Stephanie, you seem to know absolutely nothing about diving...Mark M - Instructor / EngineerJune 1, 2008 at 08:51:18Stephanie, I've been reading through all these posts, and I understand that you and Tina's family are grieving over her death.
I'm sorry for the loss, and indeed it's sad. Now before you start making accusations (about ANYONE's actions), can I ask you a simple question. How many dives do you have? How many dives do your friends (various other teachers/non-divers) on this forum have? Please don't be offended, and don't respond with anger, but keep in mind that you seem to know absolutely NOTHING about scuba diving. In scuba you are UNDER WATER, keep
this in mind when you make silly comments, and unfound statements. Lots of things could have happened, and Tina was a very inexperienced diver, who probably shouldn't have made this dive.
She may have had a problem equalizing her ears (the pressure in her ears). This is quite common, and every diver must learn how to properly "equalize" as they descend slowly. You want to descend slowly, and ascend slowly (slower than your air bubbles). So I know this may sound "crazy" to you, but even as an instructor with thousands of dives (and a military background/military scuba instructor). Gabe did the 'textbook answer' and did the correct thing. You can't save someone in that type of situation (panic). It's not as easy as it sounds. If they begin swimming in the opposite direction (down instead of up), then maybe Tina was suffering from or nitrogen narcosis. I don't know all the details of the dive, or what depth they were at, or how long they were down, but nitrogen narcosis affects all divers differently. People of a heavier weight (higher body fat) absorb the inert gas narcosis producing a state similar to alcohol intoxication. In layman's terms, the mechanism is similar to that of nitrous oxide (or "laughing gas"), administered as anesthesia. Being "narced" can impair judgment and make diving very dangerous. Narcosis usually starts to affect the diver at 66 feet (or 3 ATM - atmospheric pressures).
Nitrogen Narcosis occurs quickly and the symptoms typically disappear during ascent, so most divers often fail to realize they were ever affected.
I have my students take a combination badlock, and I give them all the combination (and even write the numbers on the back of the padlock). I have them each take turns practicing on the padlock (just so each and EVERY diver has unlocked the padlock at least 10 or 12 times). [So they know there is "no tricks"]. Then when my students are down around 60ft or 100ft, then I pass the padlock around, and they each take turns trying to unlock the padlock. You'd be surprised that almost 75% of my students are unable to unlock the padlock.
After we surface (after the dive is over), we talk about it on the boat. I'll pass the same padlock around, and they'll all demonstrate one more time that they can in fact unlock the padlock (on the surface), but then I'll ask, what happened under water? Again, it affects everyone differently. Military divers are VERY LEAN, and in excellent physical shape.
They normally aren't affected by Nitrogen Narcosis as a civilian (or someone that my be slightly over weight, or having a higher body fat percentage) would be. I don't know anything about Tina, so I'm not judging, but I'm just saying that there could be VERY VALID reasons for what she did, and the behavior that she displayed under water that day. I wasn't there, I didn't see it, but I trust that if someone tried grabbing another diver's mask, or started
acting/behaving abnormal, the first thing you do is "break away" (get out of arms reach) of that person. They can pull the regulator out of your mouth, and now suddenly YOU don't have any air! Now instead of ONE dead person, you now have TWO dead people!
So be careful when you judge another person (especially a diver who is more experienced). Grouped scuba diving is much safer than a lone solo diver (which I would never recommend), but this accident was more than likely her own fault (a lack of experience). If you've never flown an airplane before, would you attempt to take a Boeing 747 jet for a spin? I can't imagine anything good coming of it, but I wouldn't be blaming everyone around for the resulting crash (and death) of the inexperienced person that would try such a stunt.
I understand that she was on vacation, and just wanted to do it (just to say that she did it...), but as with all extreme sports (skydiving, scuba diving, bungee jumping, etc.) They're fun, but you need to know what you're doing in order to do it safely (and properly). From what I can see, and gather... she was not behaving in a normal manner, it could have been fear, it could have been nitrogen narcosis, it could have been Inadequately trained
divers, that are diving beyond their experience levels is just an accident waiting to happen. www.emedicinehealth.com/ear_pain_scuba_diving/page2_em.htm A diver that in unable to equalize their ears properly needs to STOP descending. The unequalized pressure, can cause disorientation, or give the diver a feeling of "spinning" (not knowing what direction is up). An experienced diver, would know to slowly ascend, and wait
till their ears are properly equalized, before continuing to descend (even if it means aborting a dive).
