Post by Kelly Jessop on Aug 23, 2010 5:36:31 GMT -5
www.chipleypaper.com/news/springs-7012-vortex-hamilton.html
PONCE DE LEON — The search continues for a missing Tennessee diver at Vortex Springs north of Ponce de Leon on Hwy. 81.
Ben McDaniel, 30, from the Memphis, TN area, was reported missing according to LT Harry Hamilton of the Holmes County Sheriff's Office. McDaniel's vehicle and personal affects were found but there was no sign of the diver.
McDaniel had not been seen since Wednesday according to HCSO.
On Friday three dive teams explored the more than 1,600-foot-long cave where McDaniel was believed to have dived but found little if any sign of his presence inside the cave. McDaniel had left equipment, including air bottles, at the head of the cave.
Three other teams went in Saturday but were unable to find McDaniel's body.
The cave is consdered a challenging if not dangerous dive even by experienced divers, according to divers at the scene. The cave twists and turns, bottoming out at 165 feet below the surface, according to Master SCUBA Trainer Ron Boyce, one of the divers that searched the cave Friday morning.
Other divers said that it is necessary to travel a good portion of the cave in single file as the cave narrows, and it is essential for divers to decompress as they exit the cave. Divers drop off bottles with a mix of nitrogen and oxygen on the way in to use to decompress.
Speculation is that McDaniel may have been attempting to go through a crevass about 1,500 feet inside the cave with his air tanks mounted on his side or possibly being pushed ahead to go through the narow opening. He may not have worn equipment to force his way through the narrow horizontal crevass that divers said has not been entered previously.
None of the divers that searched the cave Friday evening or Saturday could get through the crevass after throughly searching the rest of the cave, and Jeff Loflin, who coordinated the search Friday and Saturday, called any attempt to do so "extremely dangerous," due as much to the extreme difficulty getting out as getting in. One diver called the approach to the location, "incredibly tight," and Loflin said visibility was "zero" due to clay, sand and silt.
"It's grim back in there," said diver Jerry Murphy.
Marson Kay went in Saturday and reported that the guide line for divers was cut. Kay said a diver might have gotten through the crevass without equipment, but the the layout of the area and the poor visibility it would have been easy to get disoriented. The level of the dive meant that there could have also been problems with the oxygen and nitrogen mix.
Kay and diver James Toland said there were recent scratchmarks that showed that someone was in the area.
The divers involved in the search were very experienced. One diver noted that Loflin, who has some 30 years of diving experience, "wrote the manual" on mounting air tanks on a diver' side. Wayne Kinnard has been diving since 1971 and was making his third recovery dive. Other members have considerable experience, particularly in cave diving.
Mark Smith of Underwater Adventures of Baton Rouge, LA, has dived Vortex Springs several times and helped in the search for McDaniel. Smith said Friday that it appeared that the missing diver ignored some basic safety precautions, especially by apparently diving alone.
"Diving is a buddy team sport," Smith said. He said cave diving like that done at Vortex Springs is a demanding sport and should not be done alone or without a plan.
"Plan your dive and dive your plan," Smith said. He believes the apparent failure of the victim to plan his dive caused the accident.
The last death at Vortex Springs involved 64-year-old man in May 2009 that apparently died of a heart attack.
McDaniel's family was at the scene having driven from Tennessee and arriving Firday evening. Tragically, Ben McDaniel's brother, Paul Andrew, died of a stroke at age 22 in 2008. His organs, including his heart, were donated and the family has established The Paul McDaniel Foundation to encourage and facilitate organ donation. For information go to paulmcdanielfoundation.org
PONCE DE LEON — The search continues for a missing Tennessee diver at Vortex Springs north of Ponce de Leon on Hwy. 81.
Ben McDaniel, 30, from the Memphis, TN area, was reported missing according to LT Harry Hamilton of the Holmes County Sheriff's Office. McDaniel's vehicle and personal affects were found but there was no sign of the diver.
McDaniel had not been seen since Wednesday according to HCSO.
On Friday three dive teams explored the more than 1,600-foot-long cave where McDaniel was believed to have dived but found little if any sign of his presence inside the cave. McDaniel had left equipment, including air bottles, at the head of the cave.
Three other teams went in Saturday but were unable to find McDaniel's body.
The cave is consdered a challenging if not dangerous dive even by experienced divers, according to divers at the scene. The cave twists and turns, bottoming out at 165 feet below the surface, according to Master SCUBA Trainer Ron Boyce, one of the divers that searched the cave Friday morning.
Other divers said that it is necessary to travel a good portion of the cave in single file as the cave narrows, and it is essential for divers to decompress as they exit the cave. Divers drop off bottles with a mix of nitrogen and oxygen on the way in to use to decompress.
Speculation is that McDaniel may have been attempting to go through a crevass about 1,500 feet inside the cave with his air tanks mounted on his side or possibly being pushed ahead to go through the narow opening. He may not have worn equipment to force his way through the narrow horizontal crevass that divers said has not been entered previously.
None of the divers that searched the cave Friday evening or Saturday could get through the crevass after throughly searching the rest of the cave, and Jeff Loflin, who coordinated the search Friday and Saturday, called any attempt to do so "extremely dangerous," due as much to the extreme difficulty getting out as getting in. One diver called the approach to the location, "incredibly tight," and Loflin said visibility was "zero" due to clay, sand and silt.
"It's grim back in there," said diver Jerry Murphy.
Marson Kay went in Saturday and reported that the guide line for divers was cut. Kay said a diver might have gotten through the crevass without equipment, but the the layout of the area and the poor visibility it would have been easy to get disoriented. The level of the dive meant that there could have also been problems with the oxygen and nitrogen mix.
Kay and diver James Toland said there were recent scratchmarks that showed that someone was in the area.
The divers involved in the search were very experienced. One diver noted that Loflin, who has some 30 years of diving experience, "wrote the manual" on mounting air tanks on a diver' side. Wayne Kinnard has been diving since 1971 and was making his third recovery dive. Other members have considerable experience, particularly in cave diving.
Mark Smith of Underwater Adventures of Baton Rouge, LA, has dived Vortex Springs several times and helped in the search for McDaniel. Smith said Friday that it appeared that the missing diver ignored some basic safety precautions, especially by apparently diving alone.
"Diving is a buddy team sport," Smith said. He said cave diving like that done at Vortex Springs is a demanding sport and should not be done alone or without a plan.
"Plan your dive and dive your plan," Smith said. He believes the apparent failure of the victim to plan his dive caused the accident.
The last death at Vortex Springs involved 64-year-old man in May 2009 that apparently died of a heart attack.
McDaniel's family was at the scene having driven from Tennessee and arriving Firday evening. Tragically, Ben McDaniel's brother, Paul Andrew, died of a stroke at age 22 in 2008. His organs, including his heart, were donated and the family has established The Paul McDaniel Foundation to encourage and facilitate organ donation. For information go to paulmcdanielfoundation.org