there was a $25,000 reward for finding her. She had actually run off with her boyfriend). Water pressure acerbated appendicitis and he died. Macpherson re-appeared from the desert, initially claiming kidnap. Harrison's widow tried to sue Macpherson. -
1872 12 10 Collins USA S/S Air American, formally a member of the 99th Regiment of New York Volunteers, searching for a propeller lost off a Navy steam launch at Norfolk, Virginia. About 1 o'clock a diver by the name of Collins met his death by suffocation while engaged in diving. Pulled to the surface and found to be dead. New York Times -
1889 0 0 Woods James W USA Merritt Wrecking Company 18 S/S Air American, drowned under the wreck of the "Iberia" (Sank three miles off New York, 10th November 1888, collision in fog) whilst salvaging cotton, his helmet flooded through a tear in his suit near his neck. His signal line was tied off to a stanchion some distance from the worksite. Quote from proprietor of the salvage company, Israel J Merritt, who was “of the opinion that the death was due to Wood's own carelessness�. -
2007 9 0 Skulan Jeff USA Bisso American, DLB "Big Chief". DCI incident, in hospital -
2000 6 24 Climer Michael USA Caldive Topsides American, diver/tender, topsides work removing a helideck, killed in a fall of 30', no details. cDiver -
2006 0 0 Not Recorded USA SCUBA American, diver on tug, two man team, lost tending line/regulator froze, no details. �A few years ago� (Pre January 2007) -
1997 5 21 Little Jim USA Acadiana Divers Chamber American, died during surface decompression, smoking inside the DDC, chamber fire. Reported in the press simply as:- “On Sunday, a professional diver undergoing decompression on the dive boat 'White Dove' was killed when the chamber caught fire, the Coast Guard said� Reported in the Orlando Chronicle -
1957 10 11 Williamson Stephen I USA Daspit Bros Marine Divers American, court case quote "engaged in the clearing of a pipe line of debris in navigable waters,and that an employee of Daspit was lifted too rapidly, causing a release of his diving mask and belt, that the vessel and its appurtenances were defective and unseaworthy and that these circumstances were the cause of decedent's death" -
0 0 0 Peck John W American, commercial diver, died in an accident, no details -
1963 7 10 Foulks Layne USA Donjon Marine American, civil engineering job, New Jersey, off crane barge 256, crushed between jetty and crane bucket, right shoulder, multiple fractures, collapsed lung -
2000 10 11 Not Recorded USA Land and Underwater Welding Topsides American, Bayou Adams near Orange, Texas, incident occurred when the divers were returning to a boatramp at the end of a diving project and their boat hit a power line tower. The diver was, who was operating the boat, was seriously injured, another diver (John Linscomb) was killed. NAOCD/cDiver blog, No other details. -
2000 10 11 Linscomb John USA Land and Underwater Welding Topsides American, Bayou Adams near Orange, Texas, incident occurred when the divers were returning to a boatramp at the end of a diving project and their boat hit a power line tower. The diver was killed. Another diver, who was operating the boat, was seriously injured. NAOCD/cDiver blog, No other details. -
2009 7 28 Ricciarelli Louis USA 6 S/S Air American, aged 56, diving off Quonset point from the 25'.commercial fishing vessel 'Chelsea Ann' for Qhahogs (clams). Diving solo, no crew. Alerted as 'not returned' by his wife, boat located with diving hose over the side. Divers recovered him from the seabed, deceased. “Equipment failure/lost gas� but no details. Reported in the Providence Journal -
1959 4 25 Gause George USA 25 S/S Air American, aged 56 (or 57), professional sponge diver (Most sponge divers at this time were of Greek descent) with 23 years experience, diving some 30 miles North of Big Bank off the St. Nicholas V, air hoses severed by support vessel propeller (Guard basket had been damaged earlier in the trip “but repaired to the skipper's satisfaction�. Recovered to surface dead. Ruled as 'accidental death'. Reported in the St Petersburg Times. -
2008 3 17 Mason Rusty USA Enviro prot agency 31 SCUBA American, aged 54, working for the Florida Environmental Protection Agency off the NOAA vessel “Peter Gladding�, passed out during decompression stop, A certified dive instructor, he was one of seven people working aboard the vessel. After the dive, the two divers ascended to a 15’ decompression stage (complete with spare cylinders on a shot line). Partner saw that he had stopped breathing and tried to give him air but eventually ran out himself and had to surface. Two other divers immediately went down and recovered Mason from the bottom, 100 feet below (Tank empty, still wearing his weight belt), not breathing, no pulse. Members of the crew of the vessel took gave him CPR during the 15-mile boat trip to Fort Jefferson and a 75-mile rescue helicopter flight to the Lower Keys Medical Center near Key West. Pronounced dead at the medical centre. -
2008 8 3 Leduc Lt. Gerald R USA Fireman SCUBA American, aged 52, commencing a SAR dive (missing boater), apparent heart attack. A NIOSH investigation revealed a blood alcohol level of 0.25 (Rhode Island state law defines legal intoxication at 0.08 percent) and that he ignored two colleagues who urged him not to dive. Underlying cardiac condition, but the medical examiner found that “acute intoxication� contributed to his death (“primarily attributed to physical condition and inadequate capacity to perform a technical SCUBA diving operation�). He was off duty when he responded to the incident at Stafford Pond with his personal watercraft and dive gear, moments after he began his dive, firefighters in a nearby boat noticed a diver's tank valve floating on the surface of the water and radioed a mayday call. Divers were unable to resuscitate him after pulling him from the water, and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The medical examiner found that he likely died from abnormal heart activity and had an enlarged heart, high blood pressure and an acute blood ethanol level of 0.25 percent. NIOSH investigators recommended a number of measures including a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol, developing written policies and procedures to enforce the zero-tolerance policy, putting in place an effective incident management system that supports technical rescue operations, properly training, equipping, and supporting public safety divers, ensuring a safety officer properly trained in the technical rescue field being performed is on scene and integrated into the command structure, appropriate annual diver medicals, fitness programmes. NBC News -
2008 6 1 Swisher Donald USA Fireman 4 SCUBA American, aged 51, a member of the Arlington Heights (Illinois) fire department's technical rescue, hazardous materials response, water rescue and recovery dive teams, off duty, cleaning a swimming pool, autopsy concluded that he drowned. No explanation, might have involved heavy weight belt/inlet suction -
2005 8 27 Switala Michael USA Firefighter SCUBA American, aged 50, Lower Burrel, Pa, volunteer fire-fighter, Grove City Quarry, third training dive of the day, (purpose was to maintain PADI qualification). Completed dive, partner signaled ready to surface, he signaled back "OK� and began ascent but once on the surface could not locate Switala, but saw a flashlight distress signal underwater. Immediately descended, noticed that the regulator was out, tried to replace but it fell out, inflated BCD and brought him to the surface (estimated elapsed time at this point was less than one minute).. Taken to shore, immediately initiated CPR. Emergency medical services arrived within 15 minutes. Transported to a local hospital where he died the next day. The coroner listed the cause of death as drowning. Investigation recommended, 1: Fire departments should develop, implement, and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding diver training. 2: Fire departments should ensure that each diver maintains continuous visual, verbal, or physical contact with his or her dive partner. (line-tended from the surface or accompanied by another diver in the water) 3 : Fire departments should ensure that a backup diver and ninety-percent-ready diver are in position to render assistance. 4 : Fire departments should ensure that positive communication is established among all divers and those personnel who remain on the surface. (In this incident, there were no personnel at the surface to perform monitoring, and underwater diver-to-diver electronic devices were not used). -
1948 4 23 Christiansen Edward USA 9 S/S Air American, aged 49, in the Kill Van Kull, a channel in the bay between Staten Island and New Jersey, cutting a telephone cable trench, it collapsed trapping him completely by cave in for three and a half hours, guided rescuers by phone. Rescuers largely a USN diving team. During the rescue had to flag down a passing tug and send it to a nearby dredger to tell not to set of underwater explosives. St Petersburg Times. -
2009 2 5 Barnes Ted USA Freedom Diving Corporation 1 S/S Air American, aged 48, working under the fishing vessel “Ocean pride III� in Gloucester Harbour loop, sustained head and other injuries when his air hose and tending lines entangled in moving propeller when engine was started by crew member unaware of diving operation while he was under the boat. Ended up unconscious and wrapped into propeller, cut free and recovered by coastguard. No stand-by, lifeline ot person in charge. Quote:- "The best thing about this accident is you get to appreciate everything you have more. I now look at my wife, children and grandchildren and my life and appreciate them all the more," Barnes said. "This was just a fluke accident." -
1946 4 16 Donovan Fred USA 11 S/S Air American, aged 48, veteran of the first world war, diver for 18 years, trapped underwater for three hours, 'hauled up dead' from Lake Moraine State Reservoir. Although not feeling well, descended to repair a dam (Valve in a large pipe) , stopped responding to signals but then could not be pulled up. Eventually pulled out by surface crew. Survived by wife and 11 year old son. Schenectady Gazette. -
2005 11 21 Whitekettle John W Romania Titan American, aged 48, Underwater burning in during salvage of the 'Rostok' from the Danube (second fatality earlier, see Eke, 02/01/2005) European press reported his surname as 'Warren', suspect that his full name was John warren Whitekettle (TC) -
2009 6 20 Terzuoli Joseph USA 70 Rebreather American, aged 46. Ran a wreck diving company diving from the 50' diving boat 'John Jack', took a party to dive on the WW1 wreck of the 'Texel'. Diving solo, SCUBA rebreather, apparently caught in fishing lines. Recovered by crew members. Had started diving again even though he had had a triple heart bypass in April, two months earlier. -
2009 3 26 Burfield Ronald USA Police 4 SCUBA American, aged 46, Erie County police training dive, found on lake bed, did not respond to treatment. -
2010 10 23 Copeland Mark Eugene USA Greg's Marine 12 S/S Air American, aged 45. Paraphrased from reports "On Oct. 23 at approximately 11:34 a.m., units from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and Maryland State Police responded to the Dominion LNG Plant Gas Dock to investigate a reported industrial accident. The victim was later pronounced deceased at Calvert Memorial Hospital. The preliminary investigation revealed he was working for Greg’s Marine as a labourer. His duties this day were to chip away old cement jackets placed over pilings at the gas dock, preparing these pilings for new jackets, approximately 1 mile off the coast of Calvert County. While conducting this task, he was equipped with a neoprene wet suit, fins, a harness, and a diver’s helmet. He slipped underwater and continued to the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay, approximately 40 feet. After several attempts, the supervisor finally rescued his unconscious body from the Bay’s floor. CPR was conducted by his co-workers as well as medical staff and members of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office. Forensic investigation revealed there were no signs of trauma to the body. This is an on-going investigation handled by the Calvert Investigative Team (CIT) and the United States Coast Guard" -
1989 6 5 Lamm William USA Sports diver SCUBA American, aged 45, spear fishing and then sucked into the inlet of a 16 foot diameter inlet pipe. 4 minutes and 1650 feet later later he surfaced inside a canal inside the Saint Lucie nuclear power plant run by Florida Power and Light. Completely unscathed. Ocala Star Banner. -
2007 10 25 Myers Mathew USA Sealife Centre SCUBA American, aged 44, Resurrection Bay, Alaska, training dive to become a Sealife centre scientific diver, "ran out of air, may have panicked trying to take off his weight belt" drowned. -
2008 7 27 Spencer William USA BIDCO 20 American, aged 42, working off the construction barge "Lone Star Horizon" (a 314' ong construction barge) on the Neptune LNG project (terminal and pipeline) 12 miles offshore Massachusetts. BIDCO (Buffalo Industrial Diving Company) were subcontractors to Caldive. Diver replacing air hose on stinger, reported difficulty breathing, stand-by divers brought him to the surface, CPR, medivac to hospital, later declared dead, heart attack. -
2004 4 23 Buttrey Curtis USA 18 SCUBA American, aged 41, Contract diver working for the St Paul Regional Water Services, in Vadnais lake, cleaning water plant intake filter, at end of dive he and his partner left the job site but he failed to surface, apparently got caught in some weeds and cables. His body was recovered about three hours later. Drowned. No explanation. Reported in Star Tribune (MN) -
1926 5 24 Devine John USA 12 S/S Air American, aged 40, New York East River, "Friend by mistake cut off his air hose" New York Times. Another report indicates "His lead soled boot was trapped in a cofferdam frame, his airline twisted and tangled, he died a divers death 30 feet under the East River this afternoon". He was recovered to the surface by fellow diver Alexander Hansen but was dead. Survived by 5 children. They were working on the installation of filter screens on the two water inlet tunnels supplying water to the new Edison Company plant being built at the end of fourteenth Street. Montreal Gazette -
1987 2 17 Harknett Ronald Hopkins USA Firefighter SCUBA American, aged 38. Rancho Cordova firefighter and member of the Drowning Accident Rescue Team, one of four diivers searching the Sacramento river for a child and adult lost overboard when a boat sank. Failed to surface, drowned. -
2009 5 4 Wilson Christopher USA Veolia 63 Saturation American, aged 38, Vermillion area, Stingray pipeline, DSV Kingfisher, floating a pipeline 10 miles south of Sabine pass, oversized air bag, no hold back, inverter line tied to inadequate weight, failed air bag rigging, dragged from depth to 22 metres. -
1965 4 5 Thomas Lyle E USA Military SCUBA American, aged 38, Navy Deep Sea Diving School, With National Capital Cave Rescue team rescued 4 cavers trapped by rising water from Rowland cave, Ozark mountains, Arkansas, collapsed at end of dive, natural causes, heart attack. -
2008 10 2 Hancock John Philippines Titan Topsides American, aged 38, handling isocyanate on deck, spilt, skin (arm) contact, numbness/breathing difficulties, medivac to hospital -
1997 3 18 Mestaz Charlie "JR" USA Yakima Fire Department SCUBA American, aged 37. One of a two man (Hauber) fire team trying to rescue two divers (Rhode/Eberle) from a 2210 long, 13 foot diameter irrigation tunnel, their lights were seen returning to the entrance but they failed to surface, they were pulled out by two stand-by divers. They had run out of air, died in hospital three days later. Qudruple fatality (Rhode, Eberle, Hauber) -
2009 5 4 Holt David C USA DIT 12 SCUBA American, aged 37, father of 2 undergoing commercial diver training. Harbour training dive at pier 66, Seattle. 4 divers in the water, diver surfaced, then sank, found on the bottom after 10 to 15 minutes, CPR, unconscious, taken to Harbor View Hospital, Seattle, critical in hospital, died several days later when taken off life support. No details. -
2009 5 5 Smith Dewey USA Aquarius Underwater Laboratory Rebreather American, aged 36, Scientist working at the Aquarius underwater laboratory (Florida Keys), operated by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, (part of NOAA) at the laboratory (a teaching facility), 'assisting military divers with a saturation mission', found unconscious on the seabed, did not respond to treatment, autopsy reported as inconclusive. -
2010 11 4 Not Recorded Earl'? USA, New York Reicon S/S Air American, aged 35. Paraphrased from reports:- “Commercial diving team working at a restoration project at Chelsea Pier 59 on the Hudson River. End of dive, divers were being pulled back to the barge they were working from, fellow workers saw that one of the divers was in distress. Police said his umbilical had become entangled in the pier and was frantically waving his hands as he was pulled in along the 250’ umbilical and had taken off the mask that presumably because he was not able to get air through it. He was pulled out of the water blue and unconscious about 5:45 p.m. Police said that attempts by his fellow workers to revive the man were unsuccessful, but that emergency crews responding to the scene were able to resuscitate him. He was incoherent at first, but was brought to Bellevue hospital in stable condition, police said�. DNAinfo (Manhattan Local News) Unsubstantiated rumours of no standby diver, no bail out, self tending, pulled out by another (none diver) worker, possibly a 'single man dive team', but no details in the public domain. In hospital recovering, breathing tube removed 5 days later. -
1994 4 15 Hone Lt Cmdr Don A Guam American, aged 345, based in Seoul, Korea, on manoeuvres, diving on 5/4/1994, collapsed after surfacing, died 10 days later. Dayton Daily News -
1982 3 13 Anderson Doug USA 70 SCUBA American, aged 34. Had chartered the salvage barge “St Peter� out of Port Townsend and were inspecting a sunken oil barge off the West Whidbey Island for recoverable metal when Heavenor's air lines became entangled, Doug Anderson, acting as standby, entered the water to assist on SCUBA. Neither diver surfaced. Heavnor's body was recovered later by commercial divers from the tug “Constellation� which responded to distress calls.. Double fatality. Unclear if Anderson's body was ever recovered -
1997 3 15 Hauber Rusty USA Yakima Fire Department SCUBA American, aged 34, One of a two man (Mestaz) fire team trying to rescue two divers (Rhode/Eberle) from a 2210 long, 13 foot diameter irrigation tunnel, their lights were seen returning to the entrance but they failed to surface, they were pulled out by two stand-by divers. They had run out of air, drowned. Quadruple fatality (Rhode, Eberle, Mestaz) -
1985 9 18 Gurley Mike USA A subcontractor to the Georgia Power Company American, aged 34, fire-fighter, 10 years experience as a fire department diver, was also a diving instructor. Incident happened at the Morgan Falls dam where he was training another fire-fighter whilst undertaking sub-contract commercial diving work at the dam. The team had been hired by the power company to repair an underwater valve and recover constuction equipment lost previously. Whilst working on a valve, his left leg got sucked into a 14 inch drain pipe trapping him. He was conscious and calling for help for 45 minutes. "Rescuers delayed using a crane to pull him free for fear of tearing or breaking his leg".The last thing he was reported as saying was "Get my wife here, right now", then he went silent. Fifteen minutes later they pulled him free using the crane - which broke his legs. Flown by helicopter to Northside Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Cause of death was not recorded as drowning but 'hyperventilation'. The fire department battalon chief was quoted as saying "Gurley was a master diver, I don't know anybody who was more qualified". Survived by his Wife and three young daughters. Atlanta Herald. -
1996 12 15 McFadden Timothy J USA SCUBA American, aged 34, described as “a commercial diver from Ventura", died diving off the fishing vessel "Sea Worthy" harvesting sea urchins, flown to a DDC but died, Daily News, California -
1979 8 7 Walker Richard A UK Infabco 162 Saturation American, aged 32. DSV "Wildrake", Thistle field, parted bell wire, secondary means of recovery failed, screwed up rescue, died from hypothermia, Double fatality (Guiel) -
1985 5 4 Hines Bruce USA Mel Fisher American, aged 32, salvage operation for professional treasure hunter Mel Fisher off Johns Island, Florida, moving an anchor off the wreck of the 'Endeavour' pulled from the water 27th April but died several days in Humana Hospital due to complications arising from bronchial pneumonia. No real details, Miami Herald. -
1979 8 15 Anderson Allan Mexico Taylor Diving and Salvage 50 Saturation American, aged 32, "Ixtox I" blow-out 3rd of June, Bay of Campeche, Mexico, Drill rig "Sedco 135F" sank. Diver died during attempts to shut in the well, off the barge "LB Meaders", caught in vortex at wellhead and blown to the surface. Well finally capped 23/3/1980, second biggest oil-spill in history. Wife and two children aged 11 and 7. -
1957 4 5 Smith Eldon W USA 62 S/S Air American, aged 31 or 51 (Reports are conflicting) from Wilmington, diving off Southern California from the Oil Exploration Vessel "Submarex", end of dive, ascending, suffered apparent in-water decompression illness, brought to surface and transferred to US Navy DDC at naval base (inference is no DDC on the vessel), died 8 hours into 165' therapeutic treatment, Diver Bill Biller who went into the DDC as assistant had to share the chamber with the body for another 30 hours of decompression. Reported in the Herald Tribune -
2000 4 20 Primavera Eric Joseph USA Denizens of the Deep S/S Air American, aged 30. Inspecting pilings on the South Cargo Pier at Port Canaveral, told topsides he was in trouble, standby diver found him entangled with helmet off, drowned. Citations/$14,700, The Ledger/NAOCD/cDiver -
0 0 0 Not Recorded USA Fireman Surface Swimmer American, aged 30, trained rescue diver, attempting to rescue child from submerged vehicle in Florida but had no rescue gear, only mask, snorkel and fins, drowned -
1991 12 3 Beauregard Robert J USA Pioneer Hydroelectric SCUBA American, aged 30, off duty fireman, working for "Pioneer Hydro" of Ware, Massachusetts, down a tunnel inspecting a turbine, got trapped underwater, tugged on his lifeline, but ran out of air. Unclear if there was a standby diver. -
1973 8 28 Havlena Paul J UK Taylor Diving 98 Saturation American, aged 29. Barge "LB Meaders", "Push pull" gas system, Supply closed off while suction open, embolism, pulmonary haemorrhage -
2012 4 22 Sprout Brad Robert Mexico Global Diving and Salvage American, aged 29, Working a DP DSV ('Captain Tale'?off Cuidad del Carmen, may have been an umbilical in thruste/lost gas incident, no other details -
1985 3 26 Workman Jim USA 9 S/S Air American, aged 29, umbilical cut by passing boat propeller, drowned -
2003 10 20 Patterson Paul H USA American, aged 29, Coffeen power Plant, Illinois, working on the circulating cooling water system, sucked into the cooling water inlet. One report went “A diver was killed while doing maintenance for a power plant in Illinois. The diver was preparing to do routine maintenance at an Ameren generating facility in Coffeen, Illinois, when he disappeared from a tether Monday morning. Rescue divers were called to the scene in Montgomery County, but the situation was so dangerous they were not permitted to enter the lake. Investigators believe the diver was drawn into one of the two major intakes of the power plant, where he was killed. His remains have been identified�. The power company was fined $58, 500 after admitted directing the diver to wrong intake hatch, and it was ruled an accident. -
1976 3 26 Mitchell Michael Jay Singapore General Marine American, aged 29 from Seattle, died in hospital following a salvage dive from the barge 'Federal 401' during which his left foot was trapped in an air vent underwater. No other details. Straits Times -
2001 10 13 Frayne Kenneth USA Firefighter SCUBA American, aged 28. Volunteer fire-fighter with the Channahon fire department. Multi agency dive training exercise included a dive coordinator, an assistant dive coordinator, and seven divers in a man-made lake. They had sunk a boat and two mannequins in the lake to simulate a boating incident. Four of the divers, including the victim, were on their second dive when the victim went missing at the end of the dive. Initial confusion as to whether he had gone ashore, so some time before underwater search commenced. Dispatch was notified of the missing diver, and additional search-and-rescue crews responded to the scene with two rescue boats. The victim was found in the area of his last known location, approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes after he was last seen by his dive partner. His SCUBA cylinder empty, BD partially unbuckled, hood and mask off, regulator out. When the victim was brought to the surface he had blood coming from his nose and mouth. Transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigators recommended that:- 1. Fire departments should develop, implement and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding diver training, 2. Ensure that each diver maintains continuous visual, verbal, or physical contact with his or her dive partner, 3. Ensure that a backup diver and a ninety-percent-ready diver are in position to render assistance, 4. Ensure that the dive coordinator stays informed about the rates of air consumption by divers, 5. Provide divers with refresher training on the hazards of lung over-expansion injuries and prevention measures. Medical examiner and the reviewing medical officer noted the possibility that an air embolism may have contributed to the drowning. -
1979 8 7 Guiel Victor F "Skip" UK Infabco 162 Saturation American, aged 28. DSV "Wildrake", Thistle field, parted bell wire, secondary means of recovery failed, screwed up rescue, died from hypothermia, Double fatality (Walker) -
1978 2 7 Hoover David R Norway Taylor Diving and Salvage. Brown and Root 324 305 Saturation American, aged 28, hyperbaric weld demonstration from the Brown and Root Barge 324. Older sources quote O2 starvation (Gas mixer had low O2), no bailout (Warner), but the Norwegian authorities cited CO2 buid up, a 2003 report by the NSDA concluded (because of reports including bright red froth/blood on his lips) that the actual cause of death was a high ppO2 (16 bar), and that he had been put on 50/50 He/O2. -
2002 0 0 Not Recorded USA Liquid Engineering Topsides American, aged 27, three children, part of a three man potable water tank diving team inspecting a water tower. Rung gave way as he was climbing the external ladder to reach the tank, fell 55', died. Bonnier Corporation 'SCUBA' News article -
2009 6 24 Logan Christopher USA 2 S/S Air American, aged 27, hired by Las Colinas Country Club to retrieve lost golf balls Employees at the club noticed that one of the men employed by the company contracted to recover the balls had not returned by closing time at 8 p.m, So someone went to look for him. Near the eighteenth green, an employee saw Logan’s breathing apparatus floating in the water and noticed that the pump that supplies the air was not running. The Irving Fire Department responded and found the diver's body submerged in the water. The Dallas County medical examiner’s office has ruled the death an accident due to drowning and the toxic effects of carbon monoxide. Wife and three year old son. Was SCUBA certified , took the part time job with a friend's golf ball retrieval business because his employer had cut his hours. -
2000 6 27 Winkler Steven USA SCUBA American, aged 27, from Bellingham, professional sea cucumber harvesting off the vessel “Silver sea�, Griffin Bay, off San Juan island, critically ill, intensive care in Seattle hospital after surfacing from dive -
2003 10 22 Watson Christina Mae Australia SCUBA American, aged 26, on her honeymoon, dive on the SS Yongala, off Queensland. Allegedly murdered (Turned her air off) by her husband, David Gabriel Watson, In June 2009, he was convicted of manslaughter in a Queensland court over the death of his wife who died while diving in his company on the Great Barrier Reef in October 2003. Tina Watson died after being seen, by other divers in the area, in a close underwater embrace with her husband. She sank to the seabed while he headed for the surface, having failed to attempt a buoyant lift, to inflate his wife’s BC independently, or dump her weight belt Tina Watson’s inert body was captured unwittingly on the sandy bottom by another diver taking underwater photographs. It was suspected that Watson had deliberately restricted his wife while turning off her air supply, and upon her loss of consciousness turned it on again before letting go of her. The motive was suspected to be an attempt to cash in on her life insurance policy. Watson’s story was that he had tried to help his wife when she experienced difficulty in breathing, had a panic attack and knocked out his regulator, and that he had elected to go to the surface in search of outside help. While his wife was an inexperienced diver, Watson was experienced and held a rescue-diver qualification. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail in Australia, to be suspended after 12 months. The lightness of the sentence caused an outcry, particularly since the manslaughter conviction came after a coroner’s report stating that there was a good case to charge Watson with murder. After appeal, the sentence it was ruled that Watson should serve 18 months rather than 12 in jail, extradited to Alabama in 2010 facing further legal action in the American courts -
2005 9 17 Brown Jeremy USA S/S Air American, aged 26, inspecting Falls hydroelectric dam (Badin lake) . Unsatisfactory report “Inspecting the head gates (replaced three years earlier, but sometimes failed to seal properly). Before beginning work, hydro station operators told the diver about an open valve, warning that water could be flowing at that point. (Later interviews revealed that other dive team members were not aware of the danger). Lost comms during the dive, pulled the life line to retrieve the diver - unsuccessful. Decided not to send a second diver when learned that the force of the flowing water could have trapped the diver in the valve opening. Instead, workers lowered the water level to retrieve the first diver. The team found that the diver’s safety harness had gotten caught on a protruding bolt. The snagged harness had negated efforts by the dive team to pull the diver to safety. The diver had been drawn into a gate valve opening by the tremendous water pressure, which led to compressional asphyxia�. Body recovered 4 hours after the initial incident. -
1942 11 12 Davis Owen USA Merrit and Chapman S/S Air American, aged 26 or 28, diving in Newtown Creek (leak in an oil pipe crossing the creek), long island,'Lost helmet'. Son of Captain W. N. Davis, US Navy Salvage Corps. 'Helmet Lost. Diver dies' New York Times Pay per view -
1997 9 3 Gouyoumjian Gevog USA Underwater Services SCUBA American, aged 25, died inside a 480,000 gallon water tank in La Place, Louisiana, somewhat weirdly described in one report as “presumed hypothermia/severe dehydration� -
1976 11 4 Meeham C V UK KD Marine 0 SCUBA American, aged 24. Semi-sub drilling rig "Ocean Voyager", night dive to connect anchor pennants, surface tending, rough weather (Outside KD policy, being pushed by Company man on rig), lines entangled in pontoon anodes, knocked unconscious? Double fatality (Spensley) -
1994 0 0 Walker Pat USA 24 SCUBA American, aged 24, Tightening a pipeline flange at working pressure, flange parted, gas explosion blew his hat off, body recovered some days later -
2008 5 12 Smith Othel D USA International Diving Services S/S Air American, aged 24, one year out of diving school, died while working in a potable water storage tank in Paris, Texas. International Diving Services of Arlington, TX. "Pumps still running, sucked onto an inlet" Possibly no bailout or stand-by rig, body recovered by fire brigade (on SCUBA!) -
2006 2 24 Guarascio Anthony USA Drake associates 11 S/S Air American, aged 24, Delaware River, Camden, NJ, jackhammer concrete, lost air supply, clawed his way to the surface, without air 5+ minutes, coma, 9 + months paralysis, prognosis not reported -
1993 3 27 Wells, USN PO Kimberley L Honduras USN American, aged 24, assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 working with a group of salvage experts from Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, , died while working to raise a sunken coastal freighter. The ship was blocking the entrance to a harbour in Roatan, Honduras. No details except that it was during underwater cutting operations. Reported in the Virginia Pilot -
1977 5 10 Hoffman C H UK IUC 152 Saturation American, aged 22. Venture 1, conflicting reports, had finished dive, acting as bellman, either fell unconscious in the bell and drowned in trunking or fainted and fell through hatch, recovered by diver but he then drowned in trunking, possible pO2 issue? UPDATE: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_One_diving_accident -
1976 1 17 Ellis Clay UK Comex 73 Saturation American, aged 20. PSV "Smit Lloyd 112", buoyant bell with the bell weights suspended underneath bell, this allowed the bell to sit on the seabed minimising the action of swell. Apparently the bell was moved and in the process the bell weights were ripped off. Bell bottom door open, uncontrolled ascent, pulmonary barotrauma. Died. His bell partner (Derek Bannister) survived, but was very severely injured -
0 0 0 Not Recorded Taylor SCUBA American, a diver and his tender had performed a scuba pontoon inspection on the B&R barge M 289 and were at the stern of the vessel exiting the water. Diver and tender were at the bottom of the ladder where Diver removed his swim fins, climbed the ladder and removed his gear. Looking back over the stern for his tender, Diver lost site of him and no more bubbles were present. Diver immediately contacted the tower and ordered all hands to the port hand rails for a man overboard (the current was running towards the port bow). Diver dove back off the stern but could not locate the tender. A deck hand spotted a body off the port and relayed the information via the PA. Diver exited the lay barge and jumped onto the pipe supply barge from which he entered the water swimming toward the lifeless body. The bow crane whip line was lowered to the water to assist in bringing the man back on board. Diver had attempted in water CPR while swimming him back to the barge. CPR was performed on deck without success. Cause of death was drowning. OD -
2003 4 12 Williams Douglas USA NW Diving and Marine SCUBA American, 42 year old, just North of the Hood Canal Bridge, using a drill u/w to install buoy anchors, entangled, umbilcal wrapped around neck, asphyxiated or drowned. No other details, reported in the Spokesman review and Moscow Pullman Daily News. -
1980 0 0 Herr David Indonesia Oceaneering American working the Lapco field, found on the bottom with KM10 off (loose retaining ring, hood pulled off) No details -
1994 12 11 Buckley Todd USA Puget Watermen 18 S/S Air American student at Evergreen State College aged 22, time off to earn money, harvesting sea urchins. Bubbles stopped, pulled to surface, lifeline and weight belt wrapped around airline, unconscious, respiratory arrest, hypothermia and decompression illness, died in hospital. -
1999 3 12 Tyre Shelley Tortola SCUBA American recreational diver aged 46, headmistress of a private school in Massachusetts, expert diver. Married David Swain in 1993. Federal prosecutor in Rhode Island wrote that there was "overwhelming circumstantial evidence proving that Swain murdered his wife�, evidence included Swain's "unusual behavior" after Tyre's death, his alleged financial motivation and the condition of Tyre's scuba equipment, which experts suggest "indicate that a violent struggle took place under water." A lawyer for Tyre's parents argued Swain killed his wife for money and had been involved in a romantic relationship with another woman. He said Swain knew he would not have been entitled to any money if he divorced his wife because of the couple's prenuptial agreement. Alleged that Swain cut off her air supply and held her in the water until she drowned. -
