Buffalo PD URT Incident

[Jared0425]

I do not think the river current is ripping at 10-15 knots. 4 knots is impossible to swim against. The Niagara River isn't much different from the St. Clair River farther upstream in the system. With that being said, this is a very rare situation that the comm/ tender line failed and the diver was lost. It makes me wonder if the harness, D rings, or whatever else the line was hooked into failed, ripping the diver away from the line. I take it that we do not know if things on the tenders side of the line worked or failed? As I assume for the Niagara, we are taught that unless if it a life threatening emergency, never ever surface in the middle of the river as boaters and ships may not see you.

Tbzep, in my experience in heavy current if you are not doing a drifting pendulum, the best that works for us is to be extremely heavy (not heavy enough so BCD won't work), keep as low to the bottom as possible, and use claws, hammers, stakes, and whatever else can be used to assist you fighting your way upstream.

 

[shurite7]

I'd love to hear about methods/techniques you and the other divers used in heavy current. Hopefully he will be found soon. Be safe.

Some of my PSD has been in fast moving mountain rivers. One of the methods we use is to send a diver down with a hard hat, lots of weight, no fins, and a heavy jack stay anchor. The diver holds onto the anchor and moves it when needed. The diver is also tethered with two tenders handling the line. I like this method because the divers com's are always active and one hear the divers breathing. Or, in the case of one of our diver's this summer, if he is swearing we know he is in good shape. My first impression on this method was commercial diver type diving.

If the currents are not too strong we use traditional scuba gear with a FFM, yet still have lots of weight and a heavy jack stay anchor.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

You PSD are worth your weight in gold. thanks for the job you do. Be safe.

 

[horsediver1]

To answer tbzep how about we start a different thread on that question. On this one is the focus on getting one of Buffalo's own back home with the safety of the current teams working the sight. I am sure the final questions will be answered in the future and more specifically PSD Mag. as they are thorough and accurate in the info they provide to assist teams in future endeavors.

 

[tbzep]

To answer tbzep how about we start a different thread on that question. On this one is the focus on getting one of Buffalo's own back home with the safety of the current teams working the sight. I am sure the final questions will be answered in the future and more specifically PSD Mag. as they are thorough and accurate in the info they provide to assist teams in future endeavors.

Absolutely. That's why I asked Paul if we could discuss it after his deployment. If a moderator could prune this thread and move the tech posts to a new thread, that would be great.

 

[tbzep]

Just to let folks know what kind of diving conditions Paul R and others with the RPD and BPD dive teams are dealing with. What you don't see are the car size boulders and debris that have been reported. I've only read two things that are remotely positive about the search. They say the water is only about 25 ft deep and the visibility is decent.

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/919319490571186177
https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/919296687662862336

 

[tbzep]

Officer Lehner has been recovered. Thank you Paul R for your efforts.
Body of missing Buffalo Police diver is recovered

 

[horsediver1]

Thanks for the update. Now for the healing

 

[Paul R]

The guys and gal of the Buffalo Underwater Recovery Team (URT) are made of steel.

Just checked into a hotel. I will relay our experience when we return to Rochester. The hour long ride home can wait until tomorrow. We are going to spend the night with our new, close friends.

 

[Paul R]

My opening sentence is the same as my last posting:

The guys and gals of the Buffalo URT are made of steel.

So I think to save myself the embarrassment of countless typos, I'm going to do this with a couple posts. Plus I am teaching at the academy today so my time is limited.
I'm only going to write things that I know to be true, believe to be true from reliable sources and our experiences. No speculation or second guessing.

The Niagara River, in that spot, is roughly 1/2 mile across. River bottom in the middle is mostly sand and small rocks. Rec divers use that spot for drift dives all the time. No big deal. It was actually a good ride. The bottom closer to the American side is a debris field, to include the bucket off of a front loader. That was fun... One of the URT guys compared it to running through a junkyard with a blindfold on, although we had roughly 2-5 feet of clear visibility (except for the day after it rained). That is the area where we spend the majority of time.
According to the URT, river speed varies from 10-17 knots depending where you are. Of course, the search area was the fastest spot (thanks Murphy) with the middle not much slower. Interestingly, the Canadian side has little to no current in some areas and they even have a beach there. Unrelated to our search, there is a 60'ish foot hole on the Canadian side called Thompson's Hole (I think) and the water leaves the hole going back into Lake Erie! Weird.
Hopefully that sets the stage but I don't doubt I forgot something and/or are ignorant of additional information.
Now imagine searching and retrieving in that mess. And URT has been doing it for decades.