DIVE PACIFIC 178 Sept-Nov 2021

Diver death by drowning: Coroner
A diver drowned 500 metres south of Channel Island in the Hauraki Gulf on November 6th, 2019;
his death was reported to the Coroner who published his report on June 1st this year, including a
request to make his findings known to the diving community through NZUA and Dive Pacific.
The Coroner’s report says Mr
Yutai Huang was a 51 year
old father and builder handyman
living in Mt Wellington, Auckland.
Wednesday, November 6th 2019
was a fine and calm day. Mr
Huang was with his friend and
fishing companion Jun Wang.
“Mr Huang was going to dive and
go spear fishing alone because Mr
Wang did not know how to dive.
Mr Wang thought Mr Huang was
an experienced diver because he
had seen him go diving alone on
at least four occasions in the past.
“They arrived at the diving spot
just before midday. Mr Huang put
on his wetsuit and tested his dive
cylinder. When he was ready
he asked Mr Wang to drive the
boat to a spot in the gap between
Channel Island and a large rock.
Mr Huang got in the water and
told Mr Wang to drive away and
come back to the same spot in 40
minutes later to pick him up.
“About one minute after Mr Huang
entered the water Mr Wang was
in the driver’s seat getting ready
to drive the boat away when Mr
Huang yelled “my flipper” in
Chinese. Mr Wang said he stood
up from the driver’s seat to see if
he could see Mr Huang’s flippers,
however, he could not see them.
He then saw Mr Huang struggling
in the water and having difficulty
staying afloat. At that time Mr
Huang was about five metres from
the boat so Mr Wang went back to
the driver’s seat and moved the
boat towards Mr Huang. When he
reached the spot where he had
last seen Mr Huang he had already
sunk below the surface.
“Mr Wang immediately called
the Coastguard at 12.24 pm. Mr
Wang said he was on hold for
about three minutes when he saw
Mr Huang resurface. Mr Huang
resurfaced face down in the water,
wearing only his wetsuit and he
no longer had on any of the other
diving equipment.
“At that point Mr Wang said he
began to take his clothes off to get
into the water and as he was doing
that, he saw another boat nearby
and signalled it to come over. Mr
Wang got into the water and with
the help of a person on the other
boat, got Mr Huang …onto his
boat. He said when on board he
was not responsive and there was
blood coming from his mouth.
“Mr Wang and the person from
the other boat performed CPR on
Mr Huang for around 30 minutes
before a rescue helicopter arrived.
A nearby Navy vessel also
responded to Mr Wang’s mayday
call and the Navy Medic assisted
with CPR. The CPR efforts were
not successful. The Navy vessel
transported Mr Huang’s body back
to shore.”
PNDS
Two days later the Police National
Dive Squad (PNDS) recovered Mr
Huang’s dive equipment reporting
all the equipment was in good
condition. But he had left his fins
in his gearbag, and it appears he
was negatively buoyant. Noted
as well was that Mr Huang was
not wearing a dive watch or any
dive computer and “without one,
a diver is not able to accurately
determine how long they have
been underwater.” Compounding
this, Mr Huang’s depth gauge had
no maximum depth indicator. And
he had no dive knife.
Back to front
It was further identified that the
cylinder had been put into the
BCD back to front which meant Mr
Huang had attached his regulators
upside down so that the low
pressure hose could reach the BCD
inflation connection.
Obsolete leaking regulators
A technician engaged by the
PNDS subsequently advised the
regulators used by Mr Huang had
been obsolete since 1999, and they
had a major leak in both second
stages.
Obstruction
A subsequent test dive using Mr
Huang’s first and second stage
regulators set up in the same
way that Mr Huang’s were set
up showed the diver could not
turn his head to the left without
the regulator being pulled from
his mouth, and the second stage
regulator constantly free flowed
making it difficult to control
breathing. The second stage
regulator was also found not
functioning correctly.
Overweighted
Mr Huang was also found to be
carrying too much weight on his
weight belt and not immediately
abandoning it when in difficulty.
Mr Huang’s BCD did not inflate his
BCD when in difficulty.
Though Mr Huang completed
his PADI dive course in 2013
and, according to his son, went
diving about 12 times a year and
was therefore experienced, the
Coroner found Mr Huang entered
the water without a dive buddy,
did not have his fins on, did not
abandon his weight belt or inflate
his BCD when in difficulty on the
water’s surface, some of his diving
equipment was faulty, he did not
have a dive watch or other timing
device, and had no dive plan.
Coroner Woolley noted that 10
years ago Coroner McDowell had
made recommendations after the
death of a diver at Great Barrier
Island, and since then Coroner
Woolley said he was aware of 26
findings of other coroners in New
Zealand addressing the deaths of
recreational divers.
Given there continues to be diving
deaths from unsafe practices
Coroner Wooley said divers
should:
• Ensure their equipment is
appropriate for their body size
and weight and their planned
dive.
• Wear a dive watch/dive
computer or other appropriate
timing device
• Complete pre-dive checks
before entering the water and
to ensure their equipment is
operating correctly
6 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific