British Instructor feared drowned in Thai scuba-diving incident

[DandyDon]

Some news stories refer to him as Irish, but this story seemed more informative even tho it references him as British...

From British diving instructor Peter McCarthy feared drowned in Koh Tao, Thailand | Mail Online

A British diving instructor is missing, presumed drowned, after failing to return to the surface following a deep-sea dive with a party of tourists on a Thai island.

Peter McCarthy, 47, disappeared following a dive to a depth of 80 metres at a submerged volcano on the island of Koh Tao.

Rescuers have so far been unable to find any trace of Mr McCarthy, who vanished at around noon on Monday.

David Powley, the other instructor on the dive, told the Thai media that Mr McCarthy did not return to the surface after a one-hour dive undertaken by a party of nine.

Reports said that the divers, eight British and one Italian, had oxygen that lasted for two hours and used their remaining supply to look for the instructor.

Police in the nearby province of Surat Thani sent down a three man team to search for Mr McCarthy yesterday morning but could find no trace.

A second search involving four others was also unsuccessful later in the day. Another search is scheduled for tomorrow.

Police Lieutenant Paisan Srisawat said: 'These two instructors had plenty of experience in the region.

'The region is beautiful but divers have to dive carefully to make sure there are no problems.'

 

[suzette]

80 meters? Is that a typo or was it a tech dive of some sort?

 

[RJP]

80 meters? Is that a typo or was it a tech dive of some sort?

Unlikely they were doing an "hour dive" to 80 meters.

Plus, they had two hours worth of oxygen in their tanks...

:shocked2:

 

[DevonDiver]

Pete isn't Irish, he's English. Somebody made assumptions because of his surname. He's well known on Koh Tao and involved with the tech community there.

I've not seen anything released formally released yet, but have heard some chatter from mutual friends. Until the details are published officially, it's best not to speculate.

 

[jkaterenchuk]

Irish/British.....I happen to be originally Canadian but now also hold a US Passport. So how might I be described in a news story?

Reading this article released in the press just reinforces why you should never believe anything written in the newspaper unless you have verified it yourself.

"best not to speculate".....on scubaboard....good luck.

John

 

[Crush]

DevonDiver,

Was it a dive to 80 ft, or 80 m? Rec diving group, or tech?

 

[iztok]

80m is little over 260ft. It seems there were two instructors and 8 divers on that dive. What was the visibility there that he has simply gone missing?!?

What happened to buddy awareness?

 

[jkaterenchuk]

ic people still cannot seem to recognize that what is written in the press is full of inaccuracies. Since an inaccurate article was presented in the first post let me correct the items that I know first hand are wrong. Follow me line for line thru the press release.

1) "following a deep sea dive" - wrong the dive was in a freshwater cave located several hours drive from the sea.
2)"on a Thai Island" - wrong the dive was conducted on main land. No island within several hours drive
3)"submerged volcano" - wrong this is a limestone cave and there is no volcano near it.
4)"on the island of Koh Tao" - wrong this cave is located inland in the south of Thailand. Koh Tao is several hours drive and a ferry ride away.

What I suspect but do not know is wrong.
1)"had oxygen that lasted for 2 hours" - oxygen would not do them much good if searching and diving past 20ft.
2)"police....sent down a three man team" - I highly doubt that the Thai Police in this area have any equipment or expertise to conduct a deep cave search and rescue.

Most of the rest of the words are not significant and represent only filler to get the word count up.

Hence from my perspect the only correct information that can be take from this article is that.....the divers name is Peter McCarthy, he is missing following a dive, searchers have not found him, has plenty of experience in the region, is an instructor, the region is beautiful.

So armed with this correct information I would second what has already been said and wait for accurate details to come out. Leave it for the press to make things up regarding dive accidents.

John

 

[xjeslesx]

Does anyone know if this dive was to 80 feet or 80 meters? I'm curious if this was a tech dive or a rec dive.

Thanks

 

[Doppler]

Does anyone know if this dive was to 80 feet or 80 meters? I'm curious if this was a tech dive or a rec dive.

Thanks

Given the rest of the information's accuracy, I am surprised you ask, but since the article is about diving in Thailand, SI units would be the norm as opposed to feet, rods, poles, and chains.