| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Langston, Ron | 33 | Male | Fatality | Not recorded |
On Friday, August 1, Ron Langston (33) and companions were exploring, with scuba equipment, a submerged cave which is the headwaters of Armuchee Creek in Chatooga County, Georgia. To enter a tight place and explore beyond, Langston apparently took off his normal gear and pushed through with only a pony tank containing ten minutes air supply. He then continued "before his diving partners could attach a life-line to him".
Langston did not return and finally his companions were forced to depart and notify the authorities. A Floyd County rescue unit reached the cave at 7:30 p.m. and divers took a look, but were forced to call in experienced cave divers from Atlanta to recover the body.
The body was found wedged into a crack near the entrance. Larry Blair speculates Langston might have panicked with the loss of his air and tried to force himself through, thinking it was the entrance. The body was wedged so tightly it had to be pried free with a shovel. Apparently the dangers of underwater cave exploration don't register on some people until their air runs out in a submerged cave. Why no safety line? Why no rigid time limit? Why alone?
Langston was certified with the National Association of Underwater Instructors and with the YMCA. Yet he was just one of a long line of fatalities in underwater cave exploration, many of which seem to be due to spur-of-the-moment urges which violate one or more rules of good sense and safety. In other words, no natural set of circumstances kills them - rather they seem to create their own set of fatal circumstances. Why?