Last update: February 18, 2007
Copyright © 2003, 2005 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.
The current file of reports for 2003 includes the incidents listed below. In some cases the reports are incomplete. If you have information about such incidents or about an incident which is not listed here, please contact the ACA Editor at aca@caves.org or use the online accident report form to report it.
Incidents listed in red are those for which the file is incomplete. The standard information required for an ACA incident summary is listed in the style guide.
2003 Incidents |
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| Date | Cave | Location | Result | Incident Type |
| January 1 | unspecified cave, Estill County | Kentucky | injury and aid | caver fall, broken leg |
| January 11 | Tower Cave | Colorado | injury, no aid | caver fall, inadequate equipment, inexperience (geocacher) |
| January 18 | Cemetery Pit | Georgia | aid, no injury | illness, stranded, difficulty on rope |
| February 1 | Pettyjohns Cave | Georgia | no consequence | caver fall |
| February 20 | Sistema de los Tres Amigos | Oaxaca, Mexico | no consequence | difficulty on rope, dropped ascenders |
| February | Cueva Cheve | Oaxaca, Mexico | injury and aid | hyper-extended knee on rebelay |
| March 4 | unnamed cave near Collegedale | Tennessee | fatality | child fell into cave and drowned |
| March 9 | Gruta del Rio Chontalcuatlan | Guerrero, Mexico | fatality | rockfall, caver fall |
| March 22 | Sinks of the Roundstone | Kentucky | injury, no aid | caver fall |
| March 23 | Tiftonia Pit | Tennessee | aid, no injury | stranded in pit, inadequate equipment |
| March 29 | Womer Cave | Pennsylvania | aid, no injury | rockfall |
| April 15 | Midnight Cave | Texas | aid, no injury | stranded in pit, inadequate equipment |
| April 26 | Laurel Caverns | Pennsylvania | injury and aid | caver fall |
| April 28 | Cave Hill Cave | Illinois | aid, no injury | lost, stranded, inadequate equipment |
| April 28 | Onesquethaw Cave | New York | no consequence | flood entrapment |
| May 10 | Memorial Day Cave | West Virginia | no consequence | flood entrapment |
| May 15 | Fountain Pit | Alabama | injury, no aid | difficulty on rope, stuck at lip on descent |
| May 17 | Buckners Cave | Indiana | aid, no injury | stuck |
| May 19 | Ice cave near Kalispell | Montana | injury and aid | caver fall from ladder, no belay |
| May 25 | Minotaur Cave | Washington | no consequence | lost |
| May 25 | Tongue River Cave | Wyoming | injury and aid | caver fall |
| May 26 | Two Door Cave | Hawaii | aid, no injury | stranded in sea cave |
| June 3 | Lighthouse Cave | California | aid, no injury | stranded in sea cave |
| June 5 | Fort Stanton Cave | New Mexico | injury and aid | caver fall |
| June 14 | Land of the Swirling Mists Cave | Colorado | injury and aid | rockfall entrapment |
| June 16 | Boundary Cave | Kentucky | fatality | flood entrapment |
| June 21 | War Eagle Cave | Alabama | aid, no injury | stranded, difficulty on rope |
| June 28 | Rocky River Cave | Tennessee | injury and aid | caver fall, broken leg |
| July 3 | Lechuguilla Cave | New Mexico | injury, no aid | caver fall |
| July 13 | Climax Cave | Georgia | fatality | drowned while free-diving in sumped passage |
| August 19 | Bear Cave | Pennsylvania | no consequence | lost |
| August 24 | Hubbards Cave | Colorado | aid, no injury | lost, stranded, inadequate equipment |
| September 27 | Omega System | Virginia | fatality | caver fall, rappelling |
| September 27 | Nellies Cave | Virginia | injury, no aid | rockfall |
| October 25 | Bear Cave | Pennsylvania | no consequence | lost |
| November 17 | unspecified lava tube near Kailua | Hawaii | aid, no injury | flood entrapment |
| November 19 | Sotano de las Golondrinas | SLP, Mexico | fatality | caver fall, lost control on rappel |
| November 29 | Wind Cave | New Mexico | aid, no injury | stranded in pit, difficulty on rope |
| December 18 | Hawk Hole | New Mexico | injury and aid | caver fall, descending hand-over-hand |
| December 31 | Schlitz Pit | Arkansas | injury, no aid | rockfall |
Cave Diving Accidents and Incidents |
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2003 Diving Incidents |
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| Date | Cave | Location | Result | Incident Type |
| January 1 | Ocean Blue Hole | Bahamas | two fatalities | cause unknown |
| May 23 | Cow Springs | Florida | fatality | lost consciousness, cause unknown |
| August 16 | Little River Spring | Florida | fatality | cause unknown |
| August 23 | Roubidoux Spring Cave | Missouri | fatality | out of air |
| November 26 | Little River Spring | Florida | fatality | cause unknown |
Caving-Related Incidents |
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2003 Caving-related Incidents |
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| Date | Cave | Location | Result | Incident Type |
| May 26 | Maryland Mine | Idaho | fatality | hypoxia, bad air in mine shaft |
| June 30 | Deer Bone Cave | Alaska | injury, no aid | caver fall while hiking back from cave |
| July 19 | unnamed sea cave at Sunset Cliffs | California | no consequence | body found in sea cave |
| December 20 | unnamed sink, Blount County | Alabama | injury and aid | rockfall entrapment while digging in sink |
Copyright © 2003, 2005 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.