I've just finished reading 16 years worth of ACA, and had some questions about diving fatalities. It seems (to someone who knows nothing about diving) that while diving is inherently much more dangerous than dry caving, there are still a disproportionate number of deaths. So many of the deaths seem preventable, and the safety measures involved seem so vital that ignoring them seems suicidal. Most accidents seem to result from not using a line or running out of air. To me that sounds like going caving without a light or rigging a 200' pit with an 80' rope. Is that a ridiculous misunderstanding of the situation? Are divers more reckless than cavers or is their environment so unforgiving that no mistakes in judgement or equipmental mishaps are survivable? Or are there phsycological factors that explain the otherwise illogical procession of some events. Some accounts are truly mystifying.
Anyway, if any of you with diving experience can help to clarify a bit, I'm interested. I won't be adding diving to my list of pursuits any time soon, but I want to better understand the nature of things in case the time ever comes...that I grow out of my aquaphobic cowardice.