1993 5 1 Not Recorded USA Police SCUBA American police officer, Missouri, attempting to rescue a canoe accident victim in a rain swollen river, swept away and drowned even though he had breathing apparatus. -
1973 6 7 Fraid Gary W USA Military Surface swimmer American police officer, Kenosha Police Department, WI, drowned during a surface swim training exercise with the department team. Milwaukee Sentinel -
1960 7 15 Burris Sgt. Kiefer C USA Military SCUBA American police officer, Kansas, Missouri, died during a training dive -
1960 7 15 Bybee Herbert E USA Military SCUBA American police officer, Kansas, Missouri, died during a training dive -
1961 7 28 Beghtol Robert G USA Military SCUBA American police officer, Arvada, Colorado, aged 26, died during a training exercise -
1966 4 1 Millikin George USA Military SCUBA American police officer, Anapolis, Maryland, died during a dive on duty, heart attack -
1987 6 0 Not Recorded USA Police SCUBA American police officer aged 45 died while searching the Detroit River for victims of a boat that had capsized. It was later alleged that the malfunction of a valve on a dry suit was a contributing factor to his death. -
1993 7 6 Fassnacht James USA Police 6m SCUBA American police officer aged 42, East Orange, New Jersey. With two other divers clearing intake grill in Weequahic park lake, drowned. Another report states "James Fassnacht, a 42 year old police officer was killed in 15-18 feet of water on 07/06/93. The officer was asked to assist another officer in checking a screen on an intake pipe used for irrigating of a municipal golf course. Officer Fassnacht advised his dive partner that he was "uncomfortable". Officer Fassnacht stayed at the surface while his partner submerged to check the screen intake. After a short period of time, Officer Fassnacht indicated to an officer on the shore that he needed assistance. Officer Fassnacht grabbed a buoy that was on the surface, but the buoy did not support the officer. About fifteen seconds after the officer and buoy sank, the buoy popped to the surface but Officer Fassnacht did not. A search was begun and Officer Fassnacht was quickly recovered. CPR was initiated, but was pronounced dead a Beth Israel Hospital after efforts failed. The cause of death was ruled accidental drowning.". PSDiver.com -
1989 2 11 Wells Timothy L USA Police SCUBA American police officer aged 36, Williston, North Dakota, cold water training dive in the Missouri river, found under thick ice near the shore by colleagues, tank empty, drowned -
1968 12 19 McClung Roger L USA Military SCUBA American police officer aged 32, Virginia Beach, Virginia, drowned in a diving accident -
1968 12 19 Monette Robert R USA Military SCUBA American police officer aged 25, Virginia Beach, Virginia, drowned in a diving accident -
1984 8 19 Siver Ronald J USA Police 23 SCUBA American police diver, Rochester, New York. Attempting to find the body of a man who died in a boating accident, suffered unknown problems, drowned -
1983 8 18 LaFollette Ricky A USA Police 30 SCUBA American police diver aged 30, Louisville, Kentucky, experienced, night training exercise using new communication equipment, did not respond to calls, believed to have become disorientated in the dark and descended rather than ascended, drowned. -
1984 11 24 Edie Winfield S USA Police 4 SCUBA American police diver aged 29, Wenatchee, Washington State. First open water training dive, surfaced, yelled for help, sank, resurfaced, yelled again and sank, found on the bottom in 12' of water, could not be resuscitated -
1919 3 27 Thiemann USN USA Military S/S Air American Navy diver, died whilst diving for a torpedo off St Thomas, Virginia -
1969 2 17 Cannon Berry L USA Military 186 Saturation American Navy diver aged 33. Sealab III, CO2 poisoning, Mark IX semi closed rebreather, soda sorb cannister was empty, human error? -
1943 6 6 Novak Philip John USA Military American navy diver aged 24, died after a torpedo severed his lifeline, diving operations off Gould island, near Newport -
2001 5 5 Draughon USN Mathew Japan USN S/S Air American Navy diver aged 21, diving off USS "Safeguard", salvage of crashed F-16, early hours of the morning, strong currents, hoses wrapped around anchor chains, helmet off, body washed up on beach a month later, 'drowned due to accident', second diver, Bryan Gordon was rescued safely. Navy criticised vessel leadership for not taking account of fatigue, deteriorating weather conditions and poor risk management procedures. estripes.com -
2004 3 11 Miller Mark USA Fireman SCUBA American fire-fighter/diver aged 43, testing new equipment in a lake, not tethered to partner, drowned under ice, ill fitting dry suit and 44lb weight belt blamed as contributory factors. NIOSH Report -
1998 4 9 Cook Harold USA Profession Diving and Salvage American aged 55, commercial diver running his own diving and salvage company, died offshore of the Calvert cliffs Nuclear Power plant, Baltimore, natural causes, heart attack -
2001 11 13 Bray Thomas M USA Police SCUBA American aged 52, Philadelphia police force, assigned to the marine unit, recovering a buoy in the Delaware river near Fort Mifflin in Douth Philadelphia, entangled in the line, drowned. Reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer. -
2007 8 7 Primeau Christopher N USA Associated Underwater Services, Spokane 40 S/S Air American aged 35. Cherry Point Refinery, Bellingham (North of Puget sound). Sheriff's report "Primeau was checking for rocks/underwater cables, his job was to signal when 24-foot-tall steel pilings weighing up to nine tons could be lowered into the water, when crews could start driving the pilings and when they should stop once they'd been driven in to the appropriate depth. Depth about 140 feet, he signalled for crews to begin driving a piling, within 13 seconds, Primeau screamed, "All stop! All stop!" Camera and light on his helmet went dead, no comms. Hammer may have disconnected causing the piling to fall over. OSHA fines of $21,650. -
2011 6 19 Kruckenberg Kenny Netherlands Titan Topsides American aged 29, salvage diver. Killed on deck by a chain that parted under load during salvage operations on the wreck of the MV Vincs Gorthon. The Ministry of Waterways North Sea Division, part of the Dutch, Ministry of Waterways, awarded Titan the wreck removal project. The Vinca Gorthon lies approximately 29 kilometers off the Netherland coast at a depth of 24.5 meters in a shipping traffic lane. The vessel protruded 10 meters from the seabed and had become a danger to modern ships with a draft of 15 meters or more. The Vinca Gorthon weighed approximately 19,000 tonnes with cargo, and measured 166 meters long and 23 meters wide. The ship, which was laden with rolls of paper and tank trailers with paper pulp, was enroute from the Swedish port of Oskarshamn to Antwerp, Belgium when she sank. Sources:- Crowley and Dutch press -
1993 11 1 Knowles Keith B Bahamas UNEXSO SCUBA American aged 22, working for the Underwater Explorers Society , lost at sea of Grand Bahama -
1982 3 0 Heavnor Tom USA 70 S/S Air American , aged 39. Had chartered the salvage barge “St Peter� out of Port Townsend and were inspecting a sunken oil barge off the West Whidbey Island for recoverable metal when Heavenor's air lines became entangled, his standby diver, Doug Anderson entered the water to assist on SCUBA. Neither diver surfaced. Heavnor's body was recovered later by commercial divers from the tug “Constellation� which responded to distress calls. Double fatality. Unclear if Anderson's body was ever recovered. -
1973 0 0 Cwick Edward USA Empire Marine Diving America, drowned on a sewage pipe under Lake Ontario, $950,000 out of court settlement (Jones Act) finally agreed in September of 1991 -
1997 3 15 Eberle John USA Roza Irrigation district 30 SCUBA America, aged 41, employed to remove cars from 2210 feet long, 13 foot diameter irrigation canal tunnel "syphon", trapped by flowing water, ran out of air, drowned. Two man team, no stand-by divers/equipment. Two firemen died trying to rescues them, quadruple fatality (Rhode, Hauber, Mestaz) -
1997 3 15 Rhode Marty USA Roza Irrigation district 30 SCUBA America, aged 33, employed to remove cars from 2210 feet long, 13 foot diameter irrigation canal tunnel "syphon", trapped by flowing water, ran out of air, drowned. Two man team, no stand-by divers/equipment. Two firemen died trying to rescues them, quadruple fatality (Eberle, Hauber, Mestaz) -
2007 10 17 Contreras Victor Lemus Chile Empresa Salmones Antártica 49 SCUBA Amateur Diver (He only had a license to dive to 20 meters), died in the Mallahue Culivation Center, in Achao Source: Ecoceanos, based on data from the Dir. of Labor, Directemar, Mariscope and the Tenth and Eleventh Regions District Attorneys Offices. No details -
2007 9 17 Hedden Bill USA SCUBA Alligator bit off diver's arm -
1999 0 0 IMCA SF 07/99 IMCA Alert regarding inland/inshore diving contractor with divers using forged UK HSE diving and medical certificates. IMCA Safety Flash SF 07/99 -
1936 6 14 Wakino Yasujiro Japan S/S Air Akashi diver, had spent 20 hours a day in the water off Higashidecho, Kobe, for 14 days in an attempt to treat decompression illness. "…making good progress so much so that the doctor allowed him a little rice and beef on June 13. On the following day he was able to walk. While in the water the same afternoon, however, he complained of feeling bad again. He was again taken out of the water. By the evening he was unconscious, and he finally died". Straits Times -
2016 11 10 Rathore Dipakbhai Shivkumar India Atlanta Diving and Engineering Services PVT Ltd SS/Air Airlifting at Sutrapada, Gujarat State for Client Gujrat Heavy Chef Ltd. Details unclear and no official report available. Facebook and email. -
1922 1 19 Rufer Alexander R USA Military S/S Air Aghed 32, diver attached to the local US Engineering corps, fatally injured whilst working on the Ohio river dam 5 (Between Rochester and Freedom, just north of Pittsbiugh, PA, striuck by a wicket being moved into place by a crane. The Pittsburgh Press -
2021 5 26 dos Santos Irenilson Marcos Brazil Hookah Aghed 25, gold mining raft on the Teles Pires river near the town of Alta Floresta, entered the water around 18:00 hours, after 35 minutes failed to respond to signals, gear pulled up but only brought up hose/regulator. Search diver found weightbelt. Body recovvered by SAR divers a day later. rdnews.com and other outlets. -
1934 5 24 Christofis Fotis USA, Florida 27 S/S Air Aged about 52, Sponge diver onboard the 'George Washington', he had been at 15 fathoms for 43 minutes when he was taken ill, brought to the surface, but 'On removing his helmet he was found to be dead'. Vessel spent 24 hours in transit to port (Tarpon Springs) and the body was transferred to the Vinson Funeral home. Cause of death was recorded as 'suffered a stroke'. Funeral service held at the St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, buried at the Cycadia cemetery. St Petersberg Times. -
1935 5 15 Wunderlich Albert Edward Australia 2 S/S Air Aged about 40, single, working on the construction of the high level bridge over the Herbert river near Ingham, diving routinely in 7 or 8 feet of water, had been down sometime, at smoko they signalled him to prepare for pulling up but received no response and immediately hauled him up. The diver reached the surace minus his headdress which had become detached from the costume. A doctor and ambulance were hurridly summoned but after arduous endeavours at respiration life was pronounced to be extinct. Reported in the Nothern Miner. -
1968 6 18 Cooper Derek UK Topsides Aged about 30, married with one son, one of a team of divers working on the demolition of Blackpool's North Pier for the previous 6 weeks, had already detonated over 40 charges, set a gelignite charge 30' above water, called for every one to get clear and take cover and then set the charge off. He was standing 20 yards away, was hit by a piece of flying metal and fell 30' into the sea. The Glasgow Herald. -
