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Incidents List

  1. Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details
  2. 2001 8 10 Sempert Craig E USA SCUBA Aged 44, Owner of Craig's Dive Shop in Craig, was diving for a survey by Cape Fox Corp. Apparently got trapped in the outflow pipe from the power station pond south of Ketchikan, his body was recovered from the outflow pipe after his wife reported Friday afternoon that he hadn't come back from the dive. Inference is solo dive on SCUBA. Reported in Kenai Peninsula on-line
  3. 2001 7 13 Rig 'Marine IV' USA Jack Up, blow out
  4. 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.
  5. 2001 3 1 Rig 'Ensco 51' USA Jack Up, Eugene Island 273, blowout when setting casing, fire
  6. 2001 1 0 Not Recorded USA Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, diver swept over dam spillway, umbilical snap link broke, air hose pulled out of hat, drowned, no citations issued
  7. 2000 11 11 Davis Ted USA Energy Partners or D & W Welding Services 23 South Pass 28, The diver was working on a severed pipeline when he lost communication with the surface. A second diver was unable to locate the first diver. Pressure differential, sucked into a pipe when dredging cleared blocked pipe opening, body reciovered the following day.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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
  11. 2000 9 4 Diebolt Brian USA Torch Marine Diver was working offshore but ill (reported as pneumonia, possibly developed from poor air quality, complicated with continual diving), but apparently was not allowed to return to the beach upon several requests from himself and others. Eventually taken onshore , then taken immediately to hospital, and admitted right, died 45 days later from complications. NAOCD/cDiver
  12. 2000 8 13 Smith Warren C USA 21 SCUBA Fire-fighter, aged 28, Search and rescue training dive in a lake. Circular search, partner lost the rope and became separated, basic SCUBA gear only, no voice comms, Another diver saw the victim who was distressed and frantically screaming, the victim knocked out the other diver's face piece. The victim, who was entangled in the buoy line was pulled to the surface by the line, given medical assistance and transported to hospital by air ambulance where he was pronounced dead, The cause of death was stated as pulmonary barotrauma. NIOSH report
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 2000 6 2 Not Recorded USA Police 0 Police officer, injured on the same dive during which Sgt Alane Soffregen died
  17. 2000 6 2 Soffregen Sgt Alane USA Police 0 Female American police marine unit diver, aged 50, drowned during a training exercise 1 mile off Chicago waterfront.
  18. 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
  19. 2000 5 12 King Edward USA Reported as "Quahog diver was found dead after reported missing. Boat and diver was found day after he was lost. Apparent Drowning" NAOCD/cDiver
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 2000 4 0 Not Recorded USA During 1989-1997, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recorded 116 occupational diving fatalities in the United States (OSHA, unpublished data, 1998) 13 deaths per year. 49 five per year occurred among an estimated 3000 full-time commercial divers. The average of five deaths per year corresponds to a rate of 180 deaths per 100,000 employed divers per year, which is 40 times the national average death rate for all workers. This group, which accounts for most of the commercial dive time underwater, includes divers involved in construction, maintenance, and inspection of vessels and structures such as oil rigs, bridges, and dams. The remaining 67 deaths occurred among workers who were not full-time divers; these include seafood harvest divers, search and rescue divers, scientific divers, dive instructors, and non-military federal agency divers. Note from TC, this incidents list contains potential reference to less than 50% of OSHA reported cases in the USA
  23. 2000 2 3 Weaver Bill USA SCUBA Paraphrased from the 'State News':- “A veteran commercial diver from Kodiak was killed while trying to clear line from a fishing boat's propeller, according to Kodiak police. Bill Weaver, 54, died when the skipper of the 81-foot trawler Lisa Malinda tried to move the vessel while Weaver was under the boat....�
  24. 2000 1 15 Bankert Gary L USA Fire Brigade 7 SCUBA 37-year-old male volunteer fire fighter drowned during a dry-suit certification training dive. The victim was one of six divers which included one certified diving instructor (Professional Association Dive Instructor [PADI] Dive Master) and five students (three of the students were volunteer fire fighters). The victim was a member of the fire department’s search and recovery dive team. On the day of the incident, the training was being conducted at a privately owned freshwater lake that is dedicated exclusively to recreational diving. The training consisted of one, 3-hour classroom training session (held on January 8, 2000), followed by three open-water dives conducted on January 15, 2000. The first dive was conducted in a controlled area near the shore. The second and third dives were logged open-water dives for dry-suit certification. On the third dive ascent, the group made a safety stop at a depth of 15 feet. After the instructor got the okay signal from all of the students, they continued their ascent to the surface. When the victim failed to appear at the surface, two of the divers descended to the bottom and began searching for him. They found the victim at a depth of approximately 22 feet. They brought him to the surface where rescue breathing was initiated while moving him toward shore. Once on shore, paramedics transported the victim by ambulance to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead at 22:38 hours. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should ensure that divers maintain continuous visual, verbal, or physical contact with their dive partner. The death certificate lists the cause of death as severe metabolic acidosis as the result of near drowning. NIOSH report
  25. 2000 1 12 Washburn Todd USA Marion Hill Associates 18 “A New Jersey diver remained missing in the Allegheny River on Monday even after authorities reduced the flow of water over a dam to aid in the search. Officials said efforts to find the body of Todd Washburn, 33, of Trenton, would continue Tuesday, but water flow would have to be returned to normal. Washburn worked for a company, Marion Hill Associates, that was inspecting the privately owned Piney Hydroelectric Station near Reesedale, Armstrong County.� (Part of the report also states that “Last year, 90 of the nation's 2500 commercial divers were killed on the job�, also that “the diver had 18 months experience as a commercial diver�. His body was recovered 5 days later downstream of the plant. No details of the actual cause of the incident. 2 Citations/$3,000. Associated Press/NACOD/cDiver
  26. 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
  27. 1999 12 22 Militello A USA Paraphrased from press reports:- "Lobster Man Dies After Getting Caught in Propeller Shaft. The man, aged 40 from Goucester was on the 'Dean', a fishing boat, near Bakers Island Massachusetts (about 3 miles from the entrance to Beverly and Salem Harbours, when he became caught in the prop shaft.. A nearby fishing vessel notified the Coast Guard which transported him to Manchester Marina. He was then moved to Beverly Hospital and pronounced dead from "multiple trauma". Not clear if this was a diving accident. Polson Enterprises list of propeller incidents/Associated Press
  28. 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.
  29. 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
  30. 1999 10 8 Downie Ramsey MacDonald USA Welder diver, 'died in an industrial accident' at Los Angeles Harbour, no details
  31. 1999 8 29 Shepcot Jay USA Oceaneering 296 ADS GB 161, Semi-submersible Diamond Ocean Ambassador with an air gap of approximately 100 feet. ADS (Wasp) was being recovered, a piece of lifting tackle gave away, ADS dropped to the end of a safety cable. The shock load swung the ADS up beneath the semi-sub where it hit and broke one arm off the suit before the safety cable was severed by the edge of the deck. The ADS fell into the sea and because of the missing arm flooded and sank to the pontoon. It is believed that the diver died of a broken neck which occurred at the same time the arm was broken off. Once submerged, the suit flooded. Two standby dives were made before the diver was located and brought to the surface. "This fatality is attributable to rigging failure" Offshore Diver. (USCG found that the shackle pin used in attaching the WASP to the crane was of inferior quality and not rated for lifting the weight of a WASP. NAOCD/cDiver)
  32. 1999 8 24 Swint, Jr Elwin USA S/S Air Initially reported as ‘diver lost at sea while harvesting sea urchins off Santa Rosa island'. Body was recovered. Cause of death recorded as drowning for unknown reasons, but no details NAOCD/cDiver. However a later report gives more details:- (Paraphrased) “The son of a sea urchin diver killed when a yacht ran over his air hose is suing the boat owner. The diver, aged 53, of Santa Barbara drowned last year off Santa Rosa Island. Attorneys for his son argue that the yacht was being operated in an "unsafe manner" before the accident. The U.S. Coast Guard found that the yacht had run over the diver's air hose but the owner was not negligent and that the boat contacted authorities shortly after spotting the diver in the water. The 49-foot yacht was battered by rough seas before the accident and sought shelter next to Swint's boat while the diver was underwater, the Coast Guard report said. The diver, who was not using a diver-warning flag, surfaced and yelled as the boat approached, and the boat owner turned turned his vessel around, the report said. The boat owner has said the diver's air hose became entangled in the boat's propeller as the vessel searched for him�. Associated Press article dated July 2000.
  33. 1999 8 9 Mercer Scott USA Titan Marine Underwater oxy arc explosion, improperly vented tank. Offshore Diver. Also reported as "Diver was killed from a build-up of gases while welding on a salvage operation. Diver had not vented for gases to escape. USCG Findings: 1) Mercer was the diving supervisor of this operation. He was diving at the time without leaving a designated individual as supervisor topside while he was in the water, directly against industry policy. Mercer was Titan’s representative on the ADC BoD and therefore should have especially known industry policy better than anyone. 2) All areas were suppose to be vented first before any welding started. However, there was no records kept and consequently, Mercer begin welding in one of those areas that had not yet been vented. NAOCD/cDiver
  34. 1999 7 21 Juse Bill USA Black Dog Divers Died 9 miles inside a tunnel dry diving operation in New Deer sewage outfall, Boston, double fatality (Juse). Both divers died as a result of bad air quality that resulted from extremely poor equipment and equipment not made to be used in a tunnel environment. Over $200,000 in fines for wilful violations. Boston Globe and others
  35. 1999 7 21 Nordeen Tim USA Nowesco Died 9 miles inside a tunnel dry diving operation in New Deer sewage outfall, Boston, double fatality (Juse). Both divers died as a result of bad air quality that resulted from extremely poor equipment and equipment not made to be used in a tunnel environment. Over $200,000 in fines for wilful violations. Boston Globe and others
  36. 1999 7 15 Pottberg Brian USA Fire Brigade SCUBA Aged 25, Member of Lee's Summit fire department. Described as a routine training exercise in Lakewood lake (Acting as the centre point for a second diver to swim increasing circular search pattern), “On July 15, 1999, one male fire fighter/paramedic/rescue diver (the victim) drowned while taking part in a drill. The victim, one of four rescue divers and a boat driver participating in a training drill, was assigned the "Pivot Diver" position. During the drill, a Safety Diver was to remain at the surface. The Pivot Diver (the victim), was to enter the water, follow the anchor line to the bottom, set up with a 50-foot length of rope, then signal the Pattern Diver (whose duty is to swim in a circular pattern searching for a rescue/recovery target) to descend and proceed with the drill. The crew on the surface observed air bubbles as the victim descended. Approximately 2 minutes later the rope bag surfaced while the bubbles continued. It appeared to the crew on the surface that the victim was searching for the rope bag because the air bubbles appeared to be moving back and forth. The Lead Diver instructed the Pattern Diver to descend and retrieve the victim. The Lead Diver also started to knock on the bottom of the rescue boat with a dive knife in hopes of signaling the victim to return to the surface. When the Pattern Diver surfaced, he reported the victim could not be found. The Lead Diver then instructed the Boat Driver to radio for emergency assistance and implement the department’s Incident Command System (ICS). The Lead Diver also directed the Safety Diver to initiate rescue of the victim. When the Safety Diver surfaced without the victim, the Lead Diver instructed the Safety Diver to assume the role of Pivot Diver. The Lead Diver assumed the role of Pattern Diver. Both the Safety Diver and Lead Diver dove below the surface to initiate a rescue of the victim. The victim was found during the search and brought to the surface approximately 11 minutes after the Boat Driver initially requested emergency assistance. When the victim was brought to the surface, the air regulator was not in his mouth and he was noticeably cyanotic and unresponsive. The victim received immediate medical attention on the Rescue Boat and while en route to a regional trauma center, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. The cause of death was listed as drowning. NIOSH report.
