American Caving Accidents

2006 Accident and Incident Reports on File
31 incidents on file

Last update: August 24, 2007

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Copyright © 2006 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.

The current file of reports for 2006 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.

 2006 Incidents

Date Cave Location Result Incident Type
6 January Wind Cave North Carolina injury, no aid caver fall, knocked unconscious
24 January Lost Creek Cave Georgia aid, no injury stranded, inadequate equipment
8 February Hurricane Cave Georgia injury and aid caver fall, hypothermia
8 February Hualalai Ranch Cave Hawaii injury, no aid caver fall
4 March Sharps Cave West Virginia aid, no injury stranded, exhaustion, inadequate equipment
5 March Raccoon Mountain Caverns Tennessee injury and aid caver fall, dislocated ankle
16 March Indecision Cave Arizona injury and aid caver fall
18 April Rockhouse Cave Missouri injury and aid caver fall
7 May Tongue River Cave Wyoming injury and aid caver fall
14 May unnamed cave on Green Mountain Alabama aid, no injury stranded in pit, descended hand-over-hand
27 May Sloans Valley Cave Kentucky injury and aid stranded, hypothermia
13 June Snail Shell Cave Tennessee aid, no injury lost, stranded
2 July Airmans Cave Texas aid, no injury stranded
9 July Dam #4 Cave Maryland injury and aid caver fall
4 August Glade Cave Virginia aid, no injury stuck, exhaustion
5 August Church Mountain Cave Virginia injury and aid rockfall, broken leg
12 August Fitton Cave Arkansas aid, no injury lost
19 August Bigfoot Cave California injury, no aid rockfall, passage collapse, broken leg
17 August Peppersauce Cave Arizona aid, no injury lost
4 September Langdons Cave Indiana injury and aid stranded in pit, inadequate equipment
16 September Crooked Creek Ice Cave Kentucky injury and aid rockfall
18 September Fitton Cave Arkansas injury and aid caver fall, broken ankle
19 November Cueva Resurgencia  Puerto Rico fatality drowning
23 November Clay Cave West Virginia aid, no injury stuck
25 November Bear Hollow Rift Alabama aid, no injury stranded in pit, exhaustion
25 November Sloans Valley Cave Kentucky fatality caver fall, climbing without belay, no helmet
2 December Viking Cave Alabama injury and aid stranded on rope, exhaustion, suspension trauma
7 December South Pittsburg Pit Tennessee aid, no injury stranded on rope, exhaustion
9 December Sotano de las Guaguas SLP, Mexico fatality caver fall, lost attachment to rappel device during descent
10 December Turtle Graveyard Cave Tennessee injury and aid caver fall, climbing hand-over-hand, inadequate equipment
29 December Antonia Pit Missouri fatality caver fall, climbing hand-over-hand, inadequate equipment

 

Cave Diving Accidents and Incidents

2006 Diving Incidents

Date Cave Location Result Incident Type
14 June Blue Springs Florida injury and aid free-diving in cave entrance, breathed from air pocket, lost consciousness
15 July unnamed cave, Chassahowitzka River Florida fatality inadequate equipment, free-diving in cave

 

Caving-Related Incidents

2006 Caving-related Incidents

Date Cave Location Result Incident Type
4 March sea cave at Sunset Cliffs California aid, no injury surfer washed into sea cave, stranded
6 April volcanic vent near Mammoth Lakes California multiple fatalities asphyxiation, fell into volcanic vent containing bad air
14 July Two Door Cave Hawaii aid, no injury kayakers stranded in sea cave
12 August Rusty's Cave Georgia aid, no injury dog rescued from pit
30 August unspecified cave near Radcliff Kentucky aid, no injury horse rescued from pit

Copyright © 2006 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.