1879 6 30 Clifford Paul Louis Australia 5 S/S Air Aged about 25 or 26, described as a powerful young man, engaged as a diver at the wreck of the barque 'bells' (Having presented himself as an experienced diver), completed three dives but on entering the water on a dive at around 2pm seemed to go the opposite way to where he had been instructed to go. Apparently signalled he was coming up followed by 'less air'. Did not surface and after 15 minutes the crew pulled him to the surface but he was dead. "It is supposed that deceased must have given a wrong signal and so come by his death". Reported in Papers Past, The Star. -
2012 4 18 Stovall Richard USA Stovall's SCUBA and Travel 12 SCUBA Aged 77, owner of PADI diving business in Midland, collecting underwater soil samples from the bed of the O H Ivie Resevoir on behalf of the Colorado River Municipal Water District prior to a dredging company removing silt from the pipe to the pumping station. Entered the water through a concrete tower on a pumping station in the resevoir, should have been a 10 minute dive, failed to surface. Body found two days later at the inshore end of a 350' long, 8' diameter pipe in a chamber below a pump station onshore. Appears to have been a solo dive, no stand-by or back up. San Angelo Standard Times -
2007 8 29 Rodriguez Joaquin Castelao Angel Spain Coral Diver 28 SCUBA Aged 74, known locally as 'the angel of coral' had spent over 20 years living in Alcudiq collecting coralharvesting coral ('Red Gold') from his boat 'Nemo' in the channel between Menorc and Mallorca, 17 miles north of the port of Alcudia, diving with his son, became ill during decompression stops. An SAR helicopter dropped a medic onboard who confirmed he had died. Had spent years criticising intensive fishing methoids (like beam trawling) which damage the seabed. Reported by Diario de Mallorca -
1935 9 14 Not Recorded Panama S/S Air Aged 73, pearl diver diving off the lugger 'Winifred' Reported as "Divers epic battle with shark, dies from wounds, Panama, Saturday (Incident could have been the previous Saturday, the 7th September. No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Hull Daily Mail/The British Newspaper Archive -
1940 9 1 Maddison Steve Canada S/S Air Aged 70, "a diver for 32 years, met his death when he was sucked into the intake of a dam at the paper manufacturing town of Ocean Falls". Edmonton Journal -
1930 1 13 Hoffman or Hofferman Andrew Australia S/S Air Aged 65, from Cardiff, working in Newcastle Harbour, reported that a wire caught his air hose just above his helmet, another diver working with him brought him to the surface but attempts at resuscitation failed. Recorded as suffocated from blocked air pipe. Reported in the Western Argus and Sydney Morning Herald -
2009 4 5 Connor Melvin 'Chippy' Anguilla Fisherman SCUBA Aged 64, self employed diver/fisherman "He never worked for a man yet, from the time he was a boy all he did was dive", had been diving for lobster, conchs and welks since he was 16 (in 1960), described as a 'fit bachelor who had a plywood and fibreglass fishing boat (built by a relative) named the boat Victoria after the British Queen Victoria because his birthday, 24th May, fell on the same date as hers'. He was diving solo off Blowing point with matker buoy and flag and appears to have been run over around 09:00 hours by a 'Fun Time' charter vessel and died of propeller injuries. The Anguillian -
2009 4 2 Coach Larry USA 2 SCUBA Aged 64, ran a diving business in Dallas, employed by Nacogdoches Soil and Water Conservation District (Conservation Agency), to unblock a 24� drainage/lake overflow pipe. Drove to site alone in his pick up, solo, SCUBA, no standby, lifeline or team. Started working at the inlet (upstream) end. Initial reports indicate that he removed the metal intake grill to get better access to the blockage, soon after bubbles stopped coming up. Rescue team blocked the exit (downstream) of the pipe with an air bag to reduce suction/flow and then recovered the diver from the inlet end using grapples. Had to remove harness/stab jacket to free body. Recovery operation took 30 hours (Entangled in debris some distance inside the pipe). -
2016 6 7 Hill Charles A USA 3m SCUBA Aged 63, Diving with his son for golf balls at the Dogwood Hills Golf Course, Waverly, Ohio, body recovered 50 feet from shore in about 8 feet of water. Reported in the NYPost -
1939 2 18 Rene Emile Canada S/S Air Aged 63 from Vancouver, working on the Fraser river at Kanaka Landing (5 miles South of Lytton, B C) to recover a sunken barge owned by the Fraser Alluvial Gold Mining Company. At noon, the crew pulled on his lines but no response and he could not be pulled up, lines fouled. Rescue diver, Bert Walsh, was deployed and freed him, brought to the surface but dead. Reported that the diving gear was still in good working order and the suit dry. "A veteran of undersea adventures in the Americas, the Antipodes and the South Seas, had lived in Vancouver but moved to Venice, California, were his wife still lives, had returned to Vancouver to salvage the barge". The Vancouver Sun -
2008 4 28 Monreal Dwight USA SCUBA Aged 62, professional golf ball diver, Tampa Palms Golf and Country Club, attacked by an alligator while retrieving balls from a lake near the 13th hole. Dislocated left shoulder and puncture wounds to his left arm. Officials said the 13th hole would be closed until the alligator was captured and killed. -
1986 11 5 Tennant Leroy J USA Roy Tennant Co. 2 SCUBA Aged 62, Owner of the diving Company, inspecting an underwater gas line in the Shetucket river, witnesses on shore observed in trouble but sank below the surface before being rescued. Body recovered 40 minutes later -
2009 8 16 Amor Murray Australia South West Rocks Dive Centre SCUBA Aged 62, lost a hand and leg when a cylinder being charged exploded. Paraphrased from official reports “A SCUBA cylinder ruptured causing serious injuries to the person who was filling the cylinder. The cylinder was an 88 cu ft aluminium manufactured to Australian Standard by CIG in 1983/84 and was in current test. The cylinder had a working pressure (WP) 224 bar (3248.84 psi) and a test pressure (TP) 352 bar (5105.328 psi). A number of SCUBA cylinders that had been filled during the same time were checked and were gauged at 220 bars (3190.83 psi). The compressor had a blow off (safety valve) fitted and set at 285-290 bars (4133.575 – 4206 psi) which was tested during the investigation and blew at 282.68 bar (4100psi) on the compressor gauge. The investigators concluded that the cylinder could be over filled by a person not taking notice of the pressure showing on the fill panel gauge, however this pressure is below the test pressure of this cylinder, and based on the fact that 10 other cylinders in this same group of cylinders all showed a pressure of 220 bars (3190.83 psi) there was no reason to believe that this cylinder was in fact over filled. The cylinder when it ruptured exploded into 4 pieces and the valve. In 2 of the pieces there was evidence of cracks through the neck and threaded area of the cylinder. The investigators noted that there were records available showing a number of aluminium cylinders manufactured world wide prior to 1990 from 6351-T6 alloys that have ruptured, in some cases with serious consequences. workcover.nsw.gov.au, dol.govt.nz -
2016 10 4 Chan Phillip Singapore Haw Par Corporation SCUBA Aged 62, heading a team of divers clearing fish from the 'Underwater World' aquarium (opened 1991 but closing down due to more successful competion), stabbed by a stingray, taken to hospital but died from his injuries. Reported as a similar incident to the sting ray incident that killed conservationist/TV presenter Steve Irwin on the Australian Great Barrier Reef in 2006. Reported by the BBC -
2011 3 31 van Delft Anton Lybia Aged 62, dive team leader working for Zwaytina Zwaytina Oil Company near Ajdabiyah. With two diving companions stayed on site rather than evacuating during the civil war. Compound was raided/looted by government supporters, detained two days, all three escaped to Benghazi. Reported that most of his medicines were lost/confiscated, rationed himself but suffered seizures and died of 'epilepsy'. Reported by Nu.nl -
1944 10 13 Neller Horace UK Aged 62, :Diver died at work, adjusted air valves, signalled to…." No other details (Pay for access archive) Gloucester Citizen/The British Newspaper Archive -
2017 6 30 Jiminez Uceda Jose Spain Fisherman Chamber Aged 61, Red Coral diving with 25 year old from the vessel 'Trepa' near Cadaques (Spain), the pair were undergoing surface decompression in a chamber on the boat when there was an internal fire, the 25 year old survived with serious burns and was brought ashore by the third man on the boat (his father). reported by ViladeRoses -
2009 6 5 Not Recorded Greece Aged 61, professional diver killed in the gulf of Thermaikos (Thessalonika) in an industrial accident, appears to have been crushed between floating units of some kind, body transferred ashore by Coastguard, "constrictive suffocating death". No other details. Reported by Enet.gr -
2010 5 22 Smith Gary USA SCUBA Aged 61, founding member and chief officer of the Lacey Township Dive Team, diving off the 'Dina Dee', a 42' charter vessel out of Barnegat Light, not clear if it was a Search and Rescue dive or training dive (He was an SAR diver Instructor), surfaced unresponsive, did not respond to treatment. Atlantic City Press. -
2016 10 19 Fassler James Calvin USA SCUBA Aged 61, cleaning the hulls of boats at the Joyner Marina, Carolina Beach, North Carolina, reported as 'drowned'. No details Reported by Star News -
2008 8 5 Nalin Indonesia Fisherman S/S Air Aged 60, Tidung Island, suffered leg paralysis fom decompression incident and died a week later. Reported as being a 'compressor' diver (Used a tyre compressor for diving), survived by his wife, four sons and three daughters. Reported by www.pulauseribu.net -
2011 4 14 Schneider Louis Cameroun Pecten Topsides Aged 60, Pioneer deep saturation trials diver with Comex (Janus, Aurora etc). Stabbed to death in a late night mugging in Douala. Cameroon.net -
1909 8 3 Hutton Tumbull UK Harbour board S/S Air Aged 60, living at 19 High Street, Burntisland, employed by the harbour board, lost his life while engaged in a diving operation. No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Angus Evening Telegraph/The British Newspaper Archive -
2012 1 9 Silva Carlos Portugal 20 SCUBA Aged 60, Isle of Madeira, near Ribeira Brava. Aquaculture (Fish farming) operation, appears to have been a two man diving team working on a holding cage at a depth of 10 to 20 metres but water depth was 60 metres, no topsides crew, supervisor or DDC. An alternate report suggests the diver may have dived to 60 metres to recover a dropped diving cylinder. Disappeared, body not recovered, search called off after 8 days. Married, two children. forum-mergulho.com -
2010 5 25 Costa Dr. Paolo Italy 107 Rebreather Aged 60, dive team of 4 people filming for Rai 3 programme "Geo and Geo" on Sardinia (Oliena, Nuoro) in an underwater spring (Su Gologone). Reported as becoming ill (Heart attack) during the ascent, failed to respond to treatment. A companion who assisted him up was treated for omitted decompression. Vip.it -
2011 5 15 Palma Miguel Angel Cupul Mexico 15 SCUBA Aged 60, 25 miles offshore from Merida (Yucatan penninsula) collecting sea cucumber, rescued alive and taken ashore for treatment but died. Causes reported as cerebral anoxia/acute decompression illness. Reported by Sipse.com -
1938 3 28 Granter Jake USA Standard Oil Company 30 S/S Air Aged 59, described as the chief underseas diver for the Standard Oil Company diving to locate a chain lost from the taqnker 'R. H. Hanna', was struck down by the bends, transferred from san Luis Obispo to Oakland by air ambulance, placed in a decompression chamber onboard the US submarine rescue ship 'Chewink' at the Mare Island navy yard. Was pressed to 125' and then gradually decompressed. He recovered consciousness but died shortly after from 'sudden cardiac failure'. San Jose News. -
