PADI Faces Liability for Linnea Mills Death: My Hopes For The Legacy Of The Lady In The Lake

A Judge in Montana has decided PADI must face a Jury to decide if it is vicariously liable for the tragic and highly preventable death of SCUBA diver Linnea Mills. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors Worldwide Corporation is denying vicarious responsibility for the November 2020 death of Linnea Mills, according to a document filed April 4 in Missoula County District Court.

PADI claim that all of their Instructor's are held to a high standard and mointored by PADI, but Instructors are not 'agents' of PADI... well, which is it? Because you can't have it both ways, PADI! Either you are responsible for the oversight of your Instructors, you have control over them, which means they are agents of PADI, or you admit you have no quality assurance and no control over who teaches PADI programs.

Let me know in the comments what you think.

Thanks for watching. D.S.D.O

James
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
What do we dive? Our full and independently chosen gear choices are here:
------------------------------------------------
Connect with Divers Ready!:

Twitter: @diversready
------------------------------------------------
FOR MORE INFORMATION or to collaborate with Divers Ready! you can reach out to us via our website:

-----------------------------------------------

These links are affiliate links. Purchases made through these links may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you and I thank you for your support. Also note I use links from Family-Owned Dive Shops who are smart enough to use Amazon as their e-commerce platform, because it's 2022.

If you want to take a PERSONALIZED dive course at any level with James from Divers Ready, you can contact us here:

-----------------------------------------------
***Disclaimer: Divers Ready! firmly believes you can not teach someone to dive through the internet. We strongly urge people to ensure they receive dive instruction through an internationally recognized training agency and to dive safely and within the limits of their certification level at all times. Our channel is aimed at already-certified divers looking to further their skills.***

----------------------------------------------
In accordance with COPPA laws, please note that content on the channel Divers Ready is not specifically made for, or targeted at, children.
----------------------------------------------

Dive Safe. Dive Often.
#scubadiving #diversready #improveinspireexplore

Music used under license. Get yours here!

Though we are based in Florida, Hawaii, California, and Michigan have 100 ft and 300 ft ocean and lake underwater coral reef, shipwreck, cave diving, freediving, scuba diving, and closed circuit rebreather trips. To learn full face mask, beginner scuba diver, advanced scuba diver, tech scuba diver, cave diver you can reach out to a professional scuba diver. Everyone should get scuba diving insurance with Divers Alert Network.

We support all types of diving that can be found at PADI, DALLMYD, Dive Talk where they talk about cave divers react, Waterline Academy and BlueWorld TV.

We support all types of diving products, like a full face mask, fins, BCD, dive computer, regulators, closed circuit rebreather, underwater scooter, from many companies like Simply Scuba, Mares, Dive Rite, Cressi, Zeagle, Huish, Hollis, Scubapro, Shearwater, Garmin.

Over the years we have dived the best places like South Africa, Australia Great Barrier Reef, Belize, Honduras, Palau Micronesia, Bahamas, Mexico, Bonaire to see sharks, fish, coral, sites that the National Geographics would go to. We plan to follow Tourpia, Fearless & Fun, Drew Binsky and companies like Expedia, Jetsetter and Mojo Travelers to Egypt Red Sea, Indonesia, Thailand, Galapagos, Maldives, Cozumel and Cocos Islands Costa Rica in the near future.

PADI Faces Liability for Linnea Mills Death: My Hopes For The Legacy Of The Lady In The Lake

[zoecooper]

Linnea was the sweetest person I’ve ever known and I’m so grateful to have been her friend. I’ll never forget the day my mom had to tell me what happened to her and even worse having to keep learning new tragic facts about the disgusting negligence that caused her death. Thank you for covering her story and continuing to bring awareness. It doesn’t feel like 2 years has gone by, her death is still incredibly painful to think about for everyone who loved her.

