[Thanos]

Good Morning
The past 40+ hours have been difficult for the family and the dive team. Todd Leonard has been communicating basic information as it becomes available. In reading some of the responses, I must agree: Jim was a well respected member of the cave diving community, joined the WKPP as a support diver in 2002, became a senior team explorer doing serious setup and exploration dives, completed a 12,000ft setup in Wakulla only a few weeks ago, will not be easy to replace in or out of the water, appears to have skipped several basic gas checks with fatal consequences. Jim was recently promoted by the US Army to Full Colonel and had a reputation within the team of being meticulous, detail oriented and by the book. This makes the entire situation difficult to understand but based on the information we have, this is what appears to have happened. No excuses to offer other than to strongly suggest to everyone in the cave and tech diving community to double check the basics and talk among your dive team members. Of course there is a secondary buddy check procedure and it appears that was missed but in the end, the diver owns the responsibility to check his/her breathing gas, especially at this level with multiple mixes in the water. I saw a comment about narcosis being obvious with the 50% mix. We are reasonably certain that Jim was using a 50% O2 and 50% HE deco mix. This is not unusual as team members reserve the right to add HE to any mix and the analysis tape on the tank indicates this. I cannot confirm because the authorities impounded the equipment but we will eventually confirm. Yes, had the diver or team caught the error in dropping the wrong tank at 70ft in the first place the outcome may have been different but ultimately the diver must verify every breathing mix before he breathes it or plugs it into the RB. If more information becomes available I will ask Todd to communicate to the list but I believe it is exactly what it looks like and based on interviews Jim was relaxed and looking forward to the dive that morning. Jim will be missed.

Safe Diving,
Casey McKinlay
Project Director
Woodville Karst Plain Project

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