2014 2 18 Rios Felix Alberto Argentina Trab-Sub SCUBA Aged 59 or 60, ex coastguard diver, two man team cleaning inside a 500,000 litre freshwater cistern, he and his son had completed the work and he went back in for a final survey around 13:30 but was trapped on a 450mm diameter outlet pipe and died of asphyxiation/compression of the rib cage. Reported by rionegro.com.ar -
2021 2 25 Diaz Leiva Cristian Chile Servicios Primes SCUBA Aged 58. Married, 8 children. Blumar owned Concheo II salmon farm, Aysen, Southern Chile. Reported as 'accident around 12:30 am', 'suffocation by submersion in the context of a work accident', 'handling counterweights', No other details. Reported by Salmon Business. Diving off the 'LM Don Hector' reported by SagaChile. Later reported that the regulatory 'Chilean Safety Association' (ACHS) said 'not work related' as there was no link between the diver's work and death..... -
2016 12 13 Nava Pascasio Nino Mexico CAPAMA Aged 58, working for the Acapulco Municipal Water and Sewage Commission (CAPAMA), Papagayo 2 catchment are in the town of Salsipuedes, pumps still running, took six hours to recover the body (Nobody could authorise turning off the pumps), appears to have been another differential pressure incident. Reported by El Sur, periodico de guerrero -
2009 5 17 Osburn Steven Dale USA 18 SCUBA Aged 58, member of Santa Cruz Underwater Recovery team, routine training dive in Patagonia lake, lost contact with team, located after 8 minutes, unconscious, brought to surface, failed to respond to treatment. -
2021 12 24 Williams Rodney Dale USA Canon's Service SCUBA Aged 57, died in a retention pond. OSHA report stated "Investigation Nr: 142251.015, Event: 12/24/2021, Employee Is Killed, Drowned When Diving With Defective Equipment. At 10:20 a.m. on December 24, 2021, an employee who worked as an independent con tract diver was entering a retention pond for a second dive to place a buoy on pipe that was broken. A coworker (the employer) who was observing from the shore noticed about 15 minutes into the second dive that employee's bubble trail had made a circle and then stopped. Coworker #1 called 911 immediately as Coworker #2 entered the water and tried to rescue the employee. Local police and Fire/EMS a rrived on scene, but were unable to rescue the employee. EMS called for the Coun ty Dive Team to assist but by the time the team arrived the rescue operation had turned into a recovery. The employee was retrieved from the pond approximately two (2) hours after he was last seen. The employee was pronounced dead at the sc ene due to drowning. The employee's personal dive equipment was not functioning properly which potentially lead to hypoxia and then death. -
2010 6 19 Nasca Michele Italy Aged 57, 7 o'clock in the morning, snorkel diving with his brother to collect seafood near a pier near in the town of Zapponeta (Foggia, Italian East Coast north of Bari), sucked into into the 1 metre diameter inlet of a pump 2.5 metres below sea level (grill may have been faulty) supplying salt water to the 'Margherita di Savona' natural salt drying pans. Reported as 'shredded' by the impeller which was located only 30cm from the entrance. Apparently there was a sign prohibiting swimming in the area at the head of the pier, but not on the beach either side of it. A local fisherman was reported as saying that many years ago another spear fisherman had died at the same place in the same manner. Reported by Stato quotidiano -
2016 12 28 Bahamonde Jose Chile Aged 56, shellfish diving from the vessel 'Javiera' (Registered in Achao) near Shilling Island, died, reported as decompression illness. Reported by biobiochile.cl -
2015 10 7 McGrath Dennis USA Eat Local Fish SCUBA Aged 56, From Scarborough, diving in Portland Harbour removing rope from the propellor of the 65' Fishing Vessel 'Jamie and Ashley'. "While he was working, the engine was running and at some point the prop was engaged' said the authorities. Police divers recovered the body. "It is not clear whether the person who engaged the propeller was aware that the diver was in the water". Reported in the Portland Press Herald -
2011 3 10 Pendleton Vance Wayne Canada 14 SCUBA Aged 56, experienced diver and owner of a dive shop. Diving for Sea Urchins of l'Etete, New Brunswick, failed to surface, located on the seabed 'initial information is pointing towards drowning' but coroner to confirm cause of death, Worksafe and RCMP to determine whether the diver was working at the time. He was diving with 4 other commercial divers on a commercial harvesting operation. Lost sight of the group, they surfaced, at first nor concerned because he had a bigger air tank. When he failed to surface after 10 - 15 minutes, they went back in to look for him. He was found and brought to the surface but failed to respond to treatment. Reported in the Telegraph-Journal, Brunswick -
2009 3 0 Not Recorded Australia 1 SCUBA Aged 56, ex-professional diver called out by yacht owner after moorings failed and boat drifted into another. Diver went in to clear ropes from the propeller, failed to surface. Emergency service divers found him entangled in the ropes, unconscious, did not respond to treatment and pronounced dead. (Not strictly a commercial dive, but fulfils the criteria of 'a diver at work' and certainly ticks all the 'lessons learnt' in terms of solo SCUBA dive, TC) Reported in 'Diver' -
2009 8 11 Holbrook Rob (Stan) Vietnam Aqua Diving Services 57 S/S Mixed Gas Aged 56, Ex RN and very experienced diver. Working from the Swiber barge 'Glorious' 70 miles off Vung Tau. Wet bell, surface supplied mixed gas bounce dive, night shift. 160' excursion from the wet bell to attach a surface line to previously installed webbing strops around a pipeline. Initial reports indicate they moved the barge to follow him way past the intended location (webbing strops had actually been removed by the day shift which is why he did not locate them) and that as he returned to the bell his umbilical became snagged on a seabed obstruction behind him at the same time as the barge was moving back. Lost gas, went onto bailout, reported he could see the wet bell then lost comms. Surface deployed standby found diver back a wet bell (unconscious?), bell recovered to surface but on the way up the diver was ripped out of the bell at 80' and fell back to the seabed (Not secured in bell, umbilical still snagged on seabed), bell sent back down and diver recovered, diver clipped in, bell recovered to surface but on the way up the diver was ripped out of the bell at 80' and again fell back to the seabed (umbilical still snagged on seabed, ripped 'D' ring off his stab jacket). Eventually brought to the surface on the third attempt by which time the diver had been in the water 60 minutes, the standby diver 40 minutes. Apparently both diver and standby were put into the DDC (No in-water decompression stops). The diver was pronounced dead by barge medic (it is likely that the diver had died before being brought to the surface) The above comes from personal communications, official reports to follow, TC. His Funeral was reported publicly in the Bournemouth Daily Echo. Inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death in 2010 -
2013 7 10 Millecan Joel USA 20 S/S Air Aged 56, diving solo on hookah about a mile off Loma Point for sea urchin. Deck hand on the 35 foot boat called 911 when he failed to surface, lifeguards brought him to the surfaceunconscious and not breathing and performed CPR before he was transported to a local hospital where he later died. Reported in the San Diego Times -
2006 8 14 Andrews David USA Rutgers Institute 15 SCUBA Aged 56, diving off the research vessel 'Arabella' to install a sensor on the LEO-15 (Longterm Ecosystem Observatory), got into difficulty, was pulled aboard given CPR and air lifted to hospital but did not regain consciousness. CDNN -
2011 5 1 Makuch John USA Police diver SCUBA Aged 56, collapsed during a training exercise at Port Huron YMCA, 'massive Heart Attack', other team members (trained paramedics) were unable to save him. He had joined the St. Clair County Sherriff's Office dive team in 1991 and had worked his way up through the ranks to Assistant Chief. First recorded fatality since the team was founded in 1969. Reported in the Daily Tribune -
2008 6 1 Le Sauteur Peter UK Alderney Marine Trust SCUBA Aged 55, Surveying the wreck of an Elizabethan gunship that sank in 1592 with a view to recovering two cannon. Fell ill after finishing a dive, unconscious, taken to hospital but pronounced dead. -
2012 4 27 Rhodes Randy R USA 4 SCUBA Aged 55, from Indiana, clearing zebra mussels from a water intake at a private residence on Keuka Lake, reported as surfacing and calling for help before sinking under the water about 18:15 hours, body recovered from 13' of water, 80' from the shore by rescuers who were on site within 5 minutes of receiving an emergency call at 18:20. Alive when pulled from the water but declared dead in hspital two hours later. Not counted in the 'working diver' fatality count as this appears to be a local resident clearing his own or a neighbour's water pipe on a Friday evening. Appears to have been a solo SCUBA diver. Sadly this death will not be remembered for the circumstances of the death but a very public argument between the New York State SCUBA team who claim to have rescued the unconscious diver and Wayne Fire Department Cold Water Response team who say they located the diver and Steuben County Dive Team volunteer members who say they then brought the diver to the surface. Steuben Courier -
1990 12 10 Clark Ron L. USA S/S Air Aged 54, Working on repairs at the Archer Daniels Midland plant in Peoria, on the Illinois River. Reported as drowned when he was sucked under river water while working to clean screens on intake pumps at the plant. No other details. Reported in the Pantagraph, Bloomington, Illinois -
2007 5 19 Hopkins Ronald Australia State Emergency Services SCUBA Aged 54, volunteer who drowned on a flooded boat training exercise in the Murray River at Mildura, body recovered the following day by NSW police divers the day after. Victoria State Emergency Services were convicted and fined $75,000 and ordered to undertake a thorough and regular review of it's workplace safety practices. Quote “Failing to ensure a person other than an employee was not exposed to risk�, regarded as a significant conviction as it recognised that organisations have an obligation not just to their direct employees but also the volunteer members. Sydney Morning Herald -
2010 10 2 Barrientos Jose Ascensio Chile Aged 54, Shellfish diver onboard the vessel "Seno Vera" 13 miles off Puerto Aguirre suffered fractured left leg and serious cuts to both legs from the vessel's propeller. Transferred ashore (seems to have taken over six hours to get the rescue boat there and back to port) and to hospital. No other details. Armarda.cl -
2021 6 8 Baenziger Robert (Bob) USA SCUBA Aged 54, repairing a broken cable at the bottom of a million gallon anaerobic digester (Methane producer) on a farm in Stockton, Iowa. On comms line, allegedly told his fiancee he was taking his helmet off, she pulled on the line and retrieved his helmet minus the diver. Digester normally operates at 99 to 105 degrees but appears to have been at 120 degrees F (49 degrees C) and had to be cooled with 100,000 gallons of cold water before rescue divers could recover the body 22 hours later. Diver was not in contaminated water gear nor had air back up). As the diver was self employed and working solo he was exempt from OSHA inspections and as the farm has less than 10 employees they are also outwith the worker safety agency remit, so no investigation to take place. Reported by the Gazette (Iowa) -
2011 6 21 Surasin Indonesia S/S Air Aged 54, Port of Tanjung Perak, Surabaya, scrap metal diving off Jamrud pier from a small boat with two of his children, compressor may have failed, body floated to the surface, recovered and brought ashore by the children. Surabaya News -
2016 10 9 Carvajal Omar Ugalde Chile Fisherman SCUBA Aged 54, diving for shellfish, at Caleta Totoallilos, Decompression incident, taken to San Pedro de Los Vilos Hospital and then transferred to the Naval hospital at Vina del Mar (they have a recompression chamber) but passed away. Reported by Diaria el Dia -