  37. 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
  38. 1998 12 7 Not Recorded USA Commercial diver working on a propeller at Continental Lime, Tacoma, critically injured, taken to hospital, no details
  39. 1998 9 9 Randolph Jamison Lee USA Aged 24, reported as a commercial diver having died on a boat offshore Louisiana. No details. Lexington Herald-Leader
  40. 1998 6 0 Rig 'Mr Bice' USA During a rig move encountered bad weather 15 miles southwest of Grand Isle, suffered structural failure and flooding which caused the capsize and eventual sinking of the rig. In 1998, Bisso began the salvage of the rig, attempting to right and re-float the rig. A sequence of hurricanes, beginning with Hurricane Earl in September 1998, disrupted operations and caused severe damage to rig with the hull buckling and shearing off from the port bow and jacking towers, and embedding the port side in the seabed mud. Due to the damage, attempts to salvage the rig intact were abandoned and the rig was cut into 9 sections then transported away by barge. Marine Link
  41. 1998 5 19 Blackmon Eugene USA Fire Brigade 9 SCUBA Aged 39, SAR diver with the fire department. Accident happened in the Little Calumet river undertaking a search for two victims, drowned. (A man described as being between 40 and 50 fell into the river, a man jumped in to give him aid, both drowned. The fire-fighter was trying to find the two victims). After an initial SCUBA search dive, due to zero visibility and the underwater current, the victim and his partner decided to change over to their underwater communication masks. Returned to the staging area, changed tanks and placed a 50 foot long, 4-inch round air float (rubber-jacketed fire hose) from shore to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter that had just arrived. The divers decided to remove their SCUBA gear and free float to the Coast Guard cutter using the 4-inch float as a guide and flotation device, determining this would be the easiest way to enter the boat since it did not have a swim platform. Wearing his weight belt, the victim began his free float to the boat, holding on to his Buoyancy Control Device (BCD), tank, and the 4-inch air float as flotation devices. The weight belt consisted of three 10-pound lead weights secured around his waist. As the victim was approaching the boat he lost grip of the flotation devices and instantly went under the water due to the 30-pound weight belt that he did not release. His partner immediately went down after him, free diving with just his wet suit which created a buoyancy problem and limited his dive depth. After two attempts to reach the victim, he surfaced and called for assistance from the Air and Sea Rescue divers. One diver from the Air and Sea Rescue team descended to the area where the victim went down and located him. As the victim was pulled close to the water surface, the victim’s partner grabbed him. The Air and Sea diver lost his grip on the victim while adjusting his own equipment, and because of the 30-pound weight belt around the victim’s waist, the victim’s partner was unable to hold on to him, and he descended for a second time. The victim was located and pulled from the water approximately 10 to 15 minutes later by the police rescue divers. The victim received immediate medical attention on shore before being loaded into the Air and Sea Rescue helicopter which transported him to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. Reported in the press and official records.
  42. 1998 4 16 Not Recorded USA Intercoastal Diving The diver died around 8 am while working at Duke Power's dam at lake Hickory. The divers were under contract to inspect the 70 year old dam. No details. Star News
  43. 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
  44. 1998 4 8 Wilkerson Tai USA Quicksilver International Inc 51 Rebreather Aged 41, treasure hunt dive on the wreck of the Spanish ship 'Juno' which sank 40 miles off the Virginia coast in 1802. Collapsed at depth, not breathing, sent to surface by fellow divers, heart attack.
  45. 1998 4 8 Wright Shannon Lee USA Aged 27, commercial sea cucumber harvesting operation off the fishing vessel 'Marlin' (based in Port Angeles) in the Strait of Juan de Fuca . Apparently got into difficulties as he surfaced from his third dive of the day. No details
  46. 1997 10 15 Smith Joseph Michael USA SCUBA Aged 34, professional sea urchin harvesting off Swan Island. Failed to surface, body recovered by other crew members. Initial investigation led to USCG issuing a warning to divers regarding contaminated air. This was later ruled out. No further details.
  47. 1997 9 12 Kielty Steve USA Magone Marine SCUBA In September 1997, a 47-year-old experienced commercial diver on an underwater pipeline construction project, who had made no dives during the previous 2-3 years used scuba gear while attaching a mooring line to a buoy anchor line. The equipment was not in good condition, and both the primary and alternate regulator were leaking and in need of repair. Shortly after he submerged, the tether line floated to the surface. After he was signaled without response, the team leader put on scuba gear, submerged, and found the diver on the sea floor with a weight belt on and both tether line and tank high-pressure hose severed. The diver was recovered, and CPR was unsuccessful. The investigation did not determine how the hose was severed, and the cause of death was listed as drowning. OSHA cited the employer for violations including inadequate training in using tools/equipment and in CPR, absence of a ready standby diver, diver not line tended, lack of a reserve tank, and rescue not conducted in a timely manner. NIOSH review of occupational diving fatalities in Alaska
  48. 1997 9 10 Mahady John J USA City Employee SCUBA Aged 39, Two Harbors City employee, described as an experienced diver, apparently had trouble as he was working to attach a buoy to mark equipment near a municipal water intake pipe just off shore in Lake Superior. Drowned. No details
  49. 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�
  50. 1997 9 0 Not Recorded USA Two Harbours, Minnesota, Lt in the Fire Department, died while conducting commercial diving work for the municipality, presumed heart attack
  51. 1997 7 4 Tuomey Garry USA Sports diver SCUBA Aged 42, sports diver, drowned after becoming incapacitated from breathing carbon monoxide. Compressor filter (carbon) had exploded at the SCUBA shop, the burning carbon had contaminated his air cylinder. The shop replaced the broken filter but did not drain the tanks. Explosion reported as due to 'spontaneous combustion ignited in part by pressurised oxygen' The medical examiner ruled the death accidental and investigations closed because no state laws were violated'. St Petersburg Times
  52. 1997 6 20 Not Recorded USA Fireman SCUBA A veteran firefighter died Friday following a routine scuba practice dive in Lake Michigan, fire officials said. [The diver], 46, a firefighter for 17 years and an experienced member of the Air-Sea Rescue Unit, was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital shortly before 5 p.m. according to fire department spokesman Patrick Howe. That was about an hour after [the diver] went out on a routine practice dive with [another team member] about 25 feet off Meigs Field, where the water temperature was 62 degrees. ``[The team member] noticed his partner was moving rapidly to the surface,'' said Howe. The member followed [the victim] to the surface, where the victim removed his mask. Other firefighters brought [him] to shore and administered CPR, Howe said. At that time, the victim did not have a pulse and was not breathing, Howe said. Paramedics were subsequently called and administered advanced life-saving techniques before transporting the victim to the hospital, Howe said. [The team member] also was admitted to the hospital as a procedural step and was listed in good condition. An investigation into the cause of [the diver’s] death was underway. ``We don't know if it was an equipment failure, or a heart problem, or what,'' Howe said, adding that the divers were wearing the proper equipment. ``We can't speculate right now.'' An autopsy will be conducted Saturday. Fire officials also said they would examine the scuba equipment being used by [the diver] for any potential malfunctions. [The diver] is survived by a wife and two daughters, ages 13 and 16. Chicago Tribune
  53. 1997 6 19 Not Recorded USA Police 18 SCUBA Quote:- “Two Milford police divers were injured, one critically, in a diving accident during routine training drills in Long Island Sound, authorities said. The officers, ages 34 and 41, apparently became entangled in debris around noon on Wednesday, said a police spokesman. One was submerged at least eight minutes and had no pulse when fellow divers pulled him from the water. He was in critical condition at Norwalk Hospital early this morning. The other officer freed himself, and surfaced to get help, but came up too quickly and suffered from decompression sickness, commonly called the bends. He was in serious condition early this morning also at Norwalk Hospital. Both divers were among eight officers performing routine training about two miles off the mouth of Milford harbor. Police said the divers were training in murky water about 60-feet deep. Visibility was less than a foot. ``This is the first mishap the dive team has ever experienced,'' the spokesman said. The team has been in action at least 25 years. Both men have been dive team members more than five years News Times regional News
  54. 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
  55. 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)
  56. 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)
  57. 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)
  58. 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)
  59. 1997 3 10 Helton Eric J USA Subaqueous Services 4 Aged 20, dredging a dock using a hand-held suction hose on the lighthouse Point Canal, Broward, trapped and buried under 12' sand and rock, body recovered 24 hours later using twin water jets, reported in the Miami Herald.
