No injured cavers recorded.
In the spring of 1979 there was an accident in Jam-up Cave on the Jack's Fork River in Missouri. The injured man was at the bottom of a 30 foot shaft. He was placed in a Stokes litter and a winch cable was attached. A rescuer was also attached to the cable to steady the litter on the way up: A lift was attempted and had progressed about 12 to 15 feet when the rescuer with the litter signaled for a halt. The litter had become lodged in a crevice. It was freed and there followed a signal for the lift to continue. At this point the head end of the litter broke and the whole litter fell back down, barely missing two rescuers below. The rescuer on the cable was lowered to the bottom, where he rechecked the victim, maintaining an airway. It was then arranged to have enough men brought in to carry the victim out through an alternate passage.
ANALYSIS: This appears to be the second example in recent years of the power of a winch proving too great for the litter or the hardware attaching it to the winch cable. The problem seems to be that when the litter hangs up on a ledge, or gets caught in a crevice, there is too much delay before the winch can be stoped. The power of the winch thus damages the hung-up litter or its attachment to the cable. The obvious recommendation, I guess, would be that, if a winch must be used, it not be more powerful than the strength of the litter or attachment hardware. It might also be possible, though, to improve signals to the point where there is no delay. At least in this case the victim survived. In the previous one he did not.