2011 9 1 Not Recorded Tonga Aged 54, reported as having died from decompression after diving for sea cucumbers near the island of Leleka in Ha'apai on the late afternoon of Thursday, September 1. Police confirmed that the deceased from Ngele'ia in Tongatapu died shortly after surfacing from diving. Tonga News -
1960 1 9 Shaw Clarence USA Merritt Chapman and Scott S/S Air Aged 53, working on the downstream side of the Priest Rapids dam construction site on the Columbia River. Confused reports, but appears to have been trapped underwater for two hours by a falling object. When pulled to the surface by two rescue SCUBA divers his helmet was off, drowned. Falling object may have severed or blocked his air line. Reported in the Freelance Star -
1896 9 30 Storey William - entry 1 of 3 UK John Gibney and Co. Master Divers, Chapel Street, Liverpool 4 S/S Air Aged 53, experienced diver, initially reported as 'Met his death whilst at wotk'. Hornby dock, Liverpool, working on the vessel 'Gulf of Taranto'. He was placing a sealing pad over a valve inlet diffuser on a vessel hull, differential pressure incident (arm pulled into hull when the valve was removed because the diffuser was mounted on the valve not the hull). They managed to pull him free but he was unconscious when recovered to deck, taken to Bootle hospital, but failed to respond to treatment. Coroner’s verdict:- Suffocated. Reported in the Liverpool Mercury. See following two entries below for more detail.<br />http://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/deathsandinquests1896.html -
1980 9 25 Ong Ah Lam Singapore SCUBA Aged 53, diver on a fishing vessel (His first trip) which left Singapore on the 16th September, dropped anchor in rough weather but could not lift it when conditions improved on the 24th September. Diver cleared the anchor (depth was not specified at the inquiry) after a 4 hour dive but then complained of stomach pains, weakness in his legs and being unable to urinate. Died the following day 'of acute decompression sickness' whilst en route to Singapore. Coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure. Straits Times -
2010 3 30 Han Warrant Officer Joo-Ho South Korea South Korean Navy 24 SCUBA Aged 53, a member of one of the underwater demolition teams attempting to rescue potential trapped survivors in the hull of the 1,200 tonnes Naval vessel “Cheonan� (Sank late 26th after an explosion split her in two 105 miles from the west coast port of Incheon just south of the disputed border line, 58 crew rescued, 46 missing). Reported as becoming unconscious in the water after a dive to 24 metres, brought up and transferred to a nearby US Navy hospital ship 'Salvo', but died. He joined the Navy in 1975 when he was 18, survived by his wife and two children. A South Korean fishing boat that participated in the search operation went into missing 01/04/2010, killing two people and leaving seven others missing. AP Later reports that the Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo. Strategy World, Los Angeles times, Telegraph etc -
2011 6 4 Gallo Julio Da Costa Spain Jerez e Hijos 6 Aged 52, Zamakona Shipyard, Port of Santurce, Bilbao, cleaning the propellers of a Tug. He was in the nozzle with his colleague (J A Andres) was outside when the propellers were started. Andres was injured but blown away, da Costa was killed when sucked into the blades. Reportd by GPS Buceo -
2010 7 21 Wesley Skiles USA 21 Rebreather Aged 52, Professional underwater photographer and explorer of underwater caves in Florida, diving 3 miles off Boynton Beach, found unconscious on the seabed by colleagues, did not respond to treatment. Gainsville Sun -
1993 8 19 Costain Donald R USA SCUBA Aged 52, off Maine diving in a four man team from a 36' fishing vessel, harvesting sea urchins, heavy fog, surfaced for replacement tank, disappeared, found on the seabed after 30 minutes, drowned. Bangor Daily News. -
1937 3 23 Yamada Kiachichi Australia Gregory 29 S/S Air Aged 52, diving off the lugger D36 'Red Bill' at the Goulburn Island Pearling beds. (Had replaced the former number 2 diver on the vessel who died of fever two weeks earlier). At the Inquest on the Japanese diver, Kiahichi Yamada, a verdict of death from asphyxia, due to drowning was returned by the Coroner, Mr. G. J. Pigott From the evidence given it appeared that Yamada had been down once that morning, and, after a spell of about 20 minutes, went down for a second trip. He mentioned that the water was very dirty, and he had to lie down to gather shell, so he asked for a slack life-line. About half an hour after his second descent, his tender got an urgent signal to 'haul up,' Quickly followed by a second urgent signal, so the tender called for help to haul Yamada up as quickly as possible. He came up, feet first but was quickly righted, and guided to the ladder, where the helmet was removed. He then appeared to be dead, but his suit was cut off him immediately, and artificial respiration tried for about an hour, but without success. As the body was growing cold, It was placed in the cabin and covered with rugs, but when all hope was abandoned, it was sewn up in canvas, and the lugger made all speed to Darwin, which was reached about two days later. The doctor who performed the post mortem said that the body was much decomposed, but it was evident that death was due to asphyxia, probably caused by drowning. The second tender, who was in charge of Yamada said that when the suit was cut off him it was found to be half full of water, and when they tried to revive him, water came from his mouth. The inquest was adjourned for a while to permit of the production of the suit the dead diver had worn and also to obtain the services of Mr. David Carruth, whose long and varied experience of diving made his evidence of the greatest value In this case. A diver showed how the suit was worn, and Mr. Carruth explained the uses of It, and the method of controlling air inlets and outlets On examining the dead diver's suit, it was discovered that the rubber cuff had a long tear In It and It was then evident that the water had entered the suit through this tear, so that when the diver capsized, either through stumbling into a hollow on the ocean bed, or through over-balancing owing to the weight of the pearl shell be had gathered, the air rushed to the bottom part of the suit (that now was upper most) and the water filled the helmet and corselet, thus drowning the diver. What the tender had mistaken for urgent signals, to haul up must have been the last struggles of the diver in his dying agony. Reported in the Townsville Daily Bulletin, Qld. -
2001 6 11 Willis Emmett Clive USA SCUBA Aged 51, professional golf ball diver, 15th hole of the Westport Country club in Hickory, drowned, no details apart him only having been SCUBA certified three months prior to his death. -
1973 6 18 Stover Albert USA Johnson-Sea Link 107 Submarine Aged 51, mini sub pilot. Trapped on the wreck of a sunken destroyer, the two men in the rear compartment (Link and Stover) died (asphyxiation), two in the forward compartment survived -
2012 10 20 Antifave Robert Wayne Canada SCUBA Aged 51, from Lantzville on Vancouver Island, harvesting Geoducks in Rendell Sound (Off the West coast of Haida Gwaii) Emergency services called between 11:00 and 12:00 with reports of a diver in medical distress, helicopter (en route from Comox to Smithers) diverted and coastguard vessel "Sandspit" responded, crews recovered the diver from the water, administered CPR, taken to hospital in Queen Charlotte, pronounced dead. 'Coroner investigating'. Reported in the Vancouver Sun -
2007 11 17 Chen-Lu Hsu Taipei 30 S/S Air Aged 51, diving off the commercial fishing vessel 'Hsinlienfa 168' off Turtle Island. Two divers died and two injured. Authorities stated they would prosecute (occupational negligent manslaughter) the vessel operator, Tu Chuen-yi, for improper operation of the vessel and allowing the propeller to cut all four airlines leaving the divers at depth with no air supplies. None of the divers had licences, no standby or safety equipment. -
2008 10 16 Hartley Paul USA SCUBA Aged 51, commercial sea urchin harvester diving from the F/V Sunshine, found floating on surface, unconscious, failed to respond to treatment -
2013 5 13 Houston Andrew Australia SCUBA Aged 51, alleged to have received infringement notices for poaching abalone in 1989 and 1992, went missing on Sunday afternoon, his body was found by police divers the day after 50 metres from the beach attached to a 30kg bag of abalone. He had no abalone licence, the daily limit for abalone was 5kg and it was out of season. Abalone poaching in Victoria carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years and a $150,000 fine. Herald Sun -
2016 9 22 Winters Sgt. Kerry USA Police SCUBA Aged 51, 30 year veteran of the Ulster County (NY) Sheriff's office, died in a dive training exercise at Ashokan Resevoir. No details. Reported the Daily Freeman, Police news -
2010 9 14 Rine Duane 'Charlie' USA Fisherman 3 SCUBA Aged 51, Long-time crew member on the 164' Herring boat 'Western Venture', pair trawling out of Gloucester, 150 miles offshore. Nets caught around rudder/propeller. Paraphrased report:- "He had dived on the boat before and was willing and able to clear the net from the rudders. Around 7:30 or 8 p.m. he got into the water, immediately cleared the port rudder, but the starboard rudder is more difficult. He was under for around 10 to 15 minutes, and when he surfaced had abandoned all of his dive gear (tank, weight belt, etc.). Conscious and shouting to the crew when he surfaced, but after they lifted him out of the water with the sling he quickly lost consciousness and stopped breathing. The crew of the boat performed CPR for over an hour. They failed to resuscitate him and with no help on the way stopped CPR after 9 p.m. As we drifted by their stern. I could see the crew carrying his body to shelter from the back deck. At 9:30 p.m. the captain of Western Venture told us that we had lost him. When the Venture was able to pick up her gear, they found all of his dive gear tangled in the net. That he became entangled in the net under the boat is a fact. The rest can only be speculated upon." Gloucester Daily Times -
2012 8 5 Reardon Jim USA Fireman SCUBA Aged 51 from Pierz, videoptaping in Lake Seven near Frazee undertaking a pre-drill survey for a future dive exercise for firefighters who were due to train there. Reported as having separated from his dive partner, he was found near the dock 20 minutes later but could not be revived. "No drugs or alcohol was involved, all his diving gear was intact and operational". Autopsy concluded that he "Died of natural causes". Bismark Tribune -
1997 2 0 Schroeder Robert West Indies, Barbados Strongwork Diving (USA) for Healey Tibbets 37 S/S Air Aged 50. Sewage outfall installation at Queen Ann's Fort, diving off Needhams Point. He was the diving supervisor and dived to check work progress on pipeline in trench. Came out of trench and tide pulled him from 120' to 50' . He grabbed the downline but complained of feeling unwell on stops. Brought to the surface climbed 15 foot ladder ( no cage) and collapsed on deck. Put into chamber unconscious, not breathing and with blood on lips. chamber tender managed to resuscitate him at 165' in chamber. Doctor (SCUBA) arrived and made decision to bring up to 60 feet. Diver started to have difficulties breathing - breaths  became shallower and shallower until stopping - diver died at 60 feet'. Cause of death: reported as suspected pneumothorax with CNS complications, due to uncontrolled ascent from 120’. Personal communication -
2011 2 19 Coliboro Carlos Isaias Melipillan Chile Aged 50, Shellfish diver onboard the 'Nortwester Matricula' working in the Falcon Estuary (36 hours sailing time from Puerta Natales). Expired certificates, no permit to be at sea, autopsy indicated that he suffocated after vomiting underwater. Reported in El Pinguino. -