  60. 1997 0 0 Not Recorded USA During 1990-1997, nine persons in Alaska died in work-related diving incidents (four were investigated by OSHA, 3 separately reported, above, TC – July 1996, October 1996 and September 1997- only one had training beyond a recreational diving certificate, and three lacked any certification. Three were harvesting sea cucumbers, three were diving to clear tangled lines or nets from fishing boats, two were conducting vessel-related activities (i.e., hull inspection and anchor attachment), and one was a U.S. Navy diver undergoing training. Six divers were using scuba gear, and three were using surface-supplied air. Three deaths were attributed to equipment failure, two to entanglement in lines or nets, one to exhaustion of air supply, and three to unknown causes. None of the divers had an adequately prepared standby diver, the three divers using surface-supplied air and one scuba diver were line tended, one diver was accompanied, and one diver carried a reserve air supply
  61. 1997 0 0 Not Recorded USA S/S Air Florida, entrapped in soft mud, surface unable to recover diver, no st/by, possible one man crew. Probable DP incident, use of sports diver to perform commercial dive. Probable duplication/alternative report of 1995 Kevin Sass fatality
  62. 1997 0 0 Rig 'Ranger 4' USA Jack Up, sank after breakthrough/slide into crater
  63. 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
  64. 1996 10 0 Not Recorded USA 12 S/S Air In October 1996, a 32-year-old certified recreational diver with minimal experience was harvesting sea cucumbers using surface-supplied air in approximately 40 feet of water. After approximately 1 hour, the tender *** lost sight of the diver's air bubbles. The diver did not respond to a recall signal, and the tender pulled him to the surface. His air regulator was not in his mouth, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was unsuccessful. Inspection of the dive gear indicated it to be fully operational, with no obvious defects. The cause of death was drowning, but the specific cause of the incident was unknown. NIOSH review of occupational diving fatalities in Alaska
  65. 1996 7 0 Not Recorded USA 1 SCUBA In July 1996, a 24-year-old commercial fisherman with no diving certification used scuba gear while attempting to clear a fishing net wrapped around the propeller of a fishing vessel. He became entangled in the net and was unable to free himself. Other crew members were unable to assist because they had no diving gear. He was retrieved approximately 3 hours later, and no attempt was made to resuscitate him. The scuba tank still contained an adequate amount of air. The cause of death was drowning. NIOSH review of occupational diving fatalities in Alaska
  66. 1996 4 27 Binney John L USA SCUBA Aged 28, research assistant at the University of Oregon, hired by the US Army Corps of engineers to inspect a 130' deep shaft at the Hills Creek Reservoir dam. With partner Lavoy went to 90' in basket, Lavoy then went to 130' to inspect the bulkhead, returned to 90' basket and both ascended to 10' and then Lavoy climbed onto the wall to remove his gear. Binney's lifeline went slack and was pulled up, no diver. Lavoy got a fresh cylinder plus pare and went back into the water, down to 90'. After he had been there about 5 minutes, surface team reported that his bubbles suddenly got larger and then stopped. Basket recovered but Lavoy was dead. Binney's body was recovered from 130' by two SCUBA divers from Portland Commercial divers who completed the inspection work the following day. Double fatality.
  67. 1996 4 27 Lavoy Kenneth USA SCUBA Aged 22, owner of a SCUBA supply shop, hired by the US Army Corps of engineers to inspect a 130' deep shaft at the Hills Creek Reservoir dam. With partner Lavoy went to 90' in basket, Lavoy then went to 130' to inspect the bulkhead, returned to 90' basket and both ascended to 10' and then Lavoy climbed onto the wall to remove his gear. Binney's lifeline went slack and was pulled up, no diver. Lavoy got a fresh cylinder plus pare and went back into the water, down to 90'. After he had been there about 5 minutes, surface team reported that his bubbles suddenly got larger and then stopped. Basket recovered but Lavoy was dead. Binney's body was recovered from 130' by two SCUBA divers from Portland Commercial divers who completed the inspection work the following day. Double fatality.
  68. 1996 4 0 Rig 'Jalapa' USA Jack Up, sank in a storm (Structural failure)
  69. 1996 3 19 Fahey David M USA 27 SCUBA 31 year old professional scallop harvester, ran out of air trying to carry heavy bag up embankment from depth
  70. 1996 3 4 Pilkington Brian USA 9 S/S Air Contaminated air, drowned Data to add, TC
  71. 1996 2 10 Sawyer Jerry USA Professional fish farmer harvesting sea urchins off the vessel 'Wave Dancer'. Subsequent court case decided he was not an employee of the vessel owner so no liability. No details of the incident
  72. 1996 0 0 Zimmerman Frank USA Divetech? Romulus, Missouri, three man team on dam spillway, diver trapped in valve? Confusion, valve may have been operated on diver or umbilical, diver possibly crushed in valve
  73. 1995 2 14 Ayers Wendell USA Pacific Grove Marine Rescue One of a three man dive rescue team attempting to rescue two people from a 40' cabin cruiser that had run aground on rocks 100 yards from shore. The boat rolled trapping him against the rocks. In this case they swam to the boat so not strictly a diving incident but included in the list as this was a professional diver at work as part of a rescue group. Reported in the San Jose Mercury News
  74. 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.
  75. 1994 12 9 Robinson James USA Aged 42, commercial sea urchin harvesting vessel off San Miguel Island, at the end of a dive as he was leaving the water, attacked by a shark, major leg injuries, died in hospital. Los Angeles Times
  76. 1994 12 1 Rig 'Rowan Odessa' USA Jack Up, Leg hit a pipe (line?), damaged but repaired, 1 fatality. The rig was later reportedmissing, presumed sunk, by hurricane Rita in September 2005
  77. 1994 9 26 Not Recorded USA Caldive 91 Saturation High Island, Block 0376, G02754, Andarko. "A Cal Dive International diver injured his right hand when he opened a valve to flood a pipeline, and his hand was sucked to the valve due to the differential pressure. He was hung up for approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes. The nature of his injury was a cut nerve on his right index linger. To prevent a recurrence, a diffuser should be installed before operating. OCS Incidents database 1991 to 1994, page 73
  78. 1994 3 23 Sirry Tarek USA Bay Diving Company SCUBA Aged 35, owner/operator of his own diving company, salvage dive off Poole Island in the mouth of the Sassafras River, Chesapeake bay. 20-25 minute dive, reported as drowned 'when he accidentally let his SCUBA tank run low on air and passed out' according to the USCG investigation. Reported by HometownAnnapolis.com
  79. 1994 2 20 Copeland Dave USA 87 Went crazy, took his hat off, stand-by unable to control him
  80. 1994 2 4 Stapp John Quinton USA 2 SCUBA Aged 38, surveying the Hunter's Point Marina on Lake Travis near Cat Hollow to plan repairs to its dock, diving solo, no team. No details
  81. 1994 2 2 Dean PO Second Class Carter M USA Aged 26, from Knoxville, Tennessee, navy diver (gunners mate with SEAL Delivery Team Two) assigned to a special operations unit at the Little creek Naval Amphubious Base, afternoon training exercise in Little Creek Harbour, reported as losing consciousness underwater, was pulled from the water and transported to the diver recompression unit at Mobile Diving Salvage Unit Two, but died. No other details. Daily Press.
  82. 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
  83. 1993 11 3 Maxwell David USA SCUBA Aged 25, off Maine, less than two weeks diving experience, trying to untangle catch bag alongside rocks, caught in surf, found 20 minutes later, drowned, boat owner cited for violations of commercial diving standards
  84. 1993 9 7 Rice Matthew USA 9 SCUBA Aged 24, off Maine, sports diver and student gathering sea urchins, first salt water dive, tender lost sight of bubbles, found on seabed 20 minutes later, drowned, boat owner cited for violations of commercial diving standards.
  85. 1993 8 21 Not Recorded USA SCUBA Aged 21, off Maine, commercial diver/fisherman repairing vessel, skiff drifted away, diver drowned after attempting to swim after drifting boat
  86. 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.
  87. 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
  88. 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.
  89. 1993 2 12 Herpin Jude USA AOD 42 South Timbalier, Block 0152, 00464, Structure E, Chevron, "Cutting a window in the 10 ¾ inch casing. The surface personnel heard an explosion on the diver’s monitor. A standby diver went into the water immediately and when he reached the other diver he found him unconscious and his helmet off. The injured diver later died in the decompression chamber of cardiac arrest" OCS Incident database 1991-1994m page 65
  90. 1993 1 23 Vognetz David A. USA SCUBA (Surname was Vognetz, not Bognetz, incorrectly reported in early articles). Aged 39, described as an experienced diver, Unami Creek at the Delmont Boy Scout Camp in Marlborough township. "Attempt to rescue diver fails Phoenixville man". The victim and two other men were at the dam attempting to drain water through the pipe to lower the overall water level of the dam and may also have intended to clear the pipe of debris. With a rope tied to him, he descended into the pipe. His co-workers soon realized he was in trouble, Buza said, and called in rescue personnel. Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, rescue workers tried to stop the tremendous flow of water through the pipe, without much success. The danger of the strong current prevented any rescue divers from venturing into the pipe. When a plug could not be found to fit over the mouth of the pipe, rescue personnel tried a different idea. His body was finally retrieved from the pipe at 7:20 p.m. after rescue workers built a temporary dam to divert water around the pipe. After diverting the dam water, rescue personnel were able to retrieve the body with the tripod winch. The Morning Call
  91. 1992 12 31 Schumacher Arthur E USA SCUBA Aged 46, assistant chief in charge of rescue with with the Liverpool township fire department, searching for victims of a car crash in Plum creek, trapped in a culvert, drowned. Akron Beacon Journal.
  92. 1992 12 0 Truffant David USA SCUBA Aged 28, Harvesting Sea urchins in Casco bay,reported as his first commercial dive, swam to the surface without exhaling properly, a carpenter by trade with no diving training. The Sun Journal
  93. 1992 8 17 Not Recorded USA 3 Cleaning barnacles from the hull of the yacht 'Wutnext', natural causes, heart attack. No details. Reported in the South Florida Sun Sentinel
  94. 1992 8 7 Rig 'Marlin 3' USA Rig Disaster Jack Up, Hurricane damage
  95. 1992 7 6 Not Recorded USA 56 EI 273, "Preparing platform for drilling rig, under investigation by USCG"
  96. 1992 6 0 Howard Kenneth W USA SCUBA Aged 34, professional tropical fish 'catching' for the aquarium trade. No details
  97. 1992 4 17 Navarro Terry USA ProDiver, Ottawa 15 S/S Air Aged 37, Lasalle, Illinois, Commonwealth Edison nuclear Power plant, contracted in to seal a valve. To reach the repair had to descend 60', penetrate laterally 20' and then ascend 20' to reach the valve. He finished the work but then appeared to be in distress. They tried to pull him out but the line snagged. Supervisor went in and pulled him out but he died in hospital the following day. Was diving a Desco with what appears to be an inadequate air supply resulting in high CO2 and asphyxia. Three man team, supv, diver, tender. Court proceedings in 1995 concluded faulty (low) air supply/high CO2 and upheld OSHA citations.
  98. 1992 3 31 Not Recorded USA SCUBA "Baltimore fire officials recovered the body of a diver who apparently got into trouble (failed to surface) while working on the hull of a vessel at Berth 5 of the Dundalk Marine Terminal". The diver may have had a safety line, unclear whether he was trapped under the vessel or injured underwater, on site treatment was carried out, but he failed to respond to treatment. No other details. Reported in the Baltimore Sun
  99. 1992 0 0 Not Recorded USA SCUBA Two reported deaths off Maine during professional sea urchin harvesting
  100. 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
  101. 1991 12 17 Leager Christopher USA 5 S/S Air Aged 23, working an oyster bed in Chesapeake bay, one and a half miles off Kent Point, pronounced dead at the Anne Arundel Medical Centre. No details. The Washington Post
  102. 1991 12 6 Not Recorded USA SM 0565, P0450, Hildago, Chevron. "While waterblasting sea growth from platform legs, a diver inadvertently passed the waterblaster across his right fool causing a deep laceration. The diver was medivaced to Goleta Valley hospital". OCS Incidents database 1991 to 1994, page 96
  103. 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.
