Diver dies on 60m deep air dive

[wgw04024]

Sad story

That depth (60m) caught my attention.

I have dove at 60m in Cuba (La Cueva Azul) with my uncle, a 3 star CMAS instructor. It was my birthday gift to experience Narcosis (please do not judge)

The visibility was excellent so it was pretty bright down there. We probably stayed at 60 m for less than a minute and started to ascend. No ropes or anything. We had to 2 deco stops and that was it. I do not remember having problems breathing or with my equipment. It was an easy, pretty straightforward dive.

I was 22 at that time. I am 45 now.

This reminds me of stories a good friend of mine has told me. He was in the Navy, stationed in Cuba, probably 15 or 20 years ago. He hasn't really dove since, but he claims they regularly dove deep, after many nights and afternoons of beers, running tanks down to as close to ooa as you can come spear fishing. Man how times have changed I guess.

 

[John Bantin]

Hey John, how would you plan this dive than... in this dark, cold water quarry to 60 (or maybe 70m)? Would you go OC or rebreather, would you dive air or trimix? What would you do?

And have you ever done deep(ish) dives on a single tank with air in a cold water quarry. When you did...where you lucky or competent?

Of course underestimation of risks and probably inexperience coupled with equipment failure (bcd) caused the chain of events that made this a disaster. But if the BCD trigger didn't happen, for all we know they could have made a "normal" bounce dive to 60m on air with a single tank, and come out "heroes", thinking they were really very experienced and good divers! Deep air is not dangerous, diving a single tank to that depth is not dangerous... come with us... we do it all the time!

Yes, I have made many dives in quarries with water at 4°C. I have tested regulators at depth in northern Sweden in February and dived under ice in Finland. I dived prototype Prisms and Inspirations in the early '90s, before they went into production. I was lucky in that I was paid to do it - but enough about me.
Last Sunday, I went with my wife and her friend to the same place (Chepstow) to check their kit before they went off to dive in US lakes. They used single 12-lire tanks with air and consequently limited their depth to 100-feet (30m). We discovered a slightly leaking drysuit inflator (replaced) and an unreliable BC inflator (replaced). Nobody died. Lucky or competent?

 

[Diving Dubai]

Well, what do you expect diving a stupid gas, at a stupid depth, with a stupid gas volume?

In theory with just a 10min bottom time, with MY SAC the dive to 60m is doable on a single 12l steel, honouring a 60 bar reserve on the surface. Using my wife's ridiculous SAC then a 14min bottom time with the same would be okay

I say theory because that's from the warm and safe position of looking at a planner on my computer (but with known and accurate consumption's etc)

Would I make that dive IRL - Nope!

 

[beester]

In theory with just a 10min bottom time, with MY SAC the dive to 60m is doable on a single 12l steel, honouring a 60 bar reserve on the surface. Using my wife's ridiculous SAC then a 14min bottom time with the same would be okay

Do the math... a 60b reserve on a 12L tank (720bLiter) is not enough reserve to make it up gas sharing with your buddy. Even if your SAC doesn't rise at all and you do a direct to surface ascend without any stops you would be cutting it very very close. With a raised SAC and any form of slow down during ascend you run out of gas.

Before you think I'm talking just as an armchair theorist... i've done a gas sharing ascend from 70m to first gas switch at 21m, trust me 720L was no way enough, and we were calm and in control.

 

[Storker]

Do the math... a 60b reserve on a 12L tank (720bLiter) is not enough reserve to make it up gas sharing with your buddy.

I believe @Diving Dubai was only considering his own gas requirements, and assuming everything goes well.

I think we all agree that that's not healthy gas planning.

 

[Kay Dee]

60m with good viz and conditions and warm water is very different than cold and dark.

Totally agree!!! Very VERY different settings. Cold and poor vis would concern me more than just cold and dark, but I'd like to be dialing in the helium long before 60m in either of those conditions.

 

[cathal]

The implication is that air killed. Incompetence kills. Many people should not even be in the water. Air just makes it more difficult. Water kills.

Applying this argument in the context of drunken driving:

The implication is that alcohol killed. Incompetence kills. Many people should not even be in a car. Alcohol just makes it more difficult. Cars kill.

Through constant scientific advances we know that air and depth are an unsafe combination for the vast majority of the diving population. Like anything in life there are the outliers, people whom the rules physiologically do not apply. They got lucky in the gene pool. But it is unwise to adopt safety norms that are only applicable to the outliers. Its the vast majority to whom we should adopt our standards to protect then by default we protect the outliers as well.

 

[electric_diver]

It occurred to me that this could have been a case of IPE which is very hard to establish.
This case has 3 risk factors for IPE: female, cold and extertion

 

[John Bantin]

Applying this argument in the context of drunken driving:

The implication is that alcohol killed. Incompetence kills. Many people should not even be in a car. Alcohol just makes it more difficult. Cars kill.

Through constant scientific advances we know that air and depth are an unsafe combination for the vast majority of the diving population. Like anything in life there are the outliers, people whom the rules physiologically do not apply. They got lucky in the gene pool. But it is unwise to adopt safety norms that are only applicable to the outliers. Its the vast majority to whom we should adopt our standards to protect then by default we protect the outliers as well.

You're right. And from my observations on multiple dive trips, many [American?] divers appear to be diving while taking prescribed medicines, none of which have been tested under hyperbaric circumstances. There are too many variables to assume a simple answer. By the way, I'd say impacts (rather than cars) kill.

 

[InTheDrink]

It occurred to me that this could have been a case of IPE which is very hard to establish.
This case has 3 risk factors for IPE: female, cold and extertion

I think this is tricky. Having plent some time dying with PE diagnosis is difficult. The symptoms resemble panic and rapid ascent.

However when your lungs are full of your own water and you pass out before hitting the surface it will look like simple
drowning.

I’ll bet hundreds of divers have met their fate such so way. And considered panic divers.

When all you have is fluid in your lungs, what are your options?