Due to the serious traces of negligence of safety rules, good diving practice and IANTD standards while conducting the Cave course during which the trainee Krzysztof Betiuk was tragically exposed to unnecessary risk and eventually died, we request IANTD HQ to suspend the Andrzej Kruczkowski’s instructor’s permissions again and to disclose full justification of the IANTD’s decision.
1. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ACCIDENT
Participants of the cave course:
Andrzej Kruczkowski - cave instructor ITT IANTD (organizer and course leader)
Wojciech Nowak – student on the grade IANTD cave instructor
Krzysztof Betiuk – student on the grade cave diver (he died during this course)
Marcel Korkuś - student on the grade cave diver
On 05th January a fatal accident occurred during a technical cave course in the Italian cave Fontanazzi. One of the three trainees died after got stuck in a blind, side narrow corridor. The course was led by ITT IANTD Andrzej Kruczkowski. During the same course a cave instructor course was conducted.
Two days after the accident the candidate for the cave instructor level and participant of this course Wojciech Nowak published the report describing the plan and a sequence of this tragic event (attached below).
The report stated:
The trainees were meant to dive alone within 1 minute intervals, starting from the surface through 30 meters narrow vertical funnel with some restriction along the way. They were supposed to meet the leading instructor at 20-meter depth. There was no fixed gold line connecting the surface with the cave. Krzysztof, who were supposed to dive as the third one, entered the wrong way and few meters further got stuck with head down position in the blind, leading to nowhere route.
This was Krzysztof’s fifth dive during this technical cave course and his fifth cave diving ever. He got stuck so tight that the fourth diver (Wojciech Nowak, the author of the report) who fund him after few minutes was not able to pull him out.
After a quarter or so when the leading instructor returned from the deeper part of the cave (he was in another part of the cave with another trainee during the accident) he was not able to help either and Krzysztof was already dead.
Krzysztof’s body was pulled by the emergency services that needed to take out the body using ropes and pull the cadaver with a few rescuers working on the surface.
2. EXPLANATORY PROCEEDINGS
Andrzej Kruczkowski officially reported to IANTD HQ similar description of this dive. Apart from that the Board appointed by Tom Mount has received the reports of all others participants confirming Wojciech Nowak’s statement that Andrzej Kruczkowski did not supervise tragically dead Krzysztof Betiuk. Nevertheless, IANTD QA Board found that instructor Andrzej Kruczkowski did not violated IANTD standards either good diving practice.
QA Board based on the testimony of all witnesses of the accident and where all participants of this tragic dive admitted to leave Krzysztof Betiuk alone in a cave without supervision, which ended with Krzysztof’s death recognized that the instructor IANTD ITT Andrzej Kruczkowski who was the leading instructor and organizer of this course did not violated standards.
A fragment of the IANTD QA Board statement:
“For it is obvious that there had been no standards violation, which was clearly ascertained by QA Board, consisted on the most experienced and ethical ITT cave instructors, we strongly recommend all of the Andrzej Kruczkowski’s qualifications be retained. Andrzej Kruczkowski is to maintain active teaching status on all of the accomplished levels, due to both QA Board and IANTD HQ decision.”
3. DOUBTS OF THE SYGNATORIES OF THE PROTEST
Polish IANTD Instructors have protested this IANTD QA Board’s decision.
In assessing the violation of standards, the signatories were based on an internal IANTD order.
Standards valid on the day of the accident: THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NITROX AND TECHNICAL DIVERS® (IAND, INC. dba IANTD®) STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES MANUAL FOR RECREATIONAL DIVING INCLUSIVE OF SPORT AND TECHNICAL DIVING Revised: 7/7/2010 – updated March 2015.
Thorough analysis of the standards and honest evaluation of good diving practise leaves no doubt that during the course the standards were not complied in following aspects:
1. The instructor Andrzej Kruczkowski has planned the dive where trainees were expected to dive alone through a difficult bit of a cave only with a line partially laid without supervision. And so, this dive was conducted.
2. Trainee Krzysztof Betiuk was in side mount configuration to which he was not certified, not to even mention multistage SM. Krzysztof Betiuk had at least three side cylinders (one with air, one with nitrox and one with oxygen) during the dive.
3. The ITT Andrzej Kruczkowski had instructor technical cave IT qualifications despite a reasonable suspicion that he did not meet the requirements to obtain such a degree. Andrzej Kruczkowski has completed the IANTD instructor training in August 2011 and in 2014 he became cave IT despite a reasonable suspicion that he did not meet the requirements. As early as 2015 Andrzej Kruczkowski was nominated for ITT by Tom Mount.