  104. 1991 6 11 Hansen Kenneth USA Surface Swimmer Police diver aged 26, drowned during a rescue exercise in New York Harour, not wearing lifejacket or strobe, Officer in command charged with "Failure to supervise", speculation that he was told not to wear a lifevest to make it more realistic exercise staged for visiting German TV crew. NY Times
  105. 1991 5 18 Worthington Chris USA Aged 22, Killed while preforming a wheel job when the engines were started and engaged. Body recovered
  106. 1991 3 24 Sugrue Jim USA AOD 76 DSV 'American Eagle' U/W explosion, face plate blown in, drowned. “Chasing Hangers after doing an inside burn-off. Paraphrased from reports:- “Chasing hangers after doing an inside burn off below the mud line, almost at the end of his bottom time (gas dive), Said 'One more burn and then I'm getting off bottom'. Topside heard a loud bang, then incoherent speech. His standby diver reached him very quickly (overshot his gas because he wouldn't stop for the switch in order to get to the diver faster) but when he reached him, the faceplate was gone and the diver was unresponsive. He was recovered to the chamber and treated but never regained consciousness. The incident led to a brief and informal moratorium on inside burn offs at AOD but they quickly resumed them when they started to lose work to other companies who did not follow suit. The final verdict the divers all heard was 'improper equipment usage' (as opposed to equipment failure) since Jim's hat (SL 17B) was old and beat up. This incident was a major factor in the introduction of the 'T' type faceplate screw anchors�.
  107. 1991 3 13 Wallace Timothy USA 8 SCUBA Aged 27, from Winter Harbour, one of 4 men onboard the scalloper 'Yellow Bird' trying to raise another scallop dragger that had sunk at its moorings in Gouldsboro bay the day before. Reported as diving alone, surfaced, told his companions - which included his father - that he had found the boat and asked for a marker buoy which was thrown to him. He didn't catch it but disappeared below water at around 09:00 and did not resurface. Reported in the Sun Journal.
  108. 1991 0 0 Howard Kenneth W USA SCUBA Aged 34, drowned whilst collecting specimen fish for aquaria. Unlicensed diver, led to calls for the trade to be regulated. Los Angeles Times
  109. 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
  110. 1990 12 6 Gunhus Ted USA USN 20 Aged 37, Reserve officer with the Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Naval Reserve Mobile Diving Salvage Unit One Detachment 522 (NRMDSU-1DET 522) attempting to salvage flying boat PBM-5 (sank in 1949) from lake Washington. Described 'a weekend training exercise'. Seattle Times
  111. 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.
  112. 1990 11 1 Miles Carl USA Undersea Systems Inc Aged 34, one of a three man team conducting 'routine maintenance' on the screens at the New Johnsonville power plant (Part of the Tennessee Valley power Authority) near Waverly. They drained the water intake tunnel to recover the body. No details but inference is compromised screen, SCUBA, no lifeline, pumps running, sucked in)
  113. 1990 10 4 Parks Michael USA SCUBA From Baltimore, surveying extent of zebra mussels in a 130' long pipe at the Monroe County Water Authority pumping station on Lake Ontario. Body was pulled out some two hours after he lost contact with the surface. "He got trapped and we couldn't get him out". No other details. The Evening News
  114. 1990 8 31 Mortimer Michael USA SCUBA Aged 31, Lake Worth fire fighter, recreational dive for lobster off Juno Beach in the notorious 'mini-season'. Died due to air in this cylinder being contaminated carbon monoxide. Reported in the Miami Herald. Later, it was reported in the Sun Sentinel that “Attorney Tracy R. Sharpe, who represents the victim's widow, said he thought the carbon monoxide got into the tank when [Michael R. Mortimer] filled it with oxygen from a larger oxygen tank that National Weldco of Miami had delivered to his home� (Doubtful it was oxygen for a sports lobster dive, probably decanting air, but still no explanation of where the CO came from, TC)
  115. 1990 5 30 Rig 'Keyes Marine 303' USA Jack Up, Blow out
  116. 1990 4 18 Buckley Todd USA Puget Watermen 18 S/S Air 22 year old student at Evergreen state College, taking a gap period between semesters to earn money, had been working for 2 months on a commercial operation harvesting Sea Urchins (“Geoducks�) using surface supplied gear from a 30' fishing vessel out of Olympia. Bubbles stopped, pulled to surface not breathing, weight belt and harvesting line wrapped round airline. Flown to medical centre, transferred to hospital, died. Reported as respiratory arrest, hypothermia and decompression syndrome. Spokane Chronicle
  117. 1990 0 0 Hiersche Jerome L USA Employed to inspect/clean submerged fish screens on the hydroelectric intakes on the John Day dam, Oregon, head sucked into an orifice, court case in January 1991, no details
  118. 1990 0 0 Thomlinson Goeorge USA SCUBA Ex Seal, professional urchin diver, died of an embolism after an ascent in rough water near Depoe Bay. Reported as the only fatality in that industry in Oregon that year. Eugene Register-Guard
  119. 1989 12 0 Not Recorded USA Police SCUBA A 28-year-old member of a fire department dive team lost his life in a lake in Oklahoma in December of 1989. The dive team was conducting a search for the victim of a parasailing accident that had occurred the previous October. While attempting to recover the equipment and the body of the accident victim this diver became thoroughly ensnared in the parachute’s lines
  120. 1989 11 30 Not Recorded USA US Armry Corps A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers diver installing a boom to catch ice in the St. Marys River died when he lost his safety line
  121. 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
  122. 1989 8 11 Carter Mike USA 4 SCUBA Aged 34, described as an experienced diver, drowned whilst replacing a pond drainage system on a farm three miles north of the town of Marion, 'not entangled or trapped, plenty of air in his tank. Investigators stated that “He might have been tired from work done on the previous day and plan no autopsy or further investigations�
  123. 1989 7 27 Not Recorded USA Russian Navy SCUBA Joint USA/Russian military subsea photographic expedition sponsored by tha National Geographic Society onboard the Soviet vessel 'Keldysh'. Used two Mir submersibles to set bait boxes to attract sharks, but during the expedition a Soviet diver failed to surface. Unclear if his body was ever recovered. No details
  124. 1989 7 12 Barnes Roger USA Louisville Water Company 5 Aged 32, Sludge clearing at the Crescent Hill Filter Plant, disappeared, sucked into a 24" pipe (Not wearing lifelines because both he and his dive partner decide not to use safety lines in case they got entangled on equipment in the basin), body recovered an hour later. Had bbeen working for the water company as a diver for 10 years but had no commercial qualifications. Reported in the Daily News
  125. 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.
  126. 1989 4 0 Rig 'Five Sisters' USA Jack Up, sank in a storm
  127. 1989 2 16 Hand Larry USA 12 SCUBA Aged 34, novice sponge diver out of Tampa, recovered from the seabed by a diver from another sponge boat, inference is diving solo from a small boat with one none diving surface crew. Tangled in buoy line, mask flooded, dead on recovery. Third diver to die sponge diving out of Tampa in the last 5 weeks (Russell McIlrath and Scott Gassner) Petersburg Times
  128. 1989 2 14 McIlrath Russell USA SCUBA BAYPORT - A commercial sponge diver died in 40 feet of water off the Hernando County coast Tuesday. U.S. Coast Guard Command Duty Officer Keith Scally said Russell McIlrath, 33, of Parsons, Tenn., died while harvesting sponges from the commercial boat Dream Diver, out of Hudson in Pasco County. Scally said McIlrath was working in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles west of Bayport when the accident occurred about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. McIlrath was taken by helicopter to Shands University Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, where he was pronounced dead at 2:51 p.m., according to Shands spokesman Ralph Ives. The fatality was the second sponge-diving death on the North Suncoast this year; on Jan. 15, St. Petersburg sponge diver Scott Gassner died while diving in 40 feet of water off the Citrus County coast. St Petersburg times
  129. 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
  130. 1989 1 15 Gassner Scott USA 12 SCUBA Aged 20, diving from the 'Char Lo II' out of Cortez, Had joined the vessel one month earlier (Temporary job, he wanted to join the police force). Had been in the water about an hour, signalled the surface to pull up his catch, apparently stopped breathing. Pulled up unconscious, failed to respond to treatment, reported as 'accidental drowning' but no explanation. Not clear whether it was a three or four man crew, but two divers were in the water simultaneously. St Petersburg Times
  131. 1989 1 11 Harjula Albert O. USA 17 S/S Air Aged 29, working on the 80 foot high Wilderness Dam (Owned by Great Northern Paper), got trapped by water pressure at a leak point on the dam face. Rescue diver (Daniel Sullivan), also got trapped at the same location. Both were pulled out using winches after a second rescue diver, Brian Michaud, managed to attached pulling ropes to their harnesses 11 hours after the initial incident, but he was pronounced dead on arrival in hospital Double fatality (Daniel Sullivan). Michaud was hospitalised but OK. Spokane Chronicle
  132. 1989 1 11 Sullivan Daniel USA 17 S/S Air Aged 30, State department of inland fisheries and wildlife. A diver working on the 80 foot high Wilderness Dam (Owned by Great Northern Paper), got trapped underwater by pressure at a leak point on the dam face. Sullivan got trapped at the same location about an hour later during a rescue attempt. Both were pulled out using winches after a second rescue diver, Brian Michaud, managed to attached pulling ropes to their harnesses 11 hours after the initial incident, but he died three hours after arriving at hospital Double fatality (Albert Harjula). Michaud was hospitalised but OK. Spokane Chronicle
  133. 1989 1 8 Rig "Teledyne Movible 16' USA Jack Up, blow out, total loss
  134. 1988 11 0 McCasland Martin USA Aged 41, retrieving Oxygen bottles that had rolled off the deck of a vessel in Dutch Harbour. Dry suit malfunction, rapid ascent. Family awarded $1.73 million on the grounds that the dry suit inflation valve malfunction was partly to blame for his death. No details
  135. 1988 7 13 Hastings Robbie USA SCUBA Sports diver aged 30, died after being stung by a Jellyfish (Portuguese man-of-war). Charlotte Observer
  136. 1988 6 0 Decker Keith USA Need-A-Diver 3 Aged 23, IMC Fertiliser Inc Clear Springs Phoshate Mine, pond lock gate ajar, 10� gap, diver sent in to take photos but loose lifeline, no grill, his lines were pulled through the gap, pulling him through also. His body was recovered two days later by police divers 461' feet up the 1,000' tunnel.. Equipped with lifeline and communications, quote:- 'Before he was sucked in, he was able to tell workers that 'something had caught him by the leg and was pulling him in�. St Petersburg Times.