[bigrich]

I started diving when I was 11 in 1967 when instructors were mostly former frogmen. They put you through torture by today’s standards. Doff and Don in deep water, pulling your mask off and making you find it and clear it, cutting your air off, etc etc. That was all par for the course. I was the youngest in the class by a decade, but was a fish and had no problem. I went on to be a NAUI, PADI and SDI instructor, and I’m glad to see the idea that everyone can dive or instruct, come under scrutiny. I’ve told many people over the years that they should not dive, because it was clear that they were doing it for the wrong reason — for a spouse, a boyfriend or some other reason, but not only didn’t have a passion for diving, they had an irrational fear of the water. I’ve also taught people to dive that were dying of cancer and diving was on their bucket list, and I was happy to do it. There are some people who should not dive or instruct. Maybe this will return some sanity to the dive industry.

[DevinBaillie]

My oldest son got his junior OW at 11 (and I got my OW at the same time). Our open water training dives were done in Victoria, Canada, in drysuits.
We did a confined water orientation and had properly functioning drysuits. On our first training dive, my son didn't add enough air to his suit or equalize his mask, got a bit of a squeeze and surfaced again.
He struggled for a bit, but between the cold, the discomfort of the drysuit in general, and now the added discomfort of the squeeze, he wasn't able to do it and the instructor called off the dive.
We returned to the boat, talked it over with him, and my son was able to complete the rest of the dives, do all the skills, and complete his certification.
We were on vacation at the time and had very limited time to dive, and our instructor knew that, and knew that cancelling the dive might mean we didn't get out certifications that trip, but he was willing to do it anyways, even knowing we might be pissed off that we didn't finish our course.
That's how it should be done. When something goes wrong, you try to fix it, and if you can't, you call off the dive.

[subaquarescuesystems]

Great video James. I have not renewed my PADI instructor this year as a result of PADI continuing down the path of creating inept instructors. I was originally certified as a PADI instructor in 1981. Twelve of us were in the course and myself and two others passed it. For 41 years I was a member but I finally got disgusted with their on going watering down of standards and charging more for renewals and course materials. Thanks again for your forthrightness in telling it as it should be told.

[vincentsubmarinismo]

One of the saddest diving " accidents" I can recall.
So upsetting because it was so preventable.
In my humble opinion the dive center operators are guilty of negligent manslaughter.
Well spoken piece, I agree with every single word, and I share your anger.
R.I.P Linnea 🙏

[davidster]

My father was a PADI master diver Instructor in Iowa from PADI's beginning. He was also A Navy swimmer (pre UDT, SEAL TEAMS), salvage diver, and submarine lockout diver. He taught over 2000 students over a 30 year period. He also wrote the first book on under water search and recovery. Diving truly was his life. He never lost a student. To him, safety was of top priority and he could explain why. If he didn't think you could cut it, he told you. Sadly he passed away in 2018.

PADI put him on suspension in I think the 80's for teaching students life saving techniques like buddy breathing if you don't have an octopus. Back then an octopus was a rarity/lugsury. PADI's lawiers view, it seams was dead people can't Sue, if they tried something to save themselves and drown in the process. Back then becoming an instructor was real serious work. The open water diver pool final was a writen test on plastic sheet at the bottom of the deep end in pencil. Other instructors would flood your mask etc to simulate a stressful situation with your mind on something else. His classes were almost always full. There were very few divers back then that I wouldnt bet my life on. It appears from what I have seen and heard, PADI has a long history of negligance and deserves to get there butt kicked in court.

[grene]

Don't apologize. You are right on. I am a rec driver, about 250 dives. PADI certified in open water, Advanced Diver, Dry suit, Nitrox. I have to say, my initial dive instructor was excellent, and I felt comfortable doing my first dives. When I took my Advanced class, my instructor entered the water having not zipped his dry suit closed. This in in Puget Sound, cold and dark water. He of course immediately flooded, got out, and had his assistant instructor complete my dive. I wrote it off at the time.... anyone can make a dumb mistake. Now of course, I realize he was not a qualified instructor, regardless of certifications. Now I am taking a refresher course, to make sure I am qualified to do the kind of diving I want to do.

