1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident
| Date | 28 May 1973 |
|---|---|
| Time | ~1:30 pm |
| Location | The Shaft (sinkhole near Mount Gambier, South Australia) |
| Cause | Lost exploring cave |
| Participants |
|
| Outcome | Deaths of Stephen L. and Christine M. Millott, Gordon G. Roberts, and John H. Bockerman |
The 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident was a scuba diving incident on 28 May 1973 at a flooded sinkhole known as "The Shaft" near Mount Gambier in South Australia. The incident claimed the lives of four recreational scuba divers: siblings Stephen L.and Christine M. Millott, Gordon G. Roberts, and John H. Bockerman. The four divers explored beyond their own planned limits, without the use of a guideline, and subsequently became lost, eventually exhausting their breathing air and drowning, with their bodies all recovered over the next year. To date, they are the only known fatalities at the site. Four other divers from the same group survived.
The incident was influential in the restriction of access to cave diving venues in Australia, the formation of the Cave Divers Association of Australia later that year, and the development of the South Australian Police Underwater Recovery Squad.