Last Update: February 18, 2007
Copyright © 1997, 2005 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.
The current file of reports for 1994 includes the incidents listed below. These reports were published in the 1994-95 issue of American Caving Accidents in December 1997. If you have information about an incident which is not listed here, please contact the ACA Editor, Bill Putnam, at putnam@scci.org or use the online accident report form to report it.
1994 Reported Caving Incidents
| January 94 | Mammoth Cave | KY | rockfall |
| 5 February | Caballo Cave | NM | rockfall, fatality |
| 5 February | Nutty Putty Cave | UT | caver fall |
| 6 February | Fisher Ridge Cave | KY | equipment failure, hypothermia |
| 14 February | Sloans Valley Cave | KY | lost |
| February | Aire Fresco Cave | Mexico | difficulty in swim |
| February | El Chorreadero | Mexico | caver fall |
| 5 March | Hush Hush Cave | UT | bomb scare, stuck on rope |
| 12 March | Sinnett-Thorn Cave | WV | lost |
| 22 March | Los Juanitos | Mexico | bad air |
| 26 March | Pine Hill Cave | KY | caver fall |
| March | Bowden Cave | WV | lost |
| March | Sotano de San Augustin | Mexico | equipment failure, caver fall |
| March | Sotano de San Augustin | Mexico | chopped rope |
| March | Sotano de San Augustin | Mexico | rack rigged backwards |
| 17 April | Picnic Cave | AR | rockfall |
| April | Lechuguilla Cave | NM | caver fall |
| Spring | Valhalla | AL | glove caught in rappel rack |
| 1 May | Fulford Cave | CO | caver fall, no helmet |
| 5 May | Norman Cave | WV | caver fall |
| 5 May | Sotano de San Augustin | MX | insulin imbalance |
| 7 May | Lone Bat Cave | AL | stranded, no backup light |
| 21 May | Crystal Ice Cave | ID | stranded in pit, inexperience |
| 21 May | Paradise Lost Cave | IN | caver fall, inadequate equipment |
| 22 May. | Formation Pit | AL | stranded in pit, no equipment |
| 23 May | Pinnacles Cave | NV | caver fall, hypothermia |
| 27 May | Puckett Cave | AL | rockfall |
| 28 May | Buffalo Creek Cave | KY | equipment failure, acetylene hazard |
| 28 May | Devils Dungeon | AL | stranded in pit, no ascenders |
| 12 June | Laurel Caverns | PA | caver fall |
| 15 June | Pozo del la Escalera Cristal | MX | rockfall |
| 15 June | Sloans Valley Cave | KY | lightning |
| 17 June | Cueva del Brinco | MX | flood entrapment |
| June | Emerald Sink Cave | TX | histoplasmosis |
| June | Unknown cave in Stone County | AR | hand injury |
| 5 July | Lechuguilla Cave | NM | histoplasmosis, exhaustion |
| 6 July | Beaver Falls Cave | AK | rockfall |
| 9 July | Junkyard Cave | TN | caver fall |
| 13 July | Snowhole | AK | stuck |
| 16 July | Great Expectations Cave | TN | rockfall |
| 21 July | Blowing In The Wind Cave | AK | rockfall |
| 5 August | Keauhou sea cave | HI | washed out to sea from sea cave |
| 6 August | J-4 Cave | PA | caver fall |
| 6 August | Three Fingers Cave | NM | rockfall |
| 9 August | Endless Cave | IN | stranded, inadequate equipment |
| 13 August | Barrack-Zourie Cave | NY | exhaustion |
| 13 August | Doghill-Donnahue Cave | IN | caver fall |
| 17 August | Oregon Caves National Monument | OR | caver fall |
| 20 August | Stolen Well | AL | lost, stranded |
| 27 August | Bakers Hole | IH | stranded on rope |
| 27 August | Fern Cave | AL | stranded in pit, exhaustion |
| 4 September | Cass Cave | WV | stuck on rope, inexperience |
| 4 September | Raccoon Mountain Caverns | TN | caver fall |
| 10 September | Bowden Cave | WV | caver fall |
| 11 September | New Trout Cave | WV | lost, stranded, light failure |
| 18 September | Sloans Valley Cave | KY | lost |
| 25 September | Sloans Valley Cave | KY | equipment failure, caver fall |
| 8 October | Pettijohns Cave | GA | caver fall |
| 15 October | Doghill-Donnahue Cave | IN | lost |
| 15 October | Greenville Saltpeter Cave | WV | lost, stranded, light failure |
| 15 October | Hughes Cave | AL | lost |
| 15 October | Turkey Cave | VA | bad air |
| 19 October | Fisher Ridge Cave System | KY | acetylene explosion |
| 19 October | Lechuguilla Cave | NM | rockfall |
| 21 October | Lechuguilla Cave | NM | stuck |
| 29 October | unspecified cave at Optimist Boys Club Camp | IN | stranded, light failure |
| 30 October | Weybridge Cave | VT | caver fall, out of control rappel |
| 19 November | Millers Cave | KY | lost, inadequate equipment |
| 19 November | Ganter Cave | KY | trapped, lost key |
| 26 November | Onyx Cave | AZ | caver fall |
| 5 December | Lawrence Welk Cave | CA | lost |
| 11 December | Manitou Cave | CO | rockfall |
| 12 December | Reeves Cave | IN | lost, light failure, inadequate equipment |
| 17 December | Cass Cave | WV | dropped pack, acetylene hazard |
| 21 December | Safford Shafts | AZ | explosion, entrapment |
| 26 December | Spanish Moss Cave | UT | stranded on rope, exhaustion |
| December | unnamed cave in the Berkshires | MA | rockfall |
1994 Caving-Related Outside Incidents
| Date | Cave | Location | Result | Incident Type |
| 1 April | unnamed sinkhole | Maryland | fatality | drove car into sinkhole |
| July | Desoto Falls State Park | Alabama | aid, no injury | difficulty on rope, hair caught in rack |
1994 Cave Diving Accident and Incident Reports on File
| Date | Cave | Location | Synopsis |
| February | unnamed island sea cave | Bahamas | lost, stranded while snorkeling in cave |
| 27 March | Sotano de San Augustin | Mexico | fatality, lost consciousness during solo dive |
| 6 April | Zacaton | Mexico | fatality, lost consciousness during deep dive |
| April | Abaco Blue Hole | Bahamas | three fatalities, out of air |
| May | Convict Springs | Florida | two fatalities, out of air |
| May | Zoo Hole | Bahamas | two fatalities, out of air, inadequate equipment |
| 17 July | Bakerton limestone mine | West Virginia | fatality, equipment problem, rapid ascent |
Copyright © 1997, 2005 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.