Audrey Mestre's final dive, by Francisco Ferreras

[bdrannik]

Chilling reading about Audrey's final dive, as told by her husband who was at the scene.

http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i040709b/i040709b.html

--edit-- I noticed after initially posting this that the rules state "no names", but the news headline clearly displays it. What would be an example of a "forum correct" title for this type of a post?

 

[Rick Murchison]

Chilling reading about Audrey's final dive, as told by her husband who was at the scene.

http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i040709b/i040709b.html

--edit-- I noticed after initially posting this that the rules state "no names", but the news headline clearly displays it. What would be an example of a "forum correct" title for this type of a post?

"You may refer to articles or news releases already in the public domain"
Rick

 

[Foo]

I cannot imagine having the courage to do what Audrey did. I only wish they had had more safety divers, that may have changed the outcome. (?) Thanks for sharing this, bdrannik.

 

[mstroeck]

From the article:

"Ferreras established the International Association of Freedivers (IAFD) in 1997 as a rival to the AIDA authority under which Britain's Tanya Streeter has set several records. Streeter has criticised Ferreras and the IAFD for its allegedly casual approach to diver safety. But Ferreras refuses to change his approach. He argues that to eliminate risk would diminish the challenge."

This article just saddens me. Ferreras, who has been doing this for more than twenty years, should know how you plan this kind of dive, and it's certainly not the way he does it. What's the point in taking the unnecessary risks they do?

I certainly do not want to take away from their accomplishments, but the way these people do things seems to be very irresponsible. Not enough safety divers, no intubation kits or defibrilators on the scene, no agreed-upon procedures for pre-dive checks on absolutely vital and non-reduntant equipment (there seems to be only one lift-bag!)... The list goes on and on.

What's the point of having someone do a 170m dive on scuba if he doesn't carry a safe, easy to deploy second device to help the free-diver reach the surface?

Why in the world would you trust anyone's word on wether the one bottle that can facilitate your wife's safe return to the surface is full? I can not imagine being the one responsible for the diver's safety and not checking the bottle with a pressure gauge... Ferreras acknowledges all of these errors in the article, but again, what's the point? His wife could still be alive if he had thought about that before the accident...

 

[ShoalDiverSA]

...

This article just saddens me. Ferreras, who has been doing this for more than twenty years, should know how you plan this kind of dive, and it's certainly not the way he does it. What's the point in taking the unnecessary risks they do?
...

I had a lot to say after reading the article and your response summarises most of it very well. From my perspective a lot of risks were taken that could have been avoided. When pushing the envelope, one has to take extra precautions, not less.

"Pippin" appears to have come to conclusions on the cause of the accident, yet at the end of the article, he seems to imply that he will go on doing things the way he always has. The only positive thing that could come out of a tragedy like this is knowledge to avoid future tragedies.

That this appears not to have happened here is truly sad.

Hats off to Audrey for her tenacity and courage. Her endeavours will be missed.

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[android]

Damn, I'm a newbie, but I would've forked out $85 for pony bottle guage if I were riding the sled. A tank without is gauge is always "empty" just like a gun is alway "loaded."
Andy

 

[freediver]

Tragic indeed. However, you must realize Pipin's love and concern for his wife as repeated in the article. Combine that much concern for her with the unparrallelled commotion of the event and it would seem very possible that something is overlooked. How many times have you heard of the diver, anxious to enter and begin the dive and he has overlooked the simple matter of turning on his cylinder?
I have actually trained with Tanya Streeter and safety is her first concern but even she will tell you that it is impossible to completely ELIMINATE all risks. The only sure way is to refrain from diving.

 

[FreeFloat]

The last freediving competition I took place in, had all sorts of safety in place. For our Constant Ballast competition (unassisted swim down, swim up, with fins and weight as needed) there were safety scuba divers at depth, each competitor was tethered to the upline, and a safety freediver capable of descending to the competitor's planned depth, accompanied the competitor throughout the dive.

Still, mstroek above brings up a good point. Exactly what can a scuba 'safety' diver do? Sounds like, in this case, for a dive of this nature, the safety scuba diver was pretty much helpless. I find it interesting that he was trying to use his "regulator" to inflate the lift bag for Audrey - I find it odd there was not a lift bag equipped with a LP inflator nozzle at the very least.

I suppose their bailout plan was for the freediver (Audrey) to share air with a safety diver as a means of terminating the dive but staying alive. Of course that would mean decompression obligation, but that would have been preferable to death.......

At least, it sounds like she blacked out first and went peacefully. Godspeed, Audrey.

 

[Maya]

I suppose their bailout plan was for the freediver (Audrey) to share air with a safety diver as a means of terminating the dive but staying alive. Of course that would mean decompression obligation, but that would have been preferable to death.......

At least, it sounds like she blacked out first and went peacefully. Godspeed, Audrey.

I know very little about this sport, but my first thought was why did the safety diver not share air with Audrey when it became obvious there was a problem? Forgive me if this is a dumb question - I don't know enough to draw conclusions, but it is a heartbreaking story and I was just wondering about that.

 

[IndigoBlue]

Damn, I'm a newbie, but I would've forked out $85 for pony bottle guage if I were riding the sled. A tank without is gauge is always "empty" just like a gun is alway "loaded."
Andy

There are small gauges available for about $20 bucks.