2008 11 17 B AC Spain Broth SA or Consomar SA 28 SCUBA Aged 50, head of a diving contractor from Valencia, Broth Sa, working (Inspection and filming) on an outfall 1 kilometre off the town of Moraira-Teulada (Spanish East coast, South of Valencia), failed to surface. Supervisor dived but could not find him. The next day, after a two hour search by a combined fire/civil guard diving team, his body was discovered trapped in fishing nets. He had ditched his cylinders/buoyancy vest in a last attempt to escape the nets when his air ran out. Reported by Levante-EMV.com -
2010 9 6 Giogine Augusto Brazil Aged 50, diver charging diving cylinders onboard the trawler 'Luz do Dia' port of Saco de Bananal (Near Rio). 04:30 on a Sunday morning, reported as compressor explosion, a splinter of wood hit him in the neck causing massive bleeding. Reported in Angranews -
1990 11 15 Bartholomew Captain Al 'Black Bart' USA USN SCUBA Aged 50, director of ocean engineering for the Navy and supervisor of its salvage and diving operations, died during a diving recertification exercise, disappeared from sight in 200 feet of water. His body was recovered Nov. 17, but the cause of death was not been determined. -
2001 9 0 Not Recorded USSR Aged 50, commercial operation on the Neva river, no details -
2009 4 4 Daniel Yvon France SARL Kerioica SCUBA Aged 50, commercial diver and the manager of SARL Keroica, under contract to Armour Travaux Sous Marins, La Trinite sur Mer harbour, Pontoon inspection, solo, no stand-by, -
2011 2 17 Clarkson Peter Australia SCUBA Aged 50 with 27 years diving experience, two man commercial abalone boat out of Port Lincoln (200 miles West of Adelaide). Reported as being attacked by two great white sharks as he surfaced. The skipper (who lost diver Danny Thorpe when his boat overturned in 2000 – he risked the long swim ashore leaving Danny Thorpe with the boat but 'when help arrived all they found was Thorpe's shredded life vest and a beat up old lunchbox, but that was all') said 'I saw the beast come up and take him. There was no way he could have survived'. Last August, the diver had described a previous close encounter with a great white during a diving ascent when endorsing a shark deterrent system. 'The search for the victim's remains ongoing'. Reported by the Mail online, Herald Sun etc -
2012 2 22 Collins Lawrence Canada SCUBA Aged 49, one of a three man commercial sea urchin harvesting dive team on board the vessel 'Water Queen' working off Digby Neck in the Grand Passage Waterway (Bay of Fundy off St St. John, an area with the highest tides in the world - Mean spring tide 14.5 metres, extreme range 16.3 metres), 30 minutes into the diver, failed to surface with the other team members around 13:00, seen on the surface being swept away by fast currents, vessel crew searched for about 15 minutess then called emergency services about 13:30, RCMP called at 13:45. Ebb tide, Southerly current, air temp 43F, water 42F, 5 foot seas, search hampered by fog. Reported as having just moved to the area from Ottowa and as having held a commercial diving licence since the early 1990s (but had only been in the water about 10 times in the last 10 years) and that it was his first dive harvesting sea urchins. Search called off four days later (RCMP - "There is no reasonable expectation that he was going to be found alive"), body not found. Reported by Postmedia news and others. -
2021 7 7 Trahey Brian USA Great Lakes Engineering SCUBA Aged 49, married, two sons. Calkins Bridge dam on the Kalamazoo river/Allegan Lake in Southwest Michigan. Underwater inspection, failed to surface. Body recovered after water levels lowered and dam stopped entirely to prevent current (Suspected differential pressure entrapment). Reported by WXMI-TV. Great Lakes Engineering given maximum fine of £119,000 (No planning, lifeline or comms, repeat offender). Diver's wife was Great Lakes President.... Multiple US news outlets -
2000 9 19 Cummings Ron USA SCUBA Aged 49, highly decorated captain in the Phoenix fire department. Off duty, One of a three man team of fire-fighter with a commercial diving business, no back up, communications or stand-by, failed to surface after diving in to inspect the entrance gateway of an inlet to a 21' diameter syphon pipe running under the Aqua Fria river into a canal, part of the Central Arizona Project which delivers water from the Colorado river to the Phoenix area. Body recovered later the same day after syphon was drained. No details -
2009 11 15 Morales Miguel Angel Chile 2 SCUBA Aged 49, Cleaning operation in a 'pond' (9 billion m3 storage facility) owned by the National oil Company, described as having 30 years diving experience and working for a diving sub-contractor. One other team member (A none-diver, so effectively a solo SCUBA dive) raised the alarm when he failed to surface. Body recovered 7 hours later. No other details. La Estrella/Cronica -
2012 7 13 Knight Michael Louis USA Seaward Marine Aged 49, civilian diver with 24 years experience working on the USS Wasp (Amphibious Assault Ship) at Pier 10 at the Norfolk Navy Base. Pronounced dead at the scene, cause of death not yet determined, no other details. Daily Press. -
2011 4 10 Mitchell David UKCS Acergy Saturation Aged 49, bell run from the Acergy Osprey, returned to the bell, fell ill and died. Initial reports indicate a heart attack -
2015 12 11 Kuehn Wayne Douglas Jnr USA SCUBA Aged 48. married with a son and daughter, had a full time job, but as a side line sold second hand golf balls at a dollar each. SCUBA diving at night (Illegally) for golf balls at the Star Ranch golf course. Cause of death not reported ('waiting on toxicology reports'). His father reported him missing after finding his car at the golf course, took two days to find his body in the pond. Reported in Mystatesman -
2011 9 7 Juarez Luis Alberto Peru Asociacion La Bocana Aged 48, working at a scallop hatchery, Pichayo, Parachique, found trapped underwater, no other details. This report also referred to a second fatality in the area on the same day, that of 39 year old Eli Perez Becerra "who died of decompression illness, apparently as a result of mechanical failure of his diving equipment". No other details so cannot confirm if the second death was a commercial fatality. Reported by RPP Noticias. -
1915 2 23 Hanson Harry USA Merrit and Chapman Wrecking Company 20 S/S Air Aged 48, third dive of the day on the salvage of a scow sunk at the foot of 57th Street, Brooklyn. Reported that he descended, signalled to be lifted but was entangled, hoses kinked and he suffocated though at the inquiry his erstwhile employers denied that his air supply was cut off or that there was any delay in pulling him up and stated that the inside of the suit was dry and receiving fresh air when he was pulled to the surface, Reported in the New York Times -
1976 10 25 Soonee Mohamed bin Amin Borneo SCUBA Aged 48, onboard a Singaporean registered fishing vessel working 100 miles off the North Borneo coast. Propeller entangled with rope and nets, went in to clear it around 15:00 hours. Did not surface. Other crew members spent three hours searching for him before they saw his SCUBA gear hanging on the propeller. As it was dark they abandoned the search until the morning After a thre or four hour search the following day, they recovered his body from the seabed. The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure, cause of death was certified as asphixia due to drowning. Straits Times -
2012 8 23 Echevarria Pardo Columbia Aged 48, married with three chidren, ex-navy diver, working with 7 other divers on the Luxembourg flagged Jan de Nul dredger "Charles Darwin" (Launched 2010, 180 metres long, 40 metre beam, twin trailer suction dredges each with 3,400 KW of power) off the Port of Santa Marta. Described as 'human error' - they started the turbines with divers in the water. Two divers caught, Echavarria recovered to the surface 20 minutes later, apparently still alive but died, his dive partner Duva Hernandez suffered broken legs, taken to hospital. No other details. Reported by El Informador -
2010 10 19 Alarcon Mario Peru Aged 48, had stopped diving 'but for financial reasons' moved from 'the slums of Lucy Villanueva' to the Island of Parachique (Province of Sechura) to work in the pearl shell extraction industry. Surfaced in a rush and complained of chest pains, died diuring the transfer to Parachique. No treatment equipment on the boat. Wife and six children. Elregionalpiura.com -
1948 7 2 Boosinger Harry 'The Monk' USA S/S Air Aged 48, from Santa Catalina islands, professional diver, undertaking a dive described as a film stunt man. , apparently air lines fouled lost mask. No details. Reported in the Los Angeles Times. -
2011 6 10 Quiroz Edixon Venezuela Topsides Aged 48, Diving supervisor, Flow station 57 on the Rosa Mediano production system near the town of Simon Bolivar on lake Maracaibo. Reported that he was at the bow giving directions to secure a 2" riser to the wellhead platform when the PDVSA diving vessel went out of control (Went full ahead when the clutch control wire broke) trapping him between the vessel and a barge anchor wire. Broken ribs, internal bleeding, crush injuries. The diver was taken to the PDSVA clinic at Tia Juana but was declared dead on arrival. Reported by GPS Buceo, Longstreath. -
2012 3 18 Kelley Daniel USA Sunset Beach Oyster Company 4 Aged 48, commercial geoduck harvesting off Ayock point in the Hood Canal, ill in the water and stopped responding to signals, pulled out of the water and began CPR, transported ashore and taken to Mason General hospital where he was pronounced dead. Reported as having drowned after having a heart attack. Autopsy revealed the diver 'had pre-existing conditions that may have led to the heart attack'. Toxicology testing ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning. KMAS News Radio -
2012 9 21 Bridger Michael USA Walt Disney / Silver Bullet Productions SCUBA Aged 48, cleaning inside a tank on a ranch near Palmdale in the desert north of Los Angeles prior to filming on the set of the new "Lone Ranger" movie, reported that co-workers realised something was wrong and pulled him from the water at which stage he went into cardiac arrest. Initially being treated as natural causes (Heart attack). Reuters UK. Update March 2013:- Silver Bullet Productions was fined $61,445 after the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) determined that the company allowed a hazardous situation that resulted in the drowning death of a diver who was cleaning a water tank. According to Cal/OSHA's records, the 48-year-old diver was using SCUBA equipment to enhance water clarity for filming while cleaning the 100-foot-by-80-foot-by-25-foot tank with a vacuum. The regulatory agency states that the diver's "dive buddy" was absent for 10 minutes and, when he returned, he noticed that no bubbles were coming to the surface of the water. OSHA determined the accident was primarily caused by the diver working alone and not being given a prior medical examination to determine his fitness to dive. For not having a designated "person in charge" at the dive location, failing to ensure that all divers were properly trained in CPR and other life-saving measures, not keeping up with the divers' required regular medical examinations and violating basic operational procedures—all deemed "serious" violations, Silver Bullet was fined $45,000. The company was fined another $16,445 for six general violations: not providing documentation of safety and health training for all employees, not keeping records of each dive in the tank, not keeping proper records of all equipment maintenance, not maintaining a required Illness Prevention Program for hazard training, not developing a manual for diver safety and not properly maintaining the compressor for supplying air. Cause of death recorded as drowned after having a heart attack underwater. LA Times -
1987 4 6 Hiersche Jerry USA Underwater Services 3 Aged 47, Working on the John Day Dam, Columbia river, had been inspecting/cleaning fish screens at about 150' and was surfacing at the end of his dive when his head was sucked into an inlet just 10' from the surface. Quote from team member “We heard him shout 'I'm out of air' and that was it�. Died of cardiac arrest in hospital. Reported in the Spokane Chronicle