List of U.S. caving fatalities
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This is a list of caving fatalities in the United States.
Between 1980 and 2008, there were a total of 877 incident reports involving 1,356 individual cavers documented by the National Speleological Society (NSS) in their annual publication American Caving Accidents (ACA). These incidents often involve multiple factors and injuries for the same caver that are each recorded individually. The most common incident was being unable to exit a cave, such as being stranded or lost, (54%) and the second most common incident was caver fall (24%), resulting in 74% of traumatic injuries. Of the 1,356 cavers rescued over the 28-year period, fatality occurred in 81 (6%), averaging 3 deaths per year.[1]
List of fatalities
| Date | Name | Cause | Cave | Location | Description | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 13, 1925 | Floyd Collins | Starvation | Mammoth Cave | Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky | Floyd became trapped for 14 days after a large rock fell on his leg, eventually dying of starvation and exposure. | [2] | |
| May 28, 1967 | Joe Chiara | Fall | Breathing Cave | Bath County, Virginia | Joe fell 50 feet and eventually died from concussion, a broken neck, and internal injuries. | [3] | |
| Jul 9 1967 | Charles Richter | Fire | Carnegie Cave | Pensylvania | The tar-lined drainpipe entrance caught fire from 2 candles and Charles crawled through the pipe, into the flames. He died 3 days later from burns covering 59% of his body. | [3] | |
| Jul 26, 1967 | Charles Vaught & John Miller | CO poisoning | Staunton Quarry Cave | Virginia | A dynamite blast 3 days earlier left dangerous gases inside the cave. | [3] | |
| Sep 4, 1967 | Douglas Evans | Fall | Vanishing River Cave | New Mexico | Douglas fell 100 feet, eventually dying from his injuries. | [3] | |
| Mar 10, 1999 | Harold Allen (Hal) Bufford | Hypothermia | Ellisons Cave | Walker County, Georgia | Harold became stranded under a waterfall on a rope while ascending a 440-foot-deep pit. | [4] | |
| Apr 6, 1999 | Robert Canady | Suffocation | Hermit Cave | Oklahoma | Robert became wedged at a constriction and was unable to free himself. Inadequate equipment and bad air contributed to this incident. | [4] | |
| Mar 16, 2000 | Paul David Snowburg | Fall | Birds Drop | Virginia | Paul fell down the 150-foot entrance shaft and did not have a harness. | [4] | |
| Sep 30, 2000 | Joe Ivy | Fall | O-9 Well | Texas | Joe fell 40 feet from a rope while ascending and became wedged in a slot he was unable to free himself from. | [4] | |
| Feb 25, 2001 | Aaron Standage | Drowning | Redman Cave | Arizona | Aaron became wedged in a crevice while travelling a flooded passage. | [4] | |
| June 2001 | Jeffrey Wayne Young | Fall/jump | Earthquake 90 Cave | Tennessee | Jeffrey either fell or jumped down a 70-foot pit while not wearing any caving equipment. | [4] | |
| July 4, 2001 | Sharn Cleland | Rockfall | Unnamed | Lancaster County, Pennsylvania | Sharn became pinned under a rockfall and during rescue another collapse killed him. | [4] | |
| Dec 15, 2001 | Dr. John Miller | Heart Attack | Tumbling Rock Cave | Alabama | While exiting the cave, Miller had a heart attack and struck his head after sliding down a slope. | [4] | |
| May 30, 2009 | Robert Jones | Drowning | Blue Springs Cave | Orange City, Florida | Robert drowned while freediving. | [5] | |
| Nov 26, 2009 | John Jones | Cardiac arrest | Nutty Putty Cave | Utah County, Utah | John became stuck upside down in a narrow crevice and died 27 hours later from cardiac arrest. | [6] | |
| Dec 16, 2009 | Steven Troxell | Fall | Sloans Valley Cave System | Pulaski County, Kentucky | Steven slipped while climbing a 30-foot-deep pit, landing on his head. | [7] | |
| Jan 8, 2017 | Charles Odom | Drowning | Eagles Nest Cave | Weeki Wachee, Florida | [8] | ||
| Jan 29, 2017 | Gregory Wilhelm | Drowning | Waianapanapa Freshwater Cave | Maui, Hawaii | Gregory swam with a friend in a cave using his cell phone as a flashlight but the reason for his downing was not determined. | [9] | |
| Jul 18, 2018 | Said Marjane | Drowning | Eagles Nest Cave | Weeki Wachee, Florida | Said drowned while freediving. | [10] | |
| Nov 24, 2019 | Zhou Min | Drowning | Manatee Springs Cave System | Manatee Springs State Park, Florida | Zhou was pushed into a chimney by a strong current, becoming trapped. | [11] | |
| Jun 9, 2020 | Clyde Douglas (Doug) Rorex | Drowning | Hole in the Wall Cave | Marianna, Florida | Clyde ran out of air while diving solo. His computer profile showed he was stopped for about 12 minutes, indicating an event may have kept him in one place. | ||
| Jan 21, 2021 | Thomas Brian Ellis | Drowning | Devil’s Eye Cave System | Ginnie Springs, Florida | Thomas was solo cave diving until losing consciousness due to the slider shut-off valve on the oxygen feed being accidentally closed. | [12] | |
| Oct 14, 2022 | Eric Hahn | Drowning | Roaring River Cave | Missouri | Eric exceeded his maximum operating depth while cave diving, resulting in oxygen toxicity. | [13] |