Interesting article.
I once was offered the opportunity to go diving that involved flying within an hour or so of the dives. I immediately had a bit of a panic attack at the concept.
The trip involved flying from a safari camp where we were staying in South Africa to do a couple of dives at Sodwana Bay, and then fling back after the dives were done. The tour operator's response was only that "we do this all the time! There is not a problem!" That led to a ton of additional research and a call to DAN.
It was only then that I finally clued in that the flying after diving rules related to commercial flights and not bush planes flying at low altitude. I did fly after my dive, and it was a very interesting experience!
First, the pilot was also a diver, and I got perhaps the greatest pre-flight briefing ever. I would be sitting in the co-pilot seat for the half hour flight. The pilot knew I had been diving, so would be flying at around 750ft instead of the 1000ft altitude at which we had flown to Sodwana Bay. If I felt anything related to DCS, I was to advise the pilot, and he would drop altitude to 500ft or lower. I never had an issue, and we kept the 750ft flight plan and I got a great view of the landscape on the way back!
Sorry for the hijack of the thread. Flying after diving is always a topic that gets my attention after this experience. For a commercial flight after diving, I still leave 24 hours.
