i tried to fly out today and i ended up being bent

[iztok]

You cater to divers. This was commercial flight with over hundred passengers for several hours. Check FLL-PHX route.

airline will tell you to not fly if this is a concern but will not fly a jet at such low altitude when they normally fly at over 30k feet.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[iztok]

We have flown literally thousands of passengers and have never had any reports of any problems from our passengers.

Just for the scale. This (small for US standards) commercial operator probably flies more passengers in a single bank of flights from a single airport than your operation does in years.

You have Britten-Norman Islander with max 9 passengers. The smallest aircraft mainline US (OP operator) has 99 seats. (E-190) This was Airbus 319 with 124 passengers. It reached over 20k feet before it turned around (which means cabin was pressurized to 8000ft). We are talking over 13 times bigger aircraft thank what you fly and not a charter but a scheduled flight with duration close to 5 hours and the particular flight OP was on reached 431 knots at one point before it turned around. This flight reached 1500 within first minutes of its flight.

 

[Blastman4444]

I can't believe this thread is still going anyway to correct anyone I am OW SDI certified which they recommend max 65' which on my first dive to Grand Cayman last year they ignored told me the dives were 100' and 65' I asked about being OW they said don't worry about it. I hired a private DM we went to 88' which I had no issues with buoyancy had a great time. This trip in Florida they were little more strict then GC they mostly say you have to hire a guide they don't even call them DM's. What happen to me has nothing to do with certification the dives went fine I just pushed the time and was dehydrated, 3 hours of sleep. The plane ride was like a rocket ship nothing gradual about it we got about 2 1/2G ride all the way up to 25k. I'm sure the rapid ascent didn't help my situation I can tell you I had not felt any of the symptoms until we ascended. I'm back to normal now as far as how I feel took about 2 months to totally clear up I went up to 7k feet last weekend to chop wood in the mountains and no issues. I had felt some issues with 3k feet 3 weeks after I got back, but looks like everything has resolved it self. 20/20 hindsight now I know a heck of a lot more about the bends and such way more then I ever learned in my classes. I have decided not to get AOW but only nitrox for the next few years ill just limit my self to 65' deeper then that nitrogen loading starts to happen see how that works out. The purpose of this thread is to warn other divers that to watch out when flying if you at all cost give your self at least 48 hours after deep diving everyone will say,"I knew that why didn't you". There will be a few who will end up like me who only dives 1 time a year and wants to get in a dive the last day before they go back home.

 

[daniel1948]

I'm glad you are feeling well now. It must have been a harrowing experience overall. Thanks for letting us know that you have recovered.

I agree that 65 feet is a reasonable personal limit, especially given your experience, but in your post you say "deeper than [65 fsw] nitrogen loading starts to happen..." Everyone should be aware that nitrogen loading starts to happen as soon as you submerge, and you can definitely get bent from a dive to 65 fsw. How long you stay down and how quickly you ascend make all the difference.

Good luck with your future diving, and thanks for posting your experience. It's always useful to be reminded that DCS is a statistical event, and that while the theoretical NDL limit is usually safe, keeping well away from the limit is safer than coming right up to the limit.

 

[Thalassamania]

I can't believe this thread is still going anyway to correct anyone I am OW SDI certified which they recommend max 65' which on my first dive to Grand Cayman last year they ignored told me the dives were 100' and 65' I asked about being OW they said don't worry about it. I hired a private DM we went to 88' which I had no issues with buoyancy had a great time. This trip in Florida they were little more strict then GC they mostly say you have to hire a guide they don't even call them DM's. What happen to me has nothing to do with certification the dives went fine I just pushed the time and was dehydrated, 3 hours of sleep. The plane ride was like a rocket ship nothing gradual about it we got about 2 1/2G ride all the way up to 25k. I'm sure the rapid ascent didn't help my situation I can tell you I had not felt any of the symptoms until we ascended. I'm back to normal now as far as how I feel took about 2 months to totally clