American Caving Accidents

2008 Accident and Incident Reports on File
17
incidents on file

Last update: March 16, 2009

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Copyright © 2008 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.

The current file of reports for 2008 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.

2008 Incidents

Date

Cave

Location

Result

Incident Type

5 January Rio Camuy Puerto Rico fatality rockfall
22 January Cueva El Gran Plano   Puebla, Mexico injury and aid caver fall
20 March Rainbow Cave Tennessee aid, no injury stranded, inexperience, inadequate equipment

30 March

Waterfall Cave

Georgia

aid, no injury

stranded, exhaustion

9 April unspecified cave near Johnson City Tennessee aid, no injury stranded in pit

25 May

unspecified pit, El Malpais National Monument

New Mexico

aid, no injury

stranded in pit, inadequate equipment

30 May

Lava River Cave

Oregon

injury and aid

caver fall

30 June Falls Cliff Cave Vermont aid, no injury caver fall, stuck in crevice
14 July Fulford Cave Colorado injury and aid caver fall
18 July Maquoketa Caves Iowa injury and aid stuck in crevice
18 July Maquoketa Caves Iowa injury and aid caver fall

18 July

Devils Den Cave

Arkansas

aid, no injury

stuck in crevice

21 July

Parachute Cave

Tennessee

injury and aid

caver fall

Summer Fossil Mountain Ice Cave Wyoming aid, no injury stranded
27 July Lechuguilla Cave New Mexico injury and aid caver fall
25 October Fort Stanton Cave New Mexico fatality heart attack in cave
18 December Morgan Cave Tennessee injury and aid caver fall

 

2008 Cave Diving Incidents

Date

Cave

Location

Result

Incident Type

1 February

Forty Fathom Grotto

Florida

fatality

cause unknown

10 March

Devils Eye

Florida

fatality

cause unknown

9 June

Jackson Blue Spring

Florida

fatality

cause unknown

 

2008 Caving-Related Incidents

Date

Cave

Location

Result

Incident Type

29 March

unspecified cave east of No Name Tunnel on I-70

Colorado

fatality

body found in cave

13 April

unspecified  cave off Transmountain Road

Texas

injury and aid

burned man found in cave

15 May

Crystal Cave

California

no consequence

explosives found in cave

2 August School Sink Florida fatality drowned while swimming in cave entrance
21 August unnamed ice cave near Denny Creek Washington injury and aid hikers trapped in ice cave entrance collapse
12 November unnamed sinkhole, Eddy County New Mexico aid, no injury equipment operator trapped by sinkhole collapse
2 December unspecified cave, Christian County Kentucky fatality trench collapse while digging for artifacts in cave entrance

Copyright © 2008 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.