NORTH SHIELDS, UK (23 Mar 2007) -- An inquest into the death of BSAC scuba instructor Lesley Clark found that she made multiple errors including failure to conduct safety checks, failure to conduct a dive briefing and failure to properly maintain her own scuba diving equipment. Clark, 47, died and three divers under her supervision were hospitalized after they entered the water with their air supplies turned off and their buoyancy vests deflated. The divers, all members of BSAC's Hexham Sub-Aqua Club, were swept into the sea from a causeway at St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside. Judy Cormack, one of the divers in the group, told the North Shields hearing that she became uneasy and thought Clark would abort the dive because the water got deeper and the current got stronger as they tried to cross the causeway. "The waves were small but choppy--I could see the causeway under the water," Cormack said. "As we continued to cross, the water got deeper and deeper...I could see the tide at my feet and the water was strong." "As we went further the conditions were deteriorating. I was uneasy," Cormack added. "I thought we were going to abort the dive; Lesley, did not appear concerned." As the divers struggled to keep their balance in deteriorating conditions, first Clark, and then the other three divers were swept into the sea. Cormack soon realized that Clark had not turned on her air supply and was struggling to maintain her buoyancy. She tried to help but could not turn the valve that supplied air to Clark's regulator and BC (buoyancy control device). "I was trying to maintain buoyancy for both of us--we were both in very serious trouble by now," Cormack said. "I believed I was in danger of drowning--I had to let go of Lesley for fear of pushing her under--I did not see her again." Cormack admitted that she and Clark had not done a safety check, a standard scuba diving safety procedure in which divers check their diving partner's equipment prior to entering the water. The two other divers in the group, Anthony Chapman and his sister Karen Patterson, were also swept off the causeway. "Anthony told me to turn his air on. He inflated his buoyancy control device and was swept off the causeway. The tide began taking him out to sea but in the opposite direction. I was fighting for my own survival," Patterson said. | | BSAC scuba instructor Lesley Clark made multiple errors that endangered three divers under her supervision and ultimately led to her own death. Cormack, Chapman and Patterson were rescued by a lifeboat, taken ashore and rushed to North Tyneside Hospital. Rescuers found Clark later and she was taken to the same hospital but died on August 9. Multiple errors PC Michael Catlin, of the Police Marine Unit, told the hearing that Clark's equipment was "old and her buoyancy control device was in a poor state of repair." "There was not one specific factor that led to (Clark's) death," Catlin said. "There are several contributory factors." Catlin specifically noted Clark's failure to give a dive briefing and conduct safety (buddy) checks. Coroner Eric Armstrong recorded a verdict of accidental death and said that "...it cannot be stressed more that equipment must be tested." © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba ForumCDNN Related NewsUK - Not to worry: BSAC will 'collate' details about Leslie Clark's scuba diving deathUK - Diver dies after being swept out to sea |