4. There is a reasonable suspicion that student Wojciech Nowak did not meet the requirements to join the cave instructor course which he participated when the accident had place.
5. “Intro the cave” part was performed in the cave too difficult to do so due to several restrictions on the entry part, that make it impossible to attend more than one person at the time.
All the issues mentioned above had a direct impact on the Krzysztof Betiuk’s fatal accident to occur.
4. DIVERS SOCIETY VS. IANTD HQ
From the e-mail correspondence between IANTD HQ and signatories it follows that:
• IANTD HQ rejected the request, issued by six IT to re-examine the circumstances of the accident. In the application, the signatories pointed out all the issues suggesting that the standards of cave training conducted by Andrzej Kruczkowski were violated. Because of this violations Krzysztof Betiuk, a twenty nine year old participant of this course, died.
• IANTD QA Board, assigned by Tom Mount, to assess the circumstances of the accident, has consisted of the people identified by Tom Mount as the most competent and experienced. Because members of the board remain anonymous, their actual experience cannot be assessed, nor do they remain free from pressure from IANTD HQ to cover up the case.
• In the absence of a response from the IANTD authorities on a written protest, an open letter was issued and signed by 2 ITT, 5 IT, 34 instructors and 153 divers.
In the response to the open letter, members of the organization, including the signatories of the protest, were informed of an immediate tightening of ethical standard on public speaking in the media on the events of January 5, 2017.
Thus, IANTD members were obliged to keep silent under the threat of consequences from the IANTD authorities.
It was seven IT instructors among the signatories of the open letter:
Sebastian Popek, Łukasz Piórewicz, Marek Cacaj, Krzysztof Starnawski, Tomasz Żabierek, Roman Virt and Sylwester Peknik.
Sebastian Popek, Łukasz Piórewicz and Marek Cacaj were informed, that their IT qualifications would be maintained only if they adhere to the new IANTD ethical standards, which bans negative public speaking in the social media concerning any instructor, instructors’ actions and the IANTD organization itself.
Tomasz Żabierek was immediately deprived of his IT qualifications.
Roman Virt, the ITT Instructor, who first informed Tom Mount about irregularities during conducting the course where Krzysztof Betiuk died, yesterday on 18th Apr received a letter informing about immediate removal from the IANTD.
Krzysztof Starnawski, who owns an e-mail account from which signatories have sent protest, was reported by Tom Mount to the Disciplinary Board of IANTD to verify his ethical behavior. The breach of ethical standards would have supposed to concern the correspondence between Krzysztof Starnawski and Tom Mount where Krzysztof Starnawski called on Tom Mount to re-examine the case and to suspend the qualifications of Andrzej Kruczkowski until the circumstances of the accident and the investigation of the prosecution were completed.
Jacek Lubowiecki has been the only IT, who has revoked the protest. As a reward, he has been given a lead of Polish IANTD office starting from the 01st June 2017.
The current situation forces us to question not only the IANTD QA Board’s reliability, but also the doubts about the moral attitudes of Tom Mount and other members of the IANTD Board.
Leaving this at the current stage will be a green light for all IANTD instructors allowing for impunity for safety violations which will inevitably result in further fatal accidents.
Therefore, if you share our opinion, then please sign up under this statement (it is enough to enter your name and certificate number and the position: IANTD instructor or IANTD diver).
If we do not stop this pathology in our organization tomorrow it might impact each one of you as well.
