23 Hour Surface Interval Before Flying

[Doc]

It'll take you that long to get through TSA

 

[RonFrank]

I do not dive the day before flying but that's my policy. The recommendation is a 24 hour no fly time which assumes you have been doing multiple dives over many days. If you are not diving daily then the no fly time may be reduced. My bet is your fine. I would keep the dives shallow the day before the flight.

 

[clarydavis]

make the dives, if you are nitrox certified then use it... refer to your personal computer as well as the amount of air you consume at what rates... be safe... you should have plenty of time if its more than 18 hours and you extend your safety stops a bit to be overly cautious. the tables are the guide, but an air integrated computer will assist you the most... if you are comfortable dive, if not don't....

 

[endurodog]

PADI and DAN standards are 18 hours after multi days of diving and 12 hours after a single dive. Many of the computers default to the old standard of 24 hours. DAN is the recongnized recreational leader in DCS issues and PADI is the largest cert agency in the world so you have some backing on the 18/12.

 

[vladimir]

Here's a pretty good analysis by DAN:

You could decide to wait for 12 hours before your flight, and have an estimated 1 percent risk of Definite DCS and approximately 2 percent risk of Ambiguous DCS. If you want to keep your level of risk at zero, then don't dive or don't fly. Every time you dive, you are subjecting yourself to a risk of DCS. No tables guarantee absolute safety.
In making decisions about risk, you can look to existing guidelines and practical experience for clues, such as the 12-hour flying-after-diving guideline. The estimated DCS probability for this surface interval is about 1 percent. Another clue is the estimated probability for a 55-minute dive to 60 feet. The estimated risk of DCS is 0.5-1.0 percent for this dive. We have far to go before we are comfortable with our estimates of DCS probability, but the information we've gathered thus far is already making decompression safety less mysterious.
If these decisions seem arbitrary to you, keep in mind that there is no "right" or "wrong" when deciding whether a profile is "safe" or "unsafe." Whatever preflight surface interval you choose, whether by guess or by probability estimate, there will be some DCS risk - there is no way to avoid it. Our goal at DAN is to develop information that can help you, the diver, make these choices as rationally as possible.

 

[DandyDon]

I do not dive the day before flying but that's my policy. The recommendation is a 24 hour no fly time which assumes you have been doing multiple dives over many days.

Whose recommendation? Not DAN's or any other recognized dive organization I know of. DAN has had the 18 hours after multiple days of diving for 10 years that I can remember.

Many dive computers have 24 hour countdowns but I suspect that's just to sell computers to divers who have heard some claim that 24 hours was safer - even tho there is no support for those claims as DAN studies found no real increase in safety by padding the extra 6 hours.

If I had a 1pm flight, I wouldn't do any night dives the day before - but I'm fine with afternoon dives. It takes me over 18 hours to wash, dry, and pack my gear then get to the airport.

 

[cascas]

Whatever rule or computer, or table... Nowhere you look you will find a rule of not flying more than 24 hours.
You are 23,5 hours before flying. That half hour will not cause a problem even if you were to dive some real aggressive dives.

Remember, your air-plane has a pressure cabin, the pressure inside the cabin will be at 80% sealevel pressure (0.8 ATA) at cruising altitude. That will not get you into trouble. What may get you into trouble is a sudden decompression if the air-plane has a problem. When that happens, DCS is the least of your problems

Go dive, fly and have fun !

 

[RonFrank]

Whose recommendation? Not DAN's or any other recognized dive organization I know of. DAN has had the 18 hours after multiple days of diving for 10 years that I can remember.

* For dives requiring decompression stops, there is little evidence on which to base a recommendation and a preflight surface interval substantially longer than 18 hours appears prudent.

I often dive in situations where if I had to call/end the dive early I would have a deco obligation. Like Devils throat, or even Speigel Grove. So I fall under the above guideline and I take the no fly rule seriously. That is a DAN recommendation which you indicated you Liked.

I rarely fly and dive in the same 48 hours. This is what I do. You do what you want.

 

[endurodog]

Just to be clear to everyone here is the DAN study http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/files/FADWkshpBook_web.pdf


Without reading the whole thing here is the short and to the point from page 7 of the study (covers recommended minimums for single dives, multi day dives and deco dives all though I think the OP wasn't talking about deco dives, but I could be wrong there).

For a single no-decompression dive, a minimum
preflight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested.
For multiple dives per day or multiple days of diving,
a minimum preflight surface interval of 18 hours is
suggested.
For dives requiring decompression stops, there is little
evidence on which to base a recommendation, and a
preflight surface interval substantially longer than 18
hours appears prudent.

 

[cascas]

Manage your ascents, don't exceed 10 m/min ( 30ft/min) during the deeper part (> 15 m/45ft ) of your dive and 3 m/min ( 10 ft/min) in the shallower part (<10m /30ft). And you will be fine flying 18 hours after your dive...

The pressure drop in a pressurized air-plane cabin equals 2 m / 6 feet of water pressure. That really is nothing much to worry about. Providing the pressure doesn't suddenly drop.

I know about technical divers that do dives that exceed 50m/150ft with runtimes of over 5 hours (talking about deco dives ) who will pack their gear, drive over to the airport and take off within hours after surfacing. Off course that does not mean anyone can do this. These guys are in super physical shape, know deco like no one else, AND manage their ascents.

Cutting short no-fly time by 0,5 hours after recreational dives ?... ? Not a problem !