  137. 1988 2 22 Rig 'Keyes Marine 302' USA Jack Up, Punch through, legs bent/collaopsed, total loss.
  138. 1987 10 20 Rig 'Bigfoot 2' USA Jack Up, Punch through (2 legs)
  139. 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
  140. 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.
  141. 1987 4 10 Sherman Paul USA Ocean Survey 18 SCUBA Aged 40, Working one and a half miles outside Hampton Harbour at the Seabrook nuclear power plant discharge vent, trying to re-attach a buoy, reported as surfacing quickly from 60 feet to the surface and signalling to the dive boat that he was in distress. They threw him a life ring 'but he missed it and sank from sight for more than an hour." "When he was brought to the surface, he suffered cardiac arrest". CPR was initiated and he was transferred to Wentworth Douglass Hospital in Dover where he was confirmed dead at 16:10 from hypothermic arrest and drowning. The hospital spokesperson said that "Basically he was so cold he had a heart attack". Water temperature at the time was reported as 41 degrees F. The Lewiston Daily Sun
  142. 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
  143. 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.
  144. 1987 0 0 Not Recorded USA 650 Law suit against General Dynamics reported in the Los Angeles Times “Thirteen professional divers filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the San Diego Unified Port “Two of the plaintiffs-one of whom died of his affliction April� Headlined as “Divers' Suit Claims PCBs in bay made them ill�, PCBs can be found, however, in old transformers, capacitors and other equipment still in use at Teledyne Ryan's plant on Harbor Drive near Lindbergh Field. A General Dynamics spokesman said PCBs are no longer used at the company's bayside facility. Officials with General Dynamics and the Port District declined to comment on the divers' charges because they had not yet seen a copy of the lawsuit. But Conward Williams, general counsel for Teledyne Ryan, said his company "is not aware of any scientific evidence that establishes that the very low levels of PCBs detected in Convair Lagoon would cause any form of human cancer." Lower levels of PCBs were found in a storm drain sump used by General Dynamics. The board staff is now conducting inspections at General Dynamics and a half-dozen other companies near Convair Lagoon in order to further pinpoint the source of the chemicals, said the supervising engineer for the agency. (No other details and the fatality is not included in the fatality count as we do not know the outcome of the case TC)
  145. 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
  146. 1986 7 31 Cibulski Joel USA Aged 30, working off the fishing vessel 'Rigorous' anchored off Baker Island (off the West Coast of Prince of Wales Island) according to Alaska state troopers, trying to free another trawler's propeller. Apparently got entangled in the net and cut his own air line, pulled from the water unconscious, declared dead on arrival at Ketchichan Hospital. Anchorage Daily News.
  147. 1986 7 20 Baldi Timothy H USA Aged 27, with one other diver, had been employed by the skipper of the 350 foot long Spanish bulk cement carrier 'Encofrador' moored off Richmond to inspect the hull after they ran over a buoy. Killed by the turning propeller USCG reported they 'had recovered 'parts of the body'. No other details. Reported in the San Jose Mercury News.
  148. 1986 6 16 Hill Billy Ray USA Valley liners and Equipment 12 S/S Air Aged 29, from Tulsa, Okla, died in an explosion during a ship salvage operation. Mississippi River, sunken corn barge, cutting plate with oxy/acetylene, Coastguard quote “possibly a pocket of methane given off by the fermenting corn�. After explosion was found inside the wreck with downline still secured to barge. Possibly drowned when mask separated from helmet.
  149. 1986 4 14 Space Shuttle Challenger USA Stena Stena Workhorse recovered critical pieces of the space shuttle “Challenger� from seabed at 560'
  150. 1986 2 3 D'Amato John USA Volunteer police team SCUBA Aged 37, civilian volunteer with the police SAR team, died whilst searching for a 6 year old boy (who was declared dead in hospital 2 hours after being found - he had been under the ice for two hours) who had fallen through the ice on the Ipswich River. The diver was missing for an hour before his absence was noted by the team. Reported in the Boston Globe.
  151. 1986 1 10 Boyle Timothy W USA DiveTech SCUBA Crystal River nuclear power plant run by the Florida Power Corporation, his team mate, Scott Wiker, was sucked 600' up inlet to grid, Boyle died trying to rescue him with the pumps still running at 28.000 gallons per minute. Drowned. Double fatality. OSHA cited the contractor with six violations and 'they were fined nearly $5,000'. Florida Power officials admitted the divers were not warned that the pumps were operating but were not cited because they were not involved in the dive. OSHA stated that had the divers equipment met federal standards they would not have been sucked through the underwater pipe “Should have been attached to lifelines, received their air from the surface rather than SCUBA tanks and been attached to a voice communications line� Also cited for failure to have a standby diver, failure to wear inflatable buoyancy, no person in charge at site, safe practices manual not including a copy of OSHAs diving requirements and no plan to recover an injured diver from the water. Reported in the Gainesville Sun<br />OSHA Report:- Accident: 14346597 -- Report ID: 0420600 -- Event Date: 01/10/1986. TWO COMMERCIAL DIVERS WERE KILLED WHEN THEY WERE DRAWN INTO AN INTAKE PIPE WHICH CARRIED COOLING WATER TO A NUCLEAR REACTOR IN AN ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT. THE PUMPING SYSTEM HAD BEEN MISTAKENLY LEFT RUNNING WHILE THE DIVERS WERE ENGAGED IN CLEANING AND INSPECTING ACTIVIES. DESPITE THE POOR VISIBILITY AND THE RESTRICTED CONFIGURATION OF THE WORK AREA, THE DIVERS WERE USING SCUBA GEAR WITH NO SURFACE LINE TENDING. SINCE ACCESS INTO THE DIVE AREA WAS THROUGH A MANHOLE, NO ONE TOPSIDE COULD MONITOR THE LOCATION OF THE INWATER DIVER. WHEN THE FIRST DIVER FAILED TO REAPPEAR IN A TIMELY FASHION, THE SECOND DIVER ENTERED THE WATER TO BEGIN A SEARCH FOR HIM. THE RESCUE DIVER ALSO BECAME TRAPPED IN THE MECHANICALLY INDUCED CURRENTS. ONLY AFTER THE PUMPS WERE SHUT DOWN WERE THE BODIES RECOVERED
  152. 1986 1 10 Wiker Scott W USA DiveTech SCUBA Aged 26, cleaning inlets of Crystal River nuclear power plant run by the Florida Power Corporation, cleaning filters on the cooling water inlets, pumps running at 28,000 gallons per minute sucked him 600' up inlet to grid, drowned. His team mate, Timothy Boyle, drowned trying to rescue him with the pumps still running. Double fatality. OSHA cited the contractor with six violations and 'they were fined nearly $5,000'. Florida Power officials admitted the divers were not warned that the pumps were operating but were not cited because they were not involved in the dive. OSHA stated that had the divers equipment met federal standards they would not have been sucked through the underwater pipe “Should have been attached to lifelines, received their air from the surface rather than SCUBA tanks and been attached to a voice communications line� Also cited for failure to have a standby diver, failure to wear inflatable buoyancy, no person in charge at site, safe practices manual not including a copy of OSHAs diving requirements and no plan to recover an injured diver from the water. Reported in the Gainesville Sun<br />OSHA Report:- Accident: 14346597 -- Report ID: 0420600 -- Event Date: 01/10/1986. TWO COMMERCIAL DIVERS WERE KILLED WHEN THEY WERE DRAWN INTO AN INTAKE PIPE WHICH CARRIED COOLING WATER TO A NUCLEAR REACTOR IN AN ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT. THE PUMPING SYSTEM HAD BEEN MISTAKENLY LEFT RUNNING WHILE THE DIVERS WERE ENGAGED IN CLEANING AND INSPECTING ACTIVIES. DESPITE THE POOR VISIBILITY AND THE RESTRICTED CONFIGURATION OF THE WORK AREA, THE DIVERS WERE USING SCUBA GEAR WITH NO SURFACE LINE TENDING. SINCE ACCESS INTO THE DIVE AREA WAS THROUGH A MANHOLE, NO ONE TOPSIDE COULD MONITOR THE LOCATION OF THE INWATER DIVER. WHEN THE FIRST DIVER FAILED TO REAPPEAR IN A TIMELY FASHION, THE SECOND DIVER ENTERED THE WATER TO BEGIN A SEARCH FOR HIM. THE RESCUE DIVER ALSO BECAME TRAPPED IN THE MECHANICALLY INDUCED CURRENTS. ONLY AFTER THE PUMPS WERE SHUT DOWN WERE THE BODIES RECOVERED
  153. 1985 11 17 Rao Mathew J USA Caldwell Diving Company 6 S/S Air Removing silt from a dockside water when his air supply was accidentally cut off, 'His air hose got sucked into the intake of the ejection pump, cutting off his air supply,'' NY Times
  154. 1985 10 28 Rig 'Penrod 61' USA Jack Up, sank during hurricane Juan. Reported to have killed one person.
  155. 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.
  156. 1985 9 11 Not Recorded USA Vermilion, Block 331, OCS-G 2572, Platform A, Marathon. "A diver was securing a buoy to a subsea template. His hand was entangled in a rope that went around the cable. As the boat surged, his hand was pulled through a snatch block cutting off the last joint of his finger". OCS Incidents 1956-1990, page 272
  157. 1985 6 14 Not Recorded USA South Marsh, Block 41, OCS0G 1192, Platform A, Chevron. "A diver was installing a caisson centraliser when his thumb was caught and severed between the conductor and centraliser". OCS Incidents 1956-1990, page 270
  158. 1985 5 22 Tonkawa USA Temple Drilling 6 Drill rig with crew of 22, under tow overturned in 19' of water, divers cut two men out of the upturned hull 5 hours later, 6 fatalities. Los Angeles Times
  159. 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.
  160. 1985 3 26 Workman Jim USA 9 S/S Air American, aged 29, umbilical cut by passing boat propeller, drowned
  161. 1985 1 15 Belleque Arthur A “Jerry� USA SCUBA Commercial fishing operation in the Columbia river, diving to remove snags from the river bed using a drag net and two boats. Pulled from the river alive but died in hospital. Sheriff stated it was possible he had died of natural causes, but an autopsy was planned. No further details
  162. 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.