1. Krzysztof Starnawski IT IANTD#3967
2. Adam Leslie INSTRUKTOR IANTD#8203
3. Radosław Zajkowski INSTRUKTOR IANTD#7343
4. Hubert Grzybek INSTRUKTOR IANTD#9025
5. Robert Prince Pawłowski INSTRUKTOR IANTD#8414
6. Tomasz Trojanowicz INSTRUKTOR IANTD#7724
7. Tymek Podgórczyk INSTRUKTOR IANTD#7779
8. Leszek Gimel IANTD INSTRUKTOR IANTD#9534
9. Rafał Łakomski INSTRUKTOR IANTD#8670
10. Wojtek Komocki INSTRUKTOR IANTD#9092
11. Massimiliano Canossa INSTRUKTOR IANTD#2549 Italy
12. Paweł Gałecki INSTRUKTOR IANTD#9062
13. Jarek Kur INSTRUKTOR IANTD#5068
14. Mariusz Wróbel INSTRUKTOR IANTD#8323
15. Magdalena Saugut INSTRUKTOR IANTD#9435
16. Monika Lelonkiewicz INSTRUKTOR IANTD#7728
17. Grzegorz Reder INSTRUKTOR IANTD#7342
18. Hubert Urbańczyk INSTRUKTOR IANTD#113204
19. Grzegorz Garwoliński INSTRUKTOR IANTD#6934
20. Tomasz Wciórka IANTD#171925
21. Marek Łapiński IANTD#174809
22. Robert Much IANTD#161698 IANTD#142061
23. Gerard Maj IANTD#131398
24. Piotr Zadrowski IANTD#169011
25. Tomasz Zapiór IANTD#171917
26. Paweł Zapiór IANTD#171918
27. Izabela Rynkiewicz IANTD#169112
28. Grzegorz Świątnicki IANTD#186027
29. Ewa Kruk IANTD#165798
30. Michał Marek IANTD#165121
31. Monika Kurzep IANTD#165608
32. Grażyna Mikulewicz IANTD#164529
33. Katerina Peknik IANTD#108020
34. Marcin Jastrzębski IANTD#140110
35. Oliver J. Albrecht IANTD#146824
36. Ryszard Wolschendorf IANTD#4047
37. Sławek Paćko IANTD#111865
38. Anna Rapp IANTD#62803
39. Stanisław Janicki IANTD#179622
40. Sebastian Bodnar IANTD#162800
41. Robert Gruca IANTD#113186
42. Aleksandra Gruca #113187
43. Rafał Rutkowski IANTD#83755
44. Piotr Krych IANTD#169570
45. Paweł Boruta IANTD#167237
46. Katarzyna Leszczyńska IANTD#170146
47. Mateusz Filipp IANTD#97056
48. Sebastian Prędki IANTD#118090
49. Paweł Seweryniuk IANTD#185064
50. Paniczko Sławomir IANTD#110072
51. Anna Bocheńska IANTD#160942
52. Michał Gignal IANTD#60052
53. Agata Isajew, IANTD#176130
54. Tomasz Siwy IANTD#115540
55. David Zaras IANTD#162137
56. Tomasz Jeżewski IANTD#163700
57. Łukasz Potyra IANTD#77363
58. Jarek Matyga IANTD#171593
59. Agata Wiesiołek IANTD#173621
60. Radosław Bieliński IANTD#110070
61. Robert Goszczyński IANTD #121299
62. Adam Borkowski IANTD#122196
63. Maciej Jarząbek IANTD#175712
64. Sebastian Wąsowicz IANTD#160888
65. Krzysztof Rejer CCR IANTD#173536
66. Bartosz Ciomcia IANTD#144591
67. Michał Stańko IANTD#175607
68. Ania Ciura IANTD#170195
69. Krzysztof Burza IANTD#100885
70. Michał Winek IANTD#82975
71. Katarzyna Kapłan IANTD#82571
72. Łukasz Lechowicz IANTD#67572
73. Michał Gwiżdż IANTD#119299
74. Andrzej Piekarski IANTD#179215
75. Tomasz Machalski IANTD#82529
76. Rafał Duda IANTD#184933
77. Maciej Bulkowski IANTD#163668
78. Aneta Porada IANTD#173435
79. Jarosław Kwiatkowski IANTD#136357
80. Jowita Kozana IANTD#118014
81. Stanislaw Krzeptowski - Sabała IANTD#138648
82. Grzegorz Chimiak IANTD#170200
83. Zbigniew Żytkowiak IANTD#185991
84. Izabela Kruk IANTD#179112
85. Daniel Ostrowski IANTD#161993
86. Tomasz Michura IANTD#130454
87. Adam Seweryn IANTD#101720
88. Małgorzata Machalska IANTD#85238
89. Łukasz Bulsiewicz IANTD#178648
90. Bartek Witul IANTD#170082
91. Jacek Mazur IANTD#176316
92. Andrzej Holka IANTD#119594
93. Tomasz Czubkowski IANTD#169568
94. Izabela Kącka IANTD#185046
95. Dariusz Bułka IANTD#116700
96. Maciek Ogrodnik IANTD#170199
97. Małgorzata Barańska IANTD#136364
