Flying Home after diving

[big_dave]

I have some questions about surface times before getting on the plane to go home. My computer has a flight countdown set at 24 hours. This prety much kills any diving plans I could make the day of my departure. What I'm wondering is what is the equivelent depth at which a plane pressurizes? I think a plane pressurizes between 5 and 6psi and am wondering what depth would this be the same as? If I dive at 12noon is it safe to get on a flight at 10:30pm? Is it just totally not okay to dive the day of departure or can I do some shallow dives; say 40ft max? I will be looking forward to all your input on this as I don't want to waste my trip to Hawaii for work next week!!!

 

[Jinjer]

Here is what DAN says:

The following guidelines are the consensus of attendees at the 2002 Flying After Diving Workshop. They apply to air dives followed by flights at cabin altitudes of 2,000 to 8,000 feet (610 to 2,438 meters) for divers who do not have symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS). The recommended preflight surface intervals do not guarantee avoidance of DCS. Longer surface intervals will reduce DCS risk further.

• For a single no-decompression dive, a minimum preflight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested.
• For multiple dives per day or multiple days of diving, a minimum preflight surface interval of 18 hours is suggested.
• For dives requiring decompression stops, there is little evidence on which to base a recommendation and a preflight surface interval substantially longer than 18 hours appears prudent.

 

[ScubaDivaDivemaster]

Stick with the recommendations, there are no guarantees. Better safe than sorry...do you golf?

C U underwater,
ScubaDivaDivemaster

 

[REII]

So where does the 24 hours come from? I thought that the surface interval before flying, assuming multiple dives was 24 hours and that was why the dive computers used that as their count down.

TOM

 

[altitudemike]

24 hrs is the old time frame used until the current research was proven. If I dive multiple times over 3 or 4 days I still wait 24 hrs before flying.

 

[huladncr]

big dave, All the answers bear reading. Jinjer's answer accurately reflects current guidelines but as you heard so many times in class, dive conservatively. As far as I know most if not all computers are set for a 24 hour interval. I generally wait a minimum of 18 hours if diving multiple days. Usually it will be greater than 24 hours.

 

[almitywife]

im an old fashing padi gal... i still use the 'outdated' multiple dives over multiple days rule, give yourself 24hrs break before flight

not been bent yet, touch wood!

 

[Mako Mark]

plan the last day so that you get your hear braided or a henna tattoo, buy T-shirts or visit a local ruin. If you must go in the water go snorkling or wind surfing.

It is pretty easy to organise a vacation this way and means that you wont be worrying about this issue at all.

 

[trucker girl]

Take an extra day and dive!

Or, if you are only doing the one dive, dive really early and make sure you have at least 12 hours before your flight- I wouldn't chance busting the minimum recommended wait time. I had multi-day dives and waited almost 2 days... and I was STILL paranoid! A work trip to Hawaii with no extra time for just vacationing sounds like a serious waste to me! How much can it cost to postpone your flight for 12 hours (if you do it soon enough, that is!)?

 

[boulderjohn]

The flying guidelines assume an altitude gain of at least 2,000 feet for the flight. Planes are pressurized around 7,000-8,000 feet. All you have to do is do your diving at an altitude of about 7,000 feet and pray the plane does not lose cabin pressure.

If flying from Hawaii, all you have to do is ask the captain not to go above 2,000 feet until you have passed the time limit. I am sure he would be happy to accommodate that request.