  163. 1984 12 12 Not Recorded USA 20 S/S Air NO 03-07, Block 631, OCS-Y 0511, Sedco 708, Well No 1, Atlantic Richfield. "The diver left surface at 11:55 hours to work on an anchor at 65 feet. At approximately 12:35 hours, a garbled message came over the diving phone. The crew could not get an understandable response from the diver. He was observed at the surface trying to climb the ladder to the landing. He fell back into the water. One man climbed down the ladder and another jumped into the water to help. The diver lost consciousness and the two men got him to the landing. He was not breathing and had no pulse. CPR was started and he was moved to the DDC. CPR was continued until the doctor arrived at 18:28 hours and pronounced the victim dead. Cause of death was subsequently determined to be air embolism. OCS incidents database 1956 to 1990, page 306
  164. 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
  165. 1984 9 14 Rig 'Zapata Lexington' USA Jack Up, blow out and fire, 4 fatalites
  166. 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
  167. 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.
  168. 1983 7 20 Rig 'Penrod 52' USA Jack Up, blow out, collapsed.
  169. 1983 5 6 Schumacher Edward USA 24 S/S Air Aged 26, one of a 7 man diving team working off a barge over a newly laid section of the tunnel of the third Elizabeth River tunnel between Norfolk and Portsmouth, became entangled underwater at arounf 16:25. Recovered by stand-by divers, transferred to a decompression chamber at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base in Norfolk but died of 'heart failure' just afyer 19:00 hours. The Free Lance-Star
  170. 1983 4 29 Underhill Ernest USA Police SCUBA Aged 32, Sheriff's Deputy, off duty, Little Muskegon dam, helping village employees replace metal plates/grills over openings in the dam wall but got sucked head first into a 4' wide. 8� high opening. Rescuers tried for 5 hours to pull him out, while his wife watched, eventually breaking his surface line, His legs and feet were visible, but the water pressure kept him trapped. 'He was just helping out'.
  171. 1982 10 27 Clark R. Kelly USA Crom Corporation SCUBA Aged 34, working in a 3 million gallon municipal water tank, looking for a leak, sucked into a pipe at the bottom of the tank, body recovered an hour later. The pipe acted as both inlet and outlest into the tank (balance pipe). "The president of the company said the divers had been in the tank 'for some time' and he had felt water coming into the tank. He said no one knows why water suddenly started flowing out". Gainsville Sun.
  172. 1982 6 25 McCarty Michael USA 14 SCUBA "Navy SCUBA diver died Friday afternoon 45 feet under the waters of Long Beach Harbour under the World War II Battleship 'New …. ?" Reported as a 'valve malfunction'. Los Angeles Times
  173. 1982 6 17 Not Recorded USA S/S Air A commercial deep sea diver died after his air hose became wrapped around his neck while diving near San Clemente Island. Los Angeles Times
  174. 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
  175. 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.
  176. 1982 0 0 Andersom, USN SI Martin USA USN Died in a diving accident related to recovering a torpedo
  177. 1982 0 0 Gunderson USA SCUBA Paraphrased from press reports from 19/9/2009- “Jerry Gunderson, aged 75, started diving for golf balls in 1953, when he was 19. His passion for diving for golf balls led to the founding of a chain of seven golf-supply stores, was found dead in the centre of the lake at the Deer Creek Country Club in Deerfield Beach on Saturday. Drowned. One of his sons died while diving for golf balls in a lake 27 years ago. "I lost my brother to the water, too," said Jerry Gunderson's other son, Marc, 53 who used to dive for golf balls himself. Jerry Gunderson started retrieving, collecting and reselling golf balls soon after his first dive as a teenager. At first, it was the simple act of fishing out the golf balls in a Lake Worth course in the 1950s, washing them, and reselling them. But he went on to build a Deerfield Beach-based chain of golf-supply stores called International Golf. He sold the business a few years ago and worked as a freelance diver for smaller companies.
  178. 1981 12 26 Marmion Mathew USA Aged 20, Long Beach harbour, drowned after getting trapped in an underwater intake of the tanker 'Arco Alaska'. Reported in the Los Angeles times, Telegraph Herald
  179. 1981 5 16 Not Recorded USA S/S Air West Delta, Block 31, OCS 0016, Platform H, Exxon. "A contract diver was oxy arc cutting well conductors in approximately 45 feet of water when an explosion of unknown origin occurred. A back up diver was sent down. The diver was found unconscious and tangled in his hose with his diver hat and harness off. He was brought to the surface unconscious. 1 fatality. OCS Incidents data 1956-1990, page 250.
  180. 1981 2 8 Collins Robert Lee USA Topsides Aged 38, professional diver, died 6 hours after a bomb blew his pick up truck apart in New Orleans - nasty limb loss injuries - . Reports alleged of drug dealing connections, but no details
  181. 1981 0 0 Duke Medical Centre USA 686 Chamber dive to 2,250' at the Duke Medical Centre
  182. 1980 12 2 Franklin John Henry USA Power Plant Maintenance Inc SCUBA Aged 35, diving at the South Carolina Electric and Gas Company power dam on the Savannah River, just upstream of Augusta, clearing obsrructions from the dam's intake grate, found dead inside the power plant the following day. He had been sucked into the turbine - Two had been shut off, he was sucked into the third (live) intake. 6 violations (4 serious, 1 wilful). No lifeline, no in-water diver to maintain visual contact, no safety manual, no person in charge, no stand-by diver, no emergency procedures/equipment. The Albany Herald
  183. 1980 10 22 Rig 'Dan Prince' USA Jack Up, sank during rig move/towing (caught in a storm).
  184. 1980 9 18 Not Recorded USA A diver testing effects of cooling water discharge from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) on marine life died Wednesday while collecting samples. No details. Los Angeles Times
  185. 1980 8 9 Rig 'Dixilyn Field 81' USA Jack Up, Sunk on location by hurricane 'Allen'
  186. 1980 6 14 Not Recorded USA 27 S/S Air NP 311, Block 197, Cost Well MODU 'Dan Prince', Well No 1, Arco. "The MV 'Ranger' was engaged in sand bagging operations at the drilling rig 'Dan Prince'. The diver went into the water at 18:00 hours to set sandbags around the legs of the drilling rig on the bottom at 88 feet. He came up at 18:43 and passed out after breaking the surface. The diver was brought up on deck where members of the dive crew removed his gear and immediately began CPR treatment. The medic from the 'Dan Prince' came onboard at 18:56. The medic and casualty were put in the DDC at 19:03 hours. A doctor and his assistants entered the chamber at 20:11 hours and remained until the victim was pronounced dead at 20:32 hours. Cause of death was subsequently determined to be decompression sickness. OCS Incidents database 1956 to 1990, page 305
  187. 1980 2 5 Rig 'Workhorse IX' USA Nabors Jack Up, sank during towing. Salvaged and returned to service
  188. 1980 2 0 Rig 'Topper I' USA Crestwave Jack Up, valve failure, flooded and sank
  189. 1979 5 10 Rig 'Ranger1' USA Mitchell Energy 3 leg Jack Up built 1968 drilling block 189L. Between 1500 and 1800 hours in the afternoon experienced a violent shudder, with personnel reporting it as a violent shaking or a vertical fall of up to 30cm. Up to an hour was spent trying to locate the cause of the movement without success. Work aboard the rig then continued, including the offloading of supplies from the Delta Seahorse supply boat. At about 2230, prior to a shift change, the Ranger I collapsed into the sea. The stern leg, below the accommodation block, broke near the connection to the support mat causing the upper hull to fall stern-first and strike the Delta Seahorse. The bow legs supported the upper hull for a short time, then collapsed, allowing the upper hull to fall to the sea. The upper hull then separated from the legs, drifted to the west and sank over the course of the following day. Prior to the initial collapse, most of the crew were in the living quarters, with 13 men in the galley. The survivors reported experiencing a rapid fall followed by sudden jolt as the upper hull struck the water. The lower floor of the accommodation unit flooded instantly to a depth of 2-3 feet. The men escaped either through the galley's port door or through galley windows taking seat cushions or life jackets for floatation. Three patterns developed: one group gathered at the helideck; a second group swam to the Delta Seahorse whilst a third jumped overboard to get away from the upper hull before it sank. The Delta Seahorse, alongside the Ranger I, signaled a MAYDAY and picked up four crew from the water, going on to co-ordinate further rescue operations. The Miss Angela, busy towing another rig at the time of the collapse, was also dispatched to aid the rescue and picked up a further 14 men. Coast Guard helicopters recovered another four men from the water. Eight men lost their lives in the accident, with many of the survivors suffering serious injuries. The remains of the rig were later salvaged and examined by the U.S. Coast Guard. The investigating board concluded that the Ranger I had collapsed as a result of an existing fatigue crack in the stern leg, near the connection to the mat. At around 1700 hours on 10 May 1979, the crack had rapidly propagated around the leg, causing the leg to break and the rig to shudder. Over the following hours, a combination of dynamic and static loading dislodged the broken leg and caused the rig to collapse.
  190. 1979 5 6 Wells Robert Lloyd USA S/S Air Aged 33. Quote:- “Working at the Simtag Farms intake pumps at the confluence of Willow Creek and the Columbia River when his air lines apparently were sucked into the pumps and cut. His partner was at the surface at the time. When he realised something was wrong, he dove under and attempted to free Wells and bring him up for air but the lines were stuck in the intake pumps and another diver had to be called before Wells could be freed, police said� Reported in the Tri City Herald.
  191. 1979 0 0 NEDU USA USN 549 Saturation Using the 'Ocean Simulator Facility (OSF), NEDU divers completed a 37 programme to a maximum depth of 1,800'
  192. 1979 0 0 Not Recorded USA Chamber Described as 'practising welding in a chamber' at 6.8 bara (190 fsw), a student diver was fatally burned when his polyester clothes ignited from welding sparks. He had violated the established safety protocol that required him to stand waist deep in water while welding. The only thing consumed by the fire was his clothing. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164
  193. 1978 7 10 Not Recorded USA Aged 41, reported as being killed by an attack of the bends whilst being treated in a ship's decompression chamber on a $5.3 million dollar outfall project at Aliso Beach (Part of Laguna Beach, South of Los Angeles). No details. Los Angeles Times
  194. 1978 5 21 Not Recorded USA Ship Shoal, Block 114, OCS 64, Platform SOB, Odeco. "A diver was removing a valve in the oil storage tank when a nipple on the air compressor broke, reducing his air supply. On syrfacing in the tank, diver removed his helmet and was overcome by toxic fumes and drowned". OCS Incident database
  195. 1978 3 31 Fewer Douglas USA NOAA 14 SCUBA 23 years old, from Broooklyn, diving with a colleague in the New York Bight off Long Island collecting water samplers. His dive partner said that Fewer disappeared while they were working. The diver was found unconscious and picked up by a Coastguard cutter and then transferred to Air Force hekicopter and flown to Groton (Connecticut) for treatment, but declared dead on arrival there. No details. Virgin Islands Daily News.
