2004-12-09 Incident

The following narrative was supplied on January 24, 2005

Double Cave Fatality at Sistema Sac Aktun

Thursday, 9 December 2004

Four – Person Dive Team:

Victim #1, Age 53, Columbia, PA
Full Cave Certified 10/21/01
Logged 125 cave dives

Victim #2, Age 37, Lancaster, PA
Full Cave Certified 10/21/01
Logged 75 cave dives

Survivor #1, Age 53, Baden, PA
Full Cave Certified, 1973
Logged 300 cave dives

Survivor #2, Age 53, Baden, PA
Full Cave Certified, 1973
Logged 300 cave dives

The Dive Plan

Two teams of full cave certified divers (one 5-person team, and one 4-person team) arrive at Cenote Calimba in two separate vehicles. This cenote is located approximately 1500 feet further northwest on the Coba Road from the Gran Cenote of Sistem Sac Aktun. Both teams plan to enter and exit at Cenote Calimba. The agreed upon dive plan is to follow the main permanent guideline from Cenote Calimba to the end of this guideline. Already in place was a snap & gap line (this is a permanent line with a red aluminum caribiner attached to one end that can be deployed to connect two different lines in place of jump or gap reel) that is approximately 20 feet in length. This snap & gap line originates from the Calimba line and the red aluminum caribiner is attached to the Paso De Lagarto permanent guideline. There are two white directional arrow markers pointing to the downstream or exit side of this connection. Swimming sixty five feet in distance the permanent guideline makes a 90 degree turn to the right and has one white directional arrow marker attached on the downstream side of this 90 degree turn, pointing to the downstream or exit side to the Gran Cenote/Cenote Ho Tul. The plan involves making a short six foot jump from this 90 degree turn using a delron spool with neon pink guideline to the Cenote Bosh Chen guideline. It is discussed before the dive (utilizing a stick map drawing showing the lines and markers) that the pink jump spool will be connected on the upstream (Calimba exit) side of this 90 degree with a non-directional placed for exiting reference.

A non-directional marker is placed on the snap & gap line for reference and to notify any other divers who may be in the system that this snap & gap is in use. This snap & gap line was already connected.* Both teams had agreed before the dive that the last team out would remove this marker, but leave the snap & gap in place as they found it.

* Note: On Tuesday, December 7th, two days prior to this dive, both victims and both survivors had made dives from Gran Cenote, across a jump spool to Paso De Lagarta guideline, and swam upstream past the Bosh Chen jump, and just beyond the snap & gap before calling their dives and exiting the same way as they entered. All four verbalized seeing the snap & gap connected.

As discussed and planned, another non-directional marker is placed on the upstream (exit to Calimba side) of the 90 degree turn indicating the exit to Cenote Calimba, and a third non-directional is placed on the pink gap line itself (which both teams plan to share).

The intention of the 5-person team is to follow the Bosh Chen guideline for approximately 500 feet and make a five foot jump to the left using a spool with green line, and continue following this continuous guideline to Cenote Bosh Chen, surface briefly to talk, and return exactly the same way back to Cenote Calimba.

The intention of the 4-person team (consisting of the two victims and the two survivors) is to follow the same guidelines referencing the snap & gap with the non-directional marker, and the delron spool with neon pink line which has a non-directional marker at the 90 degree turn clearly marking the exit side back to the snap & gap line. This 4-person team had verbalized pre-dive that they had no intention to swim all the way to Cenote Bosh Chen.

The 4-person team consisting of the two victims and two survivors started their dive at Cenote Calimba and reached the snap & gap line end of Calimba line in approximately 32 minutes. They turned left, swam 65 feet, and followed the pink gap line connecting to the Bosh Chen line with Victim #2 calling the dive to turn around. This four-person team made no other jumps and did not encounter the five-person team. They swam back to the spool with neon pink line. At this six foot jump Survivor #2 removes the non-directional marker on the pink gap line, but leaves the non-directional marking the exit to Cenote Calimba where the spool is clicked in. Both survivors acknowledged after the dive that they saw this non-directional marking the Calimba exit side of the 90-degree. However, they could not explain how or why their four-person team went the opposite way, swimming downstream on the Paso de Lagarto line and NOT right to swim the 65 feet back to the snap & gap line attachment.

Survivor #1 is taking photos with his digital camera and strobes throughout this dive. They swim along the Paso de Lagarto line continuing to take photos for approximately 25 minutes and 1400 feet in distance, where they reach the end of this line which has an arrow pointing out. They would have swum past four directional arrows pointing downstream towards the Gran Cenote and Cenote Hotul on the Pasa de La Grate guideline. At this point, Victim #1 deploys his safety spool to attach to the end of the Paso de Lagarta line in an attempt to swim over to the Gran Cenote/Cenote Hotul line (@65 feet). At approximately the same time, Victim #2 turns around and begins swimming back upstream on the Paso de Lagarto line with Survivor #2 following him. Survivor #1 then begins to follow them upstream, and Victim #1 picks up his spool and catches up with the other three divers. It is NOT known what air pressure each of the four cave divers has in their aluminum double 80 cubic foot tanks at this point.

Survivor #1 and Survivor #2 take the lead of the four-person team at this time. Approximately 100 feet before the 90-degree turn of the Paso de La Garto line where the Bosh Chen six-foot jump exist, Survivor #1 clips his digital camera system to the permanent line. At the 90 degree turn the black delron spool with neon pink line has been removed by the other team of five divers as they believed the 4-person team had already exited because Survivor #2 had already removed the non-directional marker from the pink gap line.

The four-person team continues upstream, across the snap & gap line, to the Calimba line. It is not known how far apart each of the two buddies within this four-person team is at this point. The two survivors stated they could see the lights of the other two members of their team behind them.

Survivor #1 shows Survivor #2 his gauge registering 700 psi. Shortly later she passes him her long hose to share air, and they continue swimming back to Cenote Calimba. It is not known exactly where they begin to share air on the Calimba guideline. They reach the surface at Cenote Calimba with Survivor #1 having 200 psi in his doubles, and Survivor #2 having 500 psi

Victim #1 and Victim #2 never reached Cenote Calimba. There were found together approximately 250 feet short of Cenote Calimba with their second stages out of the mouths. Victim #1’s long hose was deployed. Both cave divers were on the ceiling and had zero pressure in their double aluminum 80 cubic foot tanks. Victim #2’s primary HID light was still burning. Victim #1’s primary HID light was turned off and stowed. One of his back up lights was turned on and lying on the cave floor below him. Both victims were found facing towards Cenote Calimba, in the sharing air position.

Tulum Police and Investigators immediately took possession of the victims upon recovery, and all their dive gear.

Information provided by Dr. Jerry Finkel, Jeff Hunter and Connie Lore – members of the five-person team.

This report sent to Survivor #1 & Survivor #2.

Report prepared by:

STEVE GERRARD

IUCRR Central America Coordinator