Fatal Accident- Windy Point Park, Tx.

[dutchman]

According to locals, this is the 3 death there this year. My prayers go out to the family. I have never dove here. I can only assume it was dark and murky. Do you use lights here even during the day? You know, AOW is suppose to be a fun cert. One instructor with just 3 students should be a easy dive. Things happen suddenly.

[RECDiver]

Of the other two deaths, one was a swimmer who drowned and the other from a boating accident.

[RoadRacer1978]

My AOW class was in a somewhat murky lake. During the deep dive we only had two student per instructor and I was by myself with one instructor. None of the nstructors wanted to try and keep up with three students in the limited vis. Safety first, and I was very happy to see the instructors thinking that way.

[peteg]

More details from the "other board"

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/3157417-post10.html

"I was with him diving at the park. We went over and over again what went wrong and it was concluded that we all followed the rules precisely and that an autopsy (due Tuesday) will be the only way to find out what happened. He had fully functioning gear, 1000 psi. He was still grasping his light and he still had his mask and fins on which means whatever happened to him happened quick...no signs of panic or struggle. My personal OPINION is that he succombed to a heart attack or stroke. What really impressed me was the way the divers on the shore quickly and efficiently took charge of the situation IMMEDIATELY. There were probably over 200 divers there that weekend, including a HUGE class of rescue divers and also a group of firefighters. My personal thanks to all of them. They all got together and performed AED, CPR, Resuscitation in an almost machine like way."

[ianr33]

Originally Posted by dutchman

According to locals, this is the 3 death there this year. My prayers go out to the family. I have never dove here. I can only assume it was dark and murky. Do you use lights here even during the day? You know, AOW is suppose to be a fun cert. One instructor with just 3 students should be a easy dive. Things happen suddenly.

The visibility is reasonable at the moment. Maybe 10-15 feet.
Pretty much dark below about 70 feet. I always carry lights in Travis.

[RoadRacer1978]

Good info. Makes sense that something like that may have happened. Without any details it sounded like he stayed down and ran out of air or something. With the further details it definately sounds more like a tragic accident than a preventable error. Thanks for sharing. Still a tragedy, but this does shed a lot more light on the subject.

[deepdiver47]

I had my AOW class in that same park years ago. Vis wasn't bad but we had no issues all weekend. It can get very dark down there at 80 ft for sure but it had little current. I would like to think that he had a physical ailment.

My heart goes out to that family and that instructor!

[TxScubaBear]

condolences and prayers for his family..last I read on SB it was a fatal heart attack... (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/tex...-2007-a-2.html)

[dixintex]

Posting retracted....

[RoadRacer1978]

Still very sad, at least the family has the peace to know he did not suffer.