  196. 1978 0 0 Not Recorded USA 6 SCUBA �The victim was diving alone in 18 feet of water trying to find out why fishing nets were getting fouled on the bottom. He had not been diving for 5 years and the equipment had not been used for equally as long. The victim entered the water and never resurfaced. He was recovered two and a half hours later� Reported in the statistics of the University of Michigan, Michigan Sea Grant Program, 1979. (Not sure whether this is a true professional fatality so it is excluded from the count TC)
  197. 1978 0 0 O'Grady Rodney USA Taylor Diving, Brown and Root 266 Went up the inlet of the jet sledge system on a 'Root and Scoot' jet barge (They never shut down the pumps completely because "it took too long to re prime then"). Another report, Paraphrased and (much sanitized TC) appeared on the 'Offshore Diver' website: “He was doing a routine ditch check when they ran up the RPMs on the impeller below deck. Bid blenders is what they are. They created the suction so all the jetted mud would go up to the barge via an approx. 14" hose and to the impeller, then shot overboard. I heard tell it was one of the newer guys that had just got on the barge that season. Paying no attention....he rev'ed up the impellers right when Rodney was checking if there was water under the pipe. Just a short yell, that was all. The steel stingers on either side of the pipe were oval-ish shaped, and again, about 14-16" wide. Well, poor Rodney, who was a regular on the 266 went right up the stinger to the heavy (like weatherford) walled hose and into the impeller, where he was ground to fish food and pumped overboard. The barge crew stopped all activity and had a closed door meeting, no divers. (Deleted, TC). The couple of tenders and the one barge diver left where called in. That's why they called us...to search the sea floor for Rodney, what was left of Rodney. That's where I leave it. Rodney wore a Miller, they are pretty tough. The casket was small. Use your imagination. We should have been allowed to Keel haul the dumb yokel that killed him. But he was gone already. I never went back there. Used to like going there as a tender as they dove us on ditch checks a good bit, even to 180' on air. I should count my lucky stars. Long to short: (Allegedly) big cover up. (Deleted) Two years later I was in sat on the Phillips SS only about 10k from the Byford Dolfin when the guys were killed. I remember the LST calling in and having us shut the hatch to the bell (it was overhead, we'd just leave it down!) and set-up the hatches to the living areas so that if the bell blew off due to some numb-skull opening the trunk they would slam shut. Open and inch or two was cool for gas circulation. So, that's where lock out tag out came from and where bell interlocks came from, I like to think so Rodney did not die horribly for absolutely nothing�
  198. 1977 7 10 Petrecz Paul F USA Harmonville Volunteer Fire Department 15 SCUBA Aged 29, Montgomery County volunteer fire-fighter/diver, one of a team of 30 searching Muddy Run Lake for the body of a 22 year old who drowned whilst swimming. 'Tangled in a guideline and ran out of air' Reported as a veteran diver by fire officials. Beaver County Times
  199. 1977 2 11 Joseph Pat USA Fred Devine and Salvage 15 Salvage operations on the tanker “Sansitena� in Los Angeles harbour, Berth 46 (Blew up while alongside, 9 dead, 36 injured in the initial blast 17th December 1976) , had been in the water two hours osy arc cutting operations, gas pocket, underwater explosion, reported as “diver stricken with bends when he surfaced after an underwater explosion�. Also reported that he was the second diver injured on that job in four days. Although he remained in the industry, he was never able to dive again after the accident.. Los Angeles Times, PC.
  200. 1977 0 0 Beckham Charles Hiram USA Ocean Systems S/S Air Diving supervisor (Had also been a diving supervisor on the 'Gettysburg' in Asia in 1975/76), diving under a barge in heavy gear, believed to have been in a 'blow up' on the far side of the barge. Details needed. OK Dude/Longstreath
  201. 1976 9 6 Distier Mike USA 12 SCUBA Aged 28, diving for tropical fish of Big Pine Bay, reported as gear failure, breath held to surface, went into a coma, spent 8 hours in NOAA's Miami chamber, died in a Miami hospital. Not clear if this was a commercial dive. Reported in the St Petersberg Times.
  202. 1976 9 3 Critchfield Scott USA Aqua Hut 4 SCUBA Aged 22, Bowling Green Country Club Golf course, working on a submerged pump supplying a sprinkler system, colleague "Turned on the pump at a pre-arranged signal", about 30 seconds later the diver 'came struggling to the surface'. He went to get a rope but when he returned, the diver had disappeared. The diver's body was recovered about 20 feet from the shore. Possible electrocution, but no details. Toledo Blade.
  203. 1976 4 16 Rig 'Ocean Express' USA Marathon Rig move from Mustang Island to a new location in Mustang Island East, 33 miles away towed by the Gulf Knight, Gulf Explorer and Gulf Viking. At 2300, the rig was about 1 mile from new location and jacking-down of the mat commenced but sea conditions deteriorated, with seas up to around 10 feet by 0600 on 15 April. Through the day, the seas continued to build with swells washing over the decks by afternoon and some water leaking into the accommodation. At 1510, one of the Gulf Knight's engines failed, followed by the parting of the Gulf Viking's towline at 1930. Numerous attempts were made to reattach the Gulf Viking's towline but heavy seas breaking over the deck frustrated the crews efforts. The water also shifted some of the drillpipe stored in racks on the deck, which the crew tried to resecure. As a result of the water washing over the deck and the loose pipe, work on the towline and pipe was abandoned as conditions became too hazardous. Around 2000, a Coast Guard helicopter was despatched to evacuate the crew. At 2115, the derrick shifted to starboard giving the rig an immediate starboard list of up to 25 degrees. The crew then abandoned the rig using survival capsules #1 and #3, sailing into 25 foot seas with 65 mph winds. The Barge Mover remained behind in an attempt to save the rig. However, when the Coast Guard chopper arrived at 2120, the Barge Mover requested evacuation from the heildeck then ordered the tugs to let go their towlines. The Coast Guard chopper then made two abortive approach attempts, during which time the rig's list increased to an estimated 45 degrees. The pilot's complete lack of visual reference in the night while attempting to hover over the rig rendered the extraction almost impossible but on the chopper's third approach, the winchman managed to lower the passenger basket just in time to scoop up the Barge Mover. The pilot said later that it appeared at this point that the chopper was rapidly losing altitude. The truth was that the rig was actually capsizing and the bow helideck was swinging up underneath the chopper. Seconds after the Barge Mover was picked up, the rig capsized to starboard. The 14 crew in capsule #1 were rescued by the Nicole Martin survey vessel, whose captain maneuvered the capsule into the lee of the vessel, allowing the crew to jump from the capsule to the Nicole Martin. Capsule #3 was not so lucky. After coming alongside the Gulf Viking, the capsule was flipped unexpectedly by the high seas and rapidly half-filled with water, preventing the capsule from self-righting. An air pocket formed inside the capsule, but after around 30 minutes only 7 men had managed to escape from it. The other 13 crew were found drowned the next day still inside the capsule. Loss of directional control, resulting from the towline breaking and engine failure, was considered the primary cause of the capsize. One of the Marine Investigation Board's findings was that 'allowing a low freeboard self-elevating drilling unit to drift broadside to boarding seas... is an invitation for loss'. The report also noted that the possibility existed that grounding of the rig may have contributed to the capsize. Both the increased weight from boarding seas and the angle of the starboard list allowing the mat to touch bottom may well have resulted in a 'tripping action' which increased the rig's heel to starboard. USCG Reports
  204. 1975 10 17 Peterson Barry USA SCUBA Aged 21, sports diver, drowned when he was sucked into the 2,600 foot long cooling water inlet pipe of Southern California Edison power plant. An Edison spokesman commented that he could have surfaced safely in the holding tank 'but police stated he probably didn't realise that'. (On the other hand, it is entirely probable he drowned somewhere inside the half mile long pipe? TC) Google News Archive. Edison settled out of court in 1979 ($100,000).
  205. 1975 9 25 Wendelaar Joachim USA 322 German, aged 36, from Hamburg, described as a veteran diver with the West German shipbuilder GKSS, was part of a three man team preparatory works to the 100 ton underwater NOAA habitat 'Helgoland' sponsored by the US, West Germany, Poland and Norway off Roskport. Quote “It appeared something went wrong with his oxygen regulator and he suffered the bends on surfacing�. Confused reporting - it appears he actually fell unconscious on deck, initially reported as a surface accident - but no details Reported in 'The Hour'
  206. 1975 8 29 Gates Robert USA Clarmac Marine Construction 4 SCUBA Aged 19, Halifax River at Ormand Beach, Emergency repairs to a 10� water main (Anchor damage) 200 yards to the North side of Granada Bridge, diving with a colleague doing final flange bolting of a new line, the other diver surfaced but moments later, at around 18:00 his bubbles ceased, divers went back in but were unable to locate him. About 20:00 divers on the barge suggested the use of grapples to search from a boat and found the body but it dropped back into the water, finally recovered a short time later, declared dead on site. Daytona Beach Morning Gazzette.
  207. 1975 6 6 Gage Rick USA Treasure Salvors Inc Operation to recover gold from the wreck of the Spanish galleon 'Nuestra Senora Atocha', sank in a hurricane in 1622 some 12 miles off the Marquesa Islands. Salvage vessel 'North wind', a 60' converted tug rolled over and sank before dawn as the crew slept whilst anchored overnight on site. 13 crew saved, Captain and his wife plus one diver, aged 21, drowned. Daily News.
  208. 1975 5 16 Not Recorded USA Pacific Agar Company 8 Reported as drowned during seaweed harvesting off Dana point due to compressor failure, but no details. Los Angeles Times.
  209. 1975 3 0 Rig 'Zapata Topper III' USA Jack Up, Blow out, sank off Loisiana
  210. 1975 1 9 Imaizumi USA Reported as 'Diver dies as air line snaps'. Possible that 'another diver, Ta-Kashi Osaka, aged 26, who was sharing the single hose' tried to free him from entanglement in kelp but was too late to rescue him. Reported in the Los Angeles Times
  211. 1975 0 0 Moore Glen USA Taylor Diving and Salvage Dive hose pinched/lost air. Bailed out but came up under barge. Drowned. No bailout bottle
  212. 1975 0 0 USN USA USN 350 Deep Diving System Mk I sets in-water diving record to over 1,100 feet'
  213. 1974 10 21 Talbot Kim USA Aged 24 from Seattle, working on a sunken barge near Blaine, surface crew noticed his bubbles had ceased, pulled him to surface, resuscitation by fire crew from Blaine was unsuccessful. Spokane daily Chronicle
  214. 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
  215. 1974 8 18 Gumblowski Ray USA 40 Aged 42, (Shell) oil survey dive from the boat 'Robert R ' 48 miles offshore out of Bayboro Harbour, surfaced, but collapsed on deck, put in DDC but stopped breathing. Alternative report says entered DDC normally to undergo surface decompression but after 10 minutes had breathing difficulties. A second diver (Charles Hinson) was locked in to assist, but was unable to restart his breathing. Body was removed from chamber after diving specialist doctor flown out from panama city pronounced him dead. Autopsy results not reported at the time. The Evening Independent.
