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Rescuers say wrong turn trapped Maldives cave divers - MSN

msn.com

A single wrong turn in a Maldives cave dive turned fatal — a chilling real-world case study in how cascading errors and disorientation traps even experienced divers.

Swiss Cheese ModelError Chain TheoryNaturalistic Decision MakingRisk Homeostasis

Theory Briefing

  • Rescuers concluded a wrong turn inside the underwater cave system led to the divers becoming fatally trapped, driving the investigation's key findings.
  • Cave diving disorientation follows a well-documented error-chain pattern — one navigational mistake compounds into an unrecoverable sequence of failures.
  • The wrong-turn theory reframes the accident from external hazard to human-factors failure, raising urgent questions about risk assessment and dive planning protocols.