98. Bartłomiej Kamiński IANTD#161712
99. Michał Leszczyński IANTD#170147
100. Michał Piekarewicz IANTD#186434
101. Ryszard Gmiter IANTD#108047
102. Krzysztof Puciaty IANTD#16654
103. Robert Karaszewski IANTD#176869
104. Dariusz Dynarzewski IANTD#8002
105. Adam Jaworski IANTD#160900
106. Jarek Macedoński IANTD#170198
107. Monika Ławrynowicz IANTD#117622
108. Paweł Dubiel IANTD#162780
109. Gracjan Stec IANTD #164535
110. Tomasz Wójcik IANTD#77825
111. Robert Malinowski IANTD#175731
112. Tomek Dąbrowa IANTD#119300
113. Jacek Kapczuk IANTD#164475
114. Irena Gilwatowska IANTD#165166
115. Emilian Stęchlicki IANTD#178746
116. Krzysztof Ślusarczyk IANTD#185065
117. Tomasz Płociński IANTD#119541
118. Marcin Tracz IANTD#178725
119. Tomek Rzepecki IANTD#108861
120. Marcin Królik IANTD#176212
121. Chrystian Przybylski IANTD#99122
122. Jacek Marek IANTD#170086
123. Artur Mielcarek IANTD #144637
124. Konrad Małek IANTD#176127
125. Rafał Tomaszewski IANTD#176129
126. Gabriela Grézlová IANTD#135067
127. Agnieszka Bariatien IANTD#178640
128. Piotr Łoś IANDT#161718
129. Paweł Nowacki IANTD#138519
130. Konrad Stachowicz IANTD#171933
131. Jezzy Wo IANTD#???
132. Zbigniew Zborowski IANTD#???
133. Victoria Iwanowska IANTD#???
134. Marcin Jamkowski IANTD#???
135. Lucyna Łukaszów IANTD#173431
136. Marzena Rudak-Stęchlicka IANTD#170196
137. Marczello Georgiew IANTD#460348
138. Jakub Pawlak IANTD#169515
139. Piotr Ginter IANTD#165455
140. Bartek Wiendlocha IANTD#120790
141. Jarosław Czapla IANTD#162885
142. Grzegorz Stępień IANTD#67706
143. Krzysztof Biały IANTD#66693
144. Adam Kulczycki IANTD#64345
145. Adam Słucki IANTD#7811
146. Aleksandra Stępień IANTD#87759
147. Damian Idzikowski IANTD#122279
148. Adrian Sapota IANTD#179563
149. Zbigniew Witul IANTD#170083
150. Andrzej Zwetler IANTD#81715
151. Paweł Smolarkiewicz IANTD#96771
152. Ondřej Kopecký IANTD#68483
153. Andrzej Golka IANTD#104857
Attachments to letter to Tom Mount:
1. Wojciech Nowak's explanation:
http://serwer1774609.home.pl/ fontanazziaccident/ explenations%20Wojciech%20N owak.jpg
2. 1st INTERNAL LETTER to IANTD dated 4 March 2017:
http://serwer1774609.home.pl/ fontanazziaccident/ 1st%20INTERNAL%20LETTER%20t o%20IANTD%20dated%204%20Ma rch%202017.jpg
3. "New IANTD's ethical standards" - received from Aleksander Mikula on 13 March 2017 after accident in Fontanazzi cave:
http://serwer1774609.home.pl/ fontanazziaccident/ IANTD%20nev%20standards.jpg
4. 1st OPEN LETTER dated 21 March 2017:
http://serwer1774609.home.pl/ fontanazziaccident/ 1st%20OPEN%20LETTER%20dated %2021%20March%202017.pdf
5. Summary of letter from Tom Mount to Instructors dated 22 March 2017:
http://serwer1774609.home.pl/ fontanazziaccident/ Summary%20of%20letter%20fro m%20Tom%20Mount%20to%20Ins tructors%20dated%2022%20Ma rch%202017.pdf
6. Letter from Instructors to Tom Mount dated 24 March 2017:
http://serwer1774609.home.pl/ fontanazziaccident/ Letter%20from%20Instructors %20to%20Tom%20Mount%20date d%2024%20March%202017.pdf
7. The official letter from IANTD HQ to Krzysztof Starnawski dated 25 March 2017
http://serwer1774609.home.pl/ fontanazziaccident/ The%20official%20letter%20f rom%20IANTD%20HQ%20to%20Kr zysztof%20Starnawski%20dat ed%2025%20March%202017.png
Movie showing Fontanazzi cave
https://vimeo.com/212415090
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Originally Posted by AzTek Diver
