Diver Indicted in 2003 GBR mishap

[MikeFerrara]

I think its pretty funny all the Scuba experts they are getting on TV. Last night was one guy saying you could easily turn off a scuba tank in 2 turns. No big deal.

I have some valves that have a full travel of under two turns (my old Halcyon manifold), others that are just about 2 1/2 turns and still others that are closer to three.

 

[Meng_Tze]

The question is if the diver is indicted, is he going to be extradited?

 

[Louie]

I saw Nancy Grace too. It wasn't just her, she had a geltleman claiming to be a SCUBA instructor. Both of them kept talking about the oxygen tank and the "buoyancy control button". They had an air tank and a BC and they showed how to turn "oxygen" on and off. They demonstrated the buoyancy control switch, stating over and over that if you run into trouble underwater, you just press this button to surface. If she is certified, her card should be revoked until she takes a refresher and the instructor / expert [I am sorry I didn't get a name] should never be teaching SCUBA.

If you pay these hacks enough, they'll tell you it was Colonel Mustard in the Den with the Candlestick

 

[Boxcar Overkill]

The question is if the diver is indicted, is he going to be extradited?

I don't know why he wouldn't be. Extradition, in a straightforward case like this, is pretty routinized I believe. When there are political prisoner issues (extradition from the U.S.) or death penalty issues (extradite to the U.S.) or when the crime isn't otherwise covered by an extradition treaty between the two countries, then there can be problems. The defendant can delay the process a little bit, but I can't see a reason the U.S. wouldn't turn him over.

In less serious cases, the problem is getting the government to pay for the extradition. One would probably be surprised at the number of times someone is wanted in Oklahoma, found in California, and the local Oklahoma D.A. says, "turn them loose, we don't want to come get them."

 

[InTheDrink]

MikeF - I appreciate that you're trying to play Devil's Advocate - but won't you at least admit that you're near impossible to be correct? If this guy's ears were in such blinding pain, and let's say I agree with you and he was having the works, vomit, etc. and his wife was dying - do you imagine he just ascended to 10 metres, everything was fine (all that pain and panic) and then decided to proceed leisurely to the surface over the next 2 minutes? Come on man, this does not add up, not even close to being close - and you should be graceful enough to admit so. Can you not admit you are wrong?

 

[InTheDrink]

also: this constant digging at PADI, or more importantly PADI qualified divers is simply annoying and doesn't cast you in a great light. Sure, PADI qualifications/certifications leave things to be desired but you seem to live in a parallel world where only divers personally given the thumbs up by MikeF have any ability to dive. Sorry mate - get real.

 

[InTheDrink]

And, whilst obivous, how the hell do you think people get to be good divers? It's called experience. Training is part of that but it's dives that does it. So get off your high and mighty chair for a little bit while we underlings just try to learn.

 

[K_girl]

I saw Nancy Grace too. It wasn't just her, she had a geltleman claiming to be a SCUBA instructor. Both of them kept talking about the oxygen tank and the "buoyancy control button". They had an air tank and a BC and they showed how to turn "oxygen" on and off. They demonstrated the buoyancy control switch, stating over and over that if you run into trouble underwater, you just press this button to surface. If she is certified, her card should be revoked until she takes a refresher and the instructor / expert [I am sorry I didn't get a name] should never be teaching SCUBA.

His name was Steve Belinda, captain of the tech dive boat Wahoo. His name is mentioned in numerous books such as Shadow Divers and The Last Dive, etc. Remember who the audience was - the general public and the information was for their consumption, not ours. They put this in very simple terms. Nancy made some minor assumptions and errors, but it was not the forum to correct them. She was going off of her own personal experience where she panicked and hit the inflator and she assumed that is what all divers would do. Not all divers have the same reaction, so you can't make that assumption. However, the majority of panicked divers will go for the surface, whether it is kicking and swimming, dropping weights or inflating the inflator or a combination of those actions - and that is the ultimate point.

 

[thanksforallthefish]

I don't know why he wouldn't be. Extradition, in a straightforward case like this, is pretty routinized I believe. When there are political prisoner issues (extradition from the U.S.) or death penalty issues (extradite to the U.S.) or when the crime isn't otherwise covered by an extradition treaty between the two countries, then there can be problems. The defendant can delay the process a little bit, but I can't see a reason the U.S. wouldn't turn him over.

In less serious cases, the problem is getting the government to pay for the extradition. One would probably be surprised at the number of times someone is wanted in Oklahoma, found in California, and the local Oklahoma D.A. says, "turn them loose, we don't want to come get them."

It will be interesting to see if the US do turn him over ... they have a great propensity of protecting their citizens from the (inferior) rest of the world, and it was a US citizen allegedly committing a crime against another US citizen so it would not surprise me if he wasn't extradited.

I don't care if he isn't extradited as it will save some taxpayers money here.

 

[Ayisha]

On CNN yesterday, they had another coroner commenting on the case. He said that in an autopsy, asphyxiation and drowning look the same, so they cannot differentiate. That is why the official cause of death is drowning.

It was mentioned early on that there was no water in her lungs and the reg was in her mouth, so the cause of death being drowning doesn't seem to make sense.

But then, the official coroner originally ruled this death an accident before it was investigated further.

Also, the coroner interviewed on CNN said that when a dead body has accumulated nitrogen bubbles, it will often embolize as it is brought to the surface. This is because breathing allows the escape of gases, so if the person is not breathing, the bubbles expand and have nowhere to go. The result is an embolism.