Komodo dive instructor reprimanded as incompetent
Posted on June 7th, 2008 in Featured, Travel news -
Indonesian authorities have branded Kathleen Mitchinson - the dive instructor who was leading the dive off the coast of the Indonesian island - As incompetent as she would have know full well the currents in the area.
The authorities are also looking on to allegations that this was a publicity stunt to sell the story to the newspapers.
Its very odd that the dive boat they were supposedly waiting for, was delayed, yet it stayed in the same position well after the divers air would have run out, the dive skipper would also have known the currents the area….
It also begs the questions of the standards of Padi training in the area, and the level of risk assessment carried out before the dive…
Three British divers missing for two days in Indonesian waters have been found alive on a remote beach.
Two other divers, from France and Sweden, are also safe.
Britons Kathleen Mitchinson, Charlotte Allin and James Manning and their two European counterparts had been diving in waters off the Komodo National Park.
Charlotte’s father Dave Allin said his daughter had called to say she was dehydrated and exhausted, and had only cuts and bruises.
Police say the divers were found on Saturday morning on the southern coast of Rinca island, about 20 miles south of their dive site.
Powerful currents had swept them away as they waited for their dive boat.
Scraping shellfish
Speaking from the family home in Northam, near Bideford, in Devon, Mr Allin said his daughter told the family they had been drifting for some time - possibly 12 hours - before one of them saw land.
Her mother Sue said: “I didn’t believe that she was all right until I heard her voice.”
Mr Allin said Charlotte and her boyfriend James Manning, 30, were diving instructors who had been teaching scuba diving in Phi Phi, Thailand, for about two years
Cheaperholidays holiday deals and travel news.