Dewey Smith Dewey Dewayne Smith ( July 24 , 1972 - May 5 , 2009 ) was an underwater diver , former United States Navy medic and professional aquanaut . He died during a dive from the Aquarius underwater habitat off Key Largo in May 2009 . A subsequent investigation determined that multiple factors combined to cause the accident . Life and career . Smith was born in Kirkwood , Missouri , but grew up and lived for most of his life in Panama City , Florida . He served in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman aboard the USS " Peleliu " in San Diego , California , and was honorably discharged after five years of service . He learned to scuba dive while working with Florida State University ' s Underwater Crime Scene Investigation program . Smith graduated from FSU with a B . S . degree in underwater crime scene investigation in 2005 . He subsequently worked as a commercial diver with Miracle Strip Welding & Marine Services and RME - Diver in Panama City Beach , Florida . Smith joined Aquarius , which is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) and operated by the University of North Carolina Wilmington , in 2007 . He worked as a habitat technician and undersea research diver . As part of his work with Aquarius , Smith answered questions from schoolchildren . In August 2007 , Smith took part as a habitat technician in the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 13 ( ) mission , one of a series of NASA - NOAA missions which use Aquarius as an analog environment for space exploration . The NEEMO 13 crew lived and worked underwater aboard Aquarius for ten days . Death . In May 2009 , Smith was aboard Aquarius to train U . S . Navy divers in saturation diving and prepare for upcoming scientific studies in the Conch Reef area . On May 5 , 2009 , Smith was assisting two Navy divers , Bill Dodd and Corey Seymour , who were 300 feet from Aquarius using an underwater jackhammer to install a way station that would contain breathable air . Smith informed Dodd and Seymour that he was returning to Aquarius but would be back . Five or ten minutes later , Seymour noticed that Smith was lying on his side in the water , his mouthpiece out of his mouth . Seymour began carrying Smith back to Aquarius , but his air umbilical became fouled about thirty yards from the habitat . Dodd carried Smith the rest of the distance to Aquarius , where the other divers in the habitat helped them get Smith inside . Resuscitation attempts by Dodd , Seymour , and two Navy physicians who dove to the habitat were unsuccessful . Smith was pronounced dead at 3 : 25 pm by a Navy doctor . His death was the first associated with the Aquarius program . A subsequent investigation by a panel of outside experts determined that Smith ' s death was caused by a combination of three factors : the failure of the electronic functions of his Inspiration closed circuit rebreather ( CCR ) due to hydrodynamic forces from the hydraulic impact hammer being used nearby , Smith ' s inattention to his handset and head up displays , and the other two divers allowing Smith to return to Aquarius alone . The investigation concluded that due to these issues Smith became unconscious from hypoxia and drowned when the mouthpiece came out of his mouth . Saturation and CCR diving at Aquarius were suspended in the wake of Smith ' s death , but the review board recommended that they be resumed with the implementation of additional safety measures . Tributes . Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Brian Baird recognized Smith ' s service on the floor of the U . S . House of Representatives . U . S . Representative Ileana Ros - Lehtinen , whose district includes the Florida Keys and who had met Smith during a visit to the Aquarius facility , also offered a statement of condolence . On May 15 , 2009 , at a panel at International Space Medicine Summit III devoted to human performance in analog environments , astronaut - aquanaut Dafydd Williams , who had participated in two NEEMO missions , asked for a moment of silence in Smith ' s memory . Aquarius donated a Superlite 17 diving helmet , the helmet most frequently worn by Aquarius aquanauts , to the History of Diving Museum in Islamorada , Florida in memory of Smith . Personal life . Smith was a triathlete . He enjoyed playing the drums , tennis , exercising and movies . He was survived by his parents , stepfather , sister and uncle , among others .