Kingfisher Valve Defects
Incident Date
1970-01-01
Incident Description
1970s - Kingfisher valve: an English valve made by Submarine and Safety Engineering Ltd. with an international thread adaptor. This valve was initially much favoured being cheap and apparently good. In practice the first stage could unscrew itself from the adaptor and pieces fell off including the mouthpiece and exhaust fins. The purge button could also jam inside the housing permanently turning the valve on. However all divers managed to extricate themselves.
Lessons Learned
Use suitable demand valves.
| Factors |
|
| Line Management |
Negligible |
| Gas Management |
Negligible |
| Equipment Management |
Negligible |
| Equipment Failure |
Major |
| Training |
Negligible |
| Medical |
Negligible |
| Planning |
Negligible |
| Procedural Error |
Negligible |
| Cave Environment |
Negligible |
| Weather |
Negligible |
| Other Factor |
Unknown |