[christianhansfort]

As a reasonably new scuba diver (started in Aug 2017 after having been a free diver since 6 yo) AND 2 decades of skydiving experience I was nothing less than AMAZED by how “easy” instructor credentials are obtained in scuba diving with NO real connection between real experience and what instructor level are available at X or Y experience level.

Keep up the good work, mate.

[joshhart]

This is your best video. Thank you for saying publicly and to a wider audience what so many of us have felt about this horrific tragedy since it occurred. People deserve to know.

[jasonharris]

Thank you.

When I first read about the accident I was like you, thoroughly livid that this was even allowed to reach the point it did. Then when I heard no criminal charges would be pursued I had to walk away. I also hope some changes come from this. Thank you again for voicing what I'm quite certain many instructors have been thinking.

P.S. a no retry policy is a tad harsh, a minimum wait or (even better) a required remedial training, would make sense.

[danieltakawi]

This video opened my eyes so much. I did not realise just how blindly I trusted my instructors & Padi. Thankfully I had a great instructor & hopefully many to come. I learned I need to assess everyone I dive with, including my instructors. Thankfully I learned it quickly in my diving journey. Hopefully I never forget it for a moment.

[data]

As a dry suit man myself this really hits home with me. I share your anger and have been reading about this today. No hose! I have felt my suits squeeze and it is hard to inflate your lungs until you inflate them. Seriously heart breaking. And then the weight! I'm only a sport diver but I am going to push this video onto my club to have annual dry suit drills and skills for all members.

[tomkaufer]

Spot on mate! I was certified as a PADI Instructor in 1976. I thought thru New England Divers in Seattle. I also graduated from the Marine Tech program at Highline College. Back then the focus was not on proficiency, but gear sales. My exposure to the whole lack of skilled proficiency did not mesh with the skills being thought in my Marine Tech training, which was a nationally recognized commercial diving program. After the class that opened my eyes to the sales side of things, I said goodbye to PADI instruction, and I never regretted it for a minute. An instructor led dive with a student in a dry suit w/o an inflator hose AND unditchable weight is criminally stupid and incredibly negligent. May she Rest In Peace🙏

[mikesbigadventures]

I’m a new PADI DM and I agree 100%. I’m friends with a number of instructors who are very good because they purposely go beyond. I wouldn’t be lying if I told you a number of us are thinking of jumping to SDI TDI for the reasons you mention

[frustin]

Good video - I'm a novice at 16 dives to date and have been considering my adv open water with PADI - at 7:00 you say instructors should leave PADI, where should they go? SSI?

[johnwilliamsscuba]

Wow James, on a happier note I was on a dive boat several weeks ago, a gentleman showed up and said he was Advanced Open Water and met the criteria blah blah blah. And he showed a level of ineptitude that the Dive Master and boat captain told him to leave and that they would refund his money. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do as a paying customer but this guy was dangerous to himself and anybody near. Thank goodness they took appropriate action. (They were PADI).

[lydialeigh]

Thank you for calling it what it is, James. I read up on Linnea’s death and have also followed the updates. I too am horrified by the gross negligence of this instructor and dive shop. I am glad you are speaking up for her and for her family. I hope some swift changes will occur in diving protocols because of Linnea.

[garysmitherman]

As a fellow Englishman, wise words said with passion, You are spot on with your observations on the slack standards that are out there by some, not all PADI instructors. It is up to PADI to sort their methodology out and the certification standards of the instructors. In the UK this would probably have been dealt with by the health and safety at work act where there are unlimited sentence powers given to the court where you commit a criminal office if convicted at court. Let's hope this tragic story has some meaningful improvement in the regulation of instruction given.

[dustinhumbert]

Thanks for this honest and meaningful video. This was a very senseless death, which was absolutely avoidable. You honor the sport and the young lady by making certain her death is not forgotten or repeated. Great job again on another video. Be safe and take care.

[diverrite]

No Fed charges because the Fed person on site said move the car off the beach and the went home. Fed don't want to their guy charged for murder.