A Regulator Attached Backward to a Tank

Unlike the United States, several countries investigate the causes of diver deaths and publicize them, providing valuable safety lessons for all divers.

The death of a New Zealand solo scuba diver three years ago was unnecessary, the local coroner recently ruled, attributing the fatal incident to a combination of inexperience and unsafe diving practices, including using a wrongly assembled cylinder and regulator.

Aaron Matthews, 43, had been diving alone to collect seafood off a remote beach on North Island's East Cape. His friend, who was fishing from the shore, saw him surface without his mask on and struggling to breathe.

His friend threw him a rope, but Mathews was unable to grasp it and slipped beneath the waves. His body was later found at 30 feet, tangled in branches and seaweed, and with his mask around his neck.

It was determined that he had attached his regulator to his tank with the valve facing backward -- not a difficult error to make for an inexperienced diver. The resulting tension on the hose would make it feel as if the inverted second stage was being pulled from his mouth. When an investigator carried out a test dive using the diver's equipment assembled incorrectly, he was unable to turn his head left without the second stage being pulled away.

The deceased diver had also been over-weighted and had failed to release his weight belt when struggling at the surface.

If you start a dive and feel that something is not right, abort the dive and sort it out.