Incidents:Fatality in Empress

Fatality in Empress
Date	2005/01/22
Location	Empress Canyon
Severity	Fatality
Canyoneering-related	Yes
SAR involvement	No
Navigation problem	No
Swift water problem
Environmental problem	Yes
Communication problem	No
Planning problem	Yes
Skills problem	Yes
Body movement problem	No
Rigging problem	No
Rappel problem	No
Insufficient gear	No
Gear failure	No

Summary

Reproduced from https://canyoning.org.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=55 and the old Australian Accident Register

Accounts

A 32 year old male canyoner died in swirling floodwaters in the second last pool of Empress Falls Canyon. A severe thunderstorm had just hit the surrounding area which dumped a lot of rain and hail that caused all watercourses in the area to flood rapidly. The man was with six others who were approaching the main abseil above Empress Falls proper when the rising waters overtook the group. The other people managed to reach the relative safety of the abseil bolts (on the left side facing downstream). When the victim tried to follow he became trapped in a pool of swirling water. It seems likely that he drowned after being held under water for some time. The back wall of the second last pool before the falls overhangs steeply and below water level it also slopes away steeply. In high water, and because of the way water enters the pool it creates a nasty situation where all surface water moves to the back of the pool and due to the overhanging back wall it's impossible to push off to escape. There has been at least one other near miss at this spot in recent years in high water. At low or medium water levels the pool looks very innocuous. The other canyoners survived the ordeal with some minor injuries.