Last update: February 18, 2007
Copyright © 1999, 2005 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.
The current file of reports for 1999 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.
NSS Members can read this ACA issue (and more) online.
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.
1999 Incidents |
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| Date | Cave | Location | Result | Incident Type |
| January 17 | Pettijohns Cave | Georgia | injury, no aid | caver fall |
| January 23 | Diggins Pit | Alabama | aid, no injury | stranded on rope |
| January 23 | Hurricane Ridge Cave | West Virginia | aid, no injury | flood entrapment |
| February 4 | unspecified cave, Green Mountain | Alabama | aid, no injury | stranded, inadequate equipment |
| February 7 | Paradise Cave | Colorado | injury, no aid | caver fall, cable ladder |
| February 13 | Organ Cave | West Virginia | aid, no injury | lost |
| February 14 | Jennings Cave | Florida | injury and aid | caver fall |
| February 15 | Lava Rise E-3 Cave | Hawaii | injury, no aid | caver fall |
| March 10 | Ellisons Cave | Georgia | fatality | stranded on rope, hypothermia |
| April 6 | Hermit Cave | Oklahoma | fatality | stuck, exhaustion, suffocation |
| April 16 | Pettijohns Cave | Georgia | aid, no injury | stranded, inadequate equipment |
| April 21 | New River Cave | Virginia | aid, no injury | lost, stranded |
| April 25 | unspecified cave near Smyrna | Tennessee | injury and aid | caver fall |
| May 5 | Cueva Chorreadero | Mexico | aid, no injury | flood entrapment |
| May 15 | Alleghany Blowhole | Virginia | injury, no aid | caver fall |
| May 21 | Sinking Cove Cave | Tennessee | aid, no injury | lost, stranded |
| May 29 | Crumbly Cave | Tennessee | injury and aid | caver fall |
| May 30 | Angeles Cave, Rio Camuy | Puerto Rico | fatality | drowning, flood entrapment |
| June 5 | King Blair Cave | Indiana | aid, no injury | stranded, inadequate equipment |
| June 12 | The Kids Cave | Alabama | no consequence | rockfall |
| June 16 | Perseverance Cave | Vermont | injury, no aid | struck by crowbar while digging |
| June | Bears Plunge | Alaska | aid, no injury | difficulty on rope |
| July 4 | Bowden Cave | West Virginia | injury and aid | caver fall, inadequate equipment |
| July 24 | Knox Cave | New York | aid, no injury | stuck, stranded |
| July 28 | Nutty Putty Cave | Utah | aid, no injury | stuck, stranded |
| July 31 | Bowden Cave | West Virginia | aid, no injury | stranded, inadequate equipment |
| August 14 | B&G Sinkhole | Utah | aid, no injury | stranded on rope |
| August 22 | Sotano del Aire | Mexico | fatality | rockfall |
| August 28 | Scott Hollow Cave | West Virginia | injury, no aid | caver fall |
| Summer | Dead Man's Cave | Texas | aid, no injury | near-drowning |
| September 11 | Ellisons Cave | Georgia | aid, no injury | stranded in pit |
| September 19 | Knox Cave | New York | no consequence | stuck |
| September 19 | unnamed pit, Lawrence County | Indiana | injury and aid | caver fall, intoxication |
| September 26 | Tongue River Cave | Wyoming | injury and aid | caver fall |
| October 25 | unspecified cave near Eagle Rock | Missouri | injury and aid | caver fall, climbing hand-over-hand |
| October 30 | Guffey Cave | Alabama | injury and aid | rockfall |
| October 31 | Devils Pocket Cave | Alabama | no consequence | rockfall, caver fall |
| November 6 | Tongue River Cave | Wyoming | injury and aid | caver fall |
| November 7 | unspecified Monroe County cave | Illinois | injury, no aid | caver fall |
| November 11 | J-4 Cave | Pennsylvania | injury and aid | caver fall |
| November 13 | Clarksville Cave | New York | aid, no injury | stuck, inexperience |
| November 20 | Cave Mountain Cave | West Virginia | injury and aid | caver fall |
| December 4 | Luminary Pit | Tennessee | aid, no injury | stranded in pit |
| December 11 | Fern Cave | Alabama | injury, no aid | caver fall |
| December 12 | Marshall Cave | Virginia | injury and aid | caver fall (?) |
| December 23 | Sistema Tepepa | Mexico | injury and aid | caver fall |
| December 27 | Boy Scout Cave | Florida | injury and aid | stranded, hypothermia |
Cave Diving Accidents and Incidents |
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1999 Diving Incidents |
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| Date | Cave | Location | Result | Incident Type |
| February 10 | Wakulla Springs | Florida | injury and aid | oxygen toxicity seizure, near- drowning |
| February 15 | Wakulla Springs | Florida | fatality | hypoxia, drowning |
| April 18 | Jackson Blue Spring | Florida | fatality | siltation, out of air, drowning |
| April 26 | Diepolder Springs | Florida | fatality | oxygen toxicity seizure, drowning |
| June 24 | Thunderhole | Florida | aid, no injury | lost, stranded |
| October 17 | Madison Blue Spring | Florida | two fatalities | lost guideline, out of air |
| November 20 | Forty Fathom Grotto | Florida | fatality, injury and aid | unknown problem at depth, drowning, decompression sickness |
Caving-Related Incidents |
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1999 Outside Incidents |
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| Date | Cave | Location | Result | Incident Type |
| June 23 | Lost Creek Cave | Tennessee | no consequence | murder victim left in cave |
| August 10 | unspecified cave | Ohio | no consequence | missing man found hiding in cave |
Copyright © 1999, 2005 National Speleological Society
All Rights Reserved
Do not reproduce in any form, electronic or otherwise, without permission.