  216. 1974 7 19 Brening Fred USA 15 SCUBA US Navy dry dock at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Civilian commercial diver entered pump well to repair pump, "a 5 minute job", trapped by differential pressure for 17 hours, body recovered the day after. Reported in the Virgin Islands Daily News.
  217. 1974 6 0 Not Recorded USA Military “Southbury man dies after Navy Diving accident�, The Hartford Courant� paper, Conn. USA
  218. 1974 4 17 Perry Dennis USA Military 6 SCUBA Aged 27, married with two children. Oil tanker 'Imperial Sarnia' en route to Montreal with 45,000 bbls of crude ran ashore on Whaleback Shoal, estimate 2,000 bbls spill, pollution along several miles of the coastline. Diver was one of three coastguard divers installing lines around the hull in 20' of water, sank to the bottom and disappeared. Ottawa citizen.
  219. 1974 0 0 Not Recorded USA SCUBA Diving alone in a river recovering fish lures, an activity he had been pursuing for three years. The victim would overweight himself with 24 pounds of lead on his waist and a two pound weight on each ankle. The dive site was below a dam where the water was quite swift. |The victim was very fatigued, and witnesses say that he moved closer to the dam than normal, and apparently got drawn against the rocks and lost control. He was seen floating downstream turning over three times as he went. The regulator was out of his mouth the last time he turned over. The victim was recovered with the outside portion of a minnow bucket attached to his chest and a rope from his waist tied to an inner tube and diving flag. The rope was tangled around his body. Reported in the statistics of the University of Michigan, Michigan Sea Grant Program, 1979. (Not sure whether this is a true professional fatality so it is excluded from the count TC)
  220. 1974 0 0 Smith Roy Inmam USA Underwater Services Serious and permanent injuries on board a B & R barge “H S Lindsay�, court case 1965
  221. 1973 10 29 Not Recorded USA Military Submarine "Navy craft hits minisub, kills sailor. A frogman was killed and a second injured Tuesday when their submerged…returning to base after training off Silver Strand (San Diego) when the accident occurred". Los Angeles Times Pay per view
  222. 1973 6 18 Link Clayton USA Johnson-Sea Link 107 Submarine Aged 31, son of the mini submarine's inventor, Edwin Link. 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
  223. 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
  224. 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
  225. 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
  226. 1973 0 0 Not Recorded USA SCUBA The diver was working alone, under ice, installing a bubbler system in a marina. The area between and outside the three docks was ice covered with open water in the boat wells (due to the bubbler system). The victim, stating that he wanted to finish the job that day, entered the water wearing double tanks and a variable volume dry suit. He left a friend on the dock as observer and used no safety line as he feared getting tangled under the docks. The victim surfaced in one of the wells on the center dock and stated that he was going to one of the other docks to do some work. He was not seen again. His body was recovered from under a large ice sheet near the shore of the marina. His back pack and weight belt were still on, but the tanks, which had been wired to the backpack were found 20 feet away. The regulator mouthpiece was floating above the empty tanks. Reported in the statistics of the University of Michigan, Michigan Sea Grant Program, 1979.
  227. 1972 8 25 Fleming James P USA 85 Aged 25, working to salvage a 40' cement commercial fishing vessel - the 'Ferro Queen '- that sank on May 27th in 280' of water off Newburyport, reported as 'bends', unconscious in the water, brought to the surface by a fellow diver, taken ashore to Seabrook Beach in New Hampshire and transferred by ambulance to a recompression chamber at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, pronounced dead by a doctor 30 minutes after he entered the chamber. The Nashua Telegraph.
  228. 1972 8 10 Holland Robert USA Healy Tibbitts 11 Described as a “professional hard hat diver�, was one of a three man team working off a barge in Hilo Harbour. On Hawaii at the time of his death in a diving accident. Subject of a court case Holland v. Healy Tibbitts Const. Co., 379 F.Supp. 192 (D. Hawaii, Jul 24, 1974). No details. Loislaw.com
  229. 1972 0 0 Not Recorded USA 37 S/S Air “The victim was diving from a salvage ship and removing steel from a sunken ship at 120 feet. He wore a variable volume dry suit and lightweight helmet. The victim had been down 26 minutes on his first dive of the day when he told the surface personnel that he could not get any air and that a piece of steel had fallen onto his air hose. According to the accident reports, the standby diver was in the water within 3 minutes and two SCUBA divers were in within 10 minutes. The victim was brought to the surface, re compressed and CPR administered to no avail� Reported in the statistics of the University of Michigan, Michigan Sea Grant Program, 1979.
  230. 1972 0 0 Savard Robert USA Marine Contracting S/S Air Bridge construction Naragansett Bay, high currents, wearing borrowed heavy gear, apparently lost/turned off air, unconscious, but also botched rescue, body not recovered for several hours, Jones case reported October 1972.
  231. 1972 0 0 USN USA Military 308 Deep Diving System Mk II sets in-water diving record to over a thousand feet
  232. 1971 0 0 Hamblin Steve USA Taylor Diving and Salvage A tug was brought alongside unannounced on the opposite side of the barge from the dive station while the diver was unhooking davits. Heavy seas, barge was dragging anchors. 20' of dive hose was recovered from the tug's propeller, the diver's body was never found or recovered. PC
  233. 1970 10 0 USN USA Military 259 Deep Diving System Mk I sets in-water diving record to 850'
  234. 1970 9 19 Bielanski John USA Aged 32, professional diver from Oak Forest drowned while repairing a broken water main at the bottom of a man made lake (Lake Camelot?) No other details. Chicago Tribune.
  235. 1970 8 16 Sims W. D. USA Aged 44, Rescue diver looking for the body of 16 year old sports diver Fred Schmitz (Apparently blacked out and then disapeared into the depths) who was diving with 31 year old Hal Watts (Who suffered a DCI and was treated in a DDC for 5 hours at Cape Kennedy during the SAR operation), both were members of the Orlando Otters SCUBA Club diving in a 400' deep sinkhole looking for equipment lost on earlier dives. Speculated that the rescue diver, Sims, suffered from nitrogen narcosis, got entangled in safety ropes, ran out of air and drowned. Rescue operations were then called off pending the use of deep diving equipment. Unclear if this was a 'professional' or amateur rescue attempt. St. Petersberg Times
  236. 1970 2 19 Palmer David USA Need a Diver Marine Services 3 SCUBA Aged 26, Florida Power Corporation dock on Weedon Island, patching the hull of the tanker “Delian Apollo� (Which had run aground in the bay and caused a pollution incident in Tampa Bay), 40 minutes into the dive, stand-by diver got no response on lifeline, went in and found the diver against the hull of the tanker and brought him to the surface. Regulator and cylinders had been ditched (later recovered from the bed of the dock in 33' of water, reported as “in good working order but low on air supply�), reported as drowned. No real explanation. Reported in the St Petersburg Times
  237. 1970 0 0 Cleary G USA “The findings in this report illustrate a pattern of fatal incidents associated with inadequately trained divers; only one diver with commercial dive training has died in Alaska since the 1960s (G. Cleary, Alaska Divers and Pile Drivers Union, personal communication, 1998).� Quoted in a NIOSH into occupational diver fatalities in Alaska
  238. 1969 6 15 Guagenti Nicholas L USA SCUBA Aged 25, diving for golf balls, Hawrthorne Hills Country Club, died in the water, no details
  239. 1969 3 1 Rig 'Estrellita' USA Jack Up, caught in a storm, grounded, sank
  240. 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?
  241. 1969 2 0 Sealab III USA Military 186 Saturation Sealab III diving to over 600 feet, programme aborted after the death of a diver (Barry Cannon) in February
  242. 1969 0 0 Not Recorded USA Chamber Diver died in a fire caused by a shirt draped over a 150W elecric light bulb inside the chamber. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164.
  243. 1968 12 19 McClung Roger L USA Military SCUBA American police officer aged 32, Virginia Beach, Virginia, drowned in a diving accident
  244. 1968 12 19 Monette Robert R USA Military SCUBA American police officer aged 25, Virginia Beach, Virginia, drowned in a diving accident
  245. 1968 11 9 Joost Berend H. USA University of Miami Marine Sciences 50 SCUBA Two divers, Berend Joost, aged 34 of the University of Miami, and John McGinnis, aged 51 of Ocean-Engineering, were installing acoustic recording equipment at the edge of the Gulf stream off Miami when McGinnis noticed that Joost had dropped to the seabed, he went down to help but Joost had a strong grasp on the rope. Joost's mouthpiece dropped out, McGinnis replaced it but had to surface as had run out of air and suffered from decompression illness (treated, believed OK). A third diver, Jim Nangle, aged 23 and also an Ocean-Engineering technician recovered Joost's body to the surface. Reported in the Toledo Blade
  246. 1968 11 9 McGinnis John USA Ocean Engineering 50 SCUBA Two divers, Berend Joost, aged 34 of the University of Miami, and John McGinnis, aged 51 of Ocean-Engineering, were installing acoustic recording equipment at the edge of the Gulf stream off Miami when McGinnis noticed that Joost had dropped to the seabed, he went down to help but Joost had a strong grasp on the rope. Joost's mouthpiece dropped out, McGinnis replaced it but had to surface as had run out of air and suffered from decompression illness (treated, believed OK). A third diver, Jim Nangle, aged 23 and also an Ocean-Engineering technician recovered Joost's body to the surface. Reported in the Toledo Blade
  247. 1968 8 0 Rig 'Little Bob' USA Coral Drilling Rig Disaster Jack Up, drilling off Louisiana, fire.
  248. 1968 4 28 Rig 'Dresser 2' USA Jack Up, Overturned and sank (Seabed soil failure)
  249. 1968 3 13 Rig 'Dixilyn Julie Ann' USA Jack Up, sank during rig move/towing (caught in a storm).
  250. 1968 0 0 Asbury Steve USA Taylor Diving? Tender, drowned off the BAR 282 after a night dive stinger check'. OD
  251. 1968 0 0 Edwards John USA Taylor Diving and Salvage Underwater Oxy Arc Explosion, seriously injured but recovered after a year in hospital, never dived again. Second diver burning on a damaged conductor, improper vent. PC
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