Death of an 8-year-old girl trapped in a pool pipe remains under inves

After the drowning death of an 8-year-old at a northwest Houston hotel, a local pool expert provides insight into how a person could potentially become stuck in a pool pipe.

A young girl was found dead inside a narrow pipe feeding into a northwest Houston hotel's lazy river-like pool Saturday, hours after family members had reported her missing.

After the shocking discovery of the 8-year-old girl fatally wedged inside the pipe, questions began circulating as to how such a tragic accident could occur and how worried families should be about it happening again.

A local pool expert, Nat Sosienski, explained how rare such accidents are in the Houston area, while the Red Cross provided general pool safety information.

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There was a collaborative effort to find the 8-year-old Aliyah Jaico by agencies including the Houston Police Department, Texas EquuSearch and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. They used long poles with cameras to look roughly into a 12- to 16-inch in the lazy river's pool flow system.

After an extensive search of the pipes, someone spotted the child on one of the cameras. The Houston Fire Department recovered the 8-year-old's body and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

Pools have different pipes that people could get stuck in. According to Sosienski, the main drain at the bottom of a pool is a "point of suction." This means the pump holds water in and then pushes the water through filters. Some people could accidentally get trapped in the main drain, but the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act required changes that prevented people from becoming trapped in the drain at the bottom of the pool.

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A lawsuit filed against the local hotel owners claimed Aliyah was found wedged into the pipes of "malfunctioning pool equipment" and sucked into a 12- to 16-inch unsecured gap in the lazy river's pool flow system. ABC13 reported that Texas EquuSearch Founder Tim Miller also said there was a malfunction in a pipe meant to push out water into the lazy pool.

Sosienski said those kinds of pipes are referred to as pool returns. Normally, lazy rivers have a large return that directs the water flow returning to the pool, he added.

The federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act required pool drain covers manufactured or sold in the United States to comply with new entrapment standards such as requiring owners of public pools and spa suction outlet systems to install safety equipment, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services.

The Act became effective in December 2008.

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The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science ruled Aliyah's death as an accidental drowning caused by drowning and "mechanical asphyxia."

Investigators are still trying to find out what caused the pipe, intended to push water out, to malfunction. Sosienki explained most pool returns don't have a lot of code regarding covers.

The Houston Health Department found other violations with the hotel's pool causing the public area to close, however, there was nothing in the new report specifically connected to Aliyah's death.

According to other pool services, public pool owners should check pipes, especially for leaks. If you're in the pool and see an issue, let the owners know as soon as possible.

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Sosienki said the investigation needs to be completed before future prevention plans could be evaluated.

The Red Cross has some public pool safety tips for anyone who is looking to swim this spring:

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