I believe Tina (with her lack of diving experience) very well could have had a problem with equalizing, and she may have become disoriented (the feeling of spinning), because if you've ever seen it (or experienced it), you'd understand what I'm explaining. I see it all the time, and inexperienced divers (as well as experienced divers) often have problems equalizing. The only difference is an experienced diver will KNOW to stop, and understand the dangers of proceeding, and an inexperienced diver my decide to continue to descend (because they don't want to abort a dive, or miss the opportunity to do the dive). This can result in a nauseated feeling, and the diver many become disoriented, and may feel a sense of spinning (not even knowing what direction is up).
If she swam downward (instead of upward) then this is definitely a sign of the "disoriented" or "spinning" feeling, she may have been trying to swim towards the surface, but instead she was swimming deeper and deeper (without even realizing it).
It's sad, and my heart goes out to her. It's like watching a jumper sky dive from a plane, and watching their parachute fail. It happens, although rare, it does happen. I believe her death was NOT murder, and not her new husband's fault, or the dive crew's fault, but this responsibility lies solely on the diver. It's just like if I decide to go skydiving (and engage in an extreme sport), and then my parachute fails, is it the pilot's fault for flying the plane and taking me sky diving? Is it my spouses fault, because they may have been on the same plane as me? Is it a conspiracy, that maybe my spouse was "out to get me" and sabotaged my parachute? That's ridiculous, and just by the 2 or 3 postings that I read, and based on what I've seen (as a Military Instructor with over 1,800 scuba dives), what happened was tragic, but I don't think it was murder.
It sounds more like suicide. Anyone that takes their OWN life into their OWN hands, and does something foolish (yes, doing that dive, with her lack of experience was pretty foolish), and then when things go badly or she doesn't respond correctly (like swim UP and not down), well... it results in a death. A disoriented diver is VERY dangerous, and they will pull your regulator out of your mouth, and try to pull your face mask off (so now you can't
see...) and I don't see any reason on why they BOTH should have died that day.
It's sad, but he did the right thing. As cold as that may sound, he did what ANY instructor (and textbook) would have told him to do. You usually can't save a diver (in panic) until they begin to lose consciousness), because as they are drowning, or are disoriented, they become hostile (and they will drown you). If you've ever been a lifeguard, and had to save someone, you'll know that the person will try to stand on your head, grab you, choke you, or do whatever they can do (as they are panicking), and often times endanger the lifeguard's own life. It's not easy to save someone in this type of situation. I would NOT recommend him descending (instead of ascending) in order to "chase" her. More than likely she was descending at a rate much to quickly to be done safely (and she was probably disoriented/feeling spinning, and she probably thought she was "shooting to the surface" when in fact she was "shooting to the abyss". Diving accidents are sad, but they do happen. It's a fact of life.
As an Instructor, all I can say is dive within your means.
That means dive within your EXPERIENCE. If you have 10 dives, then maybe you can try a deep dive. I'd never recommend that ANY student do anything that foolish, but to each it's own. Every student knows (by signing that PIC card) that they must SAFELY dive within their experience level. Tina was NOT doing that, and she did NOT do that. She dove beyond her experience level, and the resulting accident is a good indicator of what happens when someone tries to do that. It's sad, but it happens. She has no one to blame but herself. I can't imagine what the husband/spouse must be feeling (especially after accusations of "murder"). That is really sad, and it just shows the lack of intelligence (and common sense) that some of these ignorant people have (non-divers). Until you have about 50 or 60 dives under your belt, then don't start coming to a "scuba-forum" and talking about what a scuba diver SHOULD HAVE DONE. After you have 50 or 60 dives (and receive proper training/instruction) from a certified instructor, then don't tell ME (or anyone else in this forum) what a scuba diver should have done. That's nothing but "silly talk". It's like someone that has NEVER flown before, attemping to tell a trained pilot (or trained pilot INSTRUCTOR) how he should fly.
Gabe had more experience, and he did the 'right thing' (textbook answer) on how he responded, and what he did that day. Overconfidence is what kills scuba divers. Becoming separated from a "dive buddy" is a violation of safety procedures for recreational diving.
I'm afraid Tina died "as a result of a diving accident for which she was solely responsible." I know that may not sit well with the family, but such is life. No one put a gun to her head to do it. It's not uncommon for people to become separated from a dive group (due to strong current) and it's not uncommon for divers to have equalization problems (with their ears), especially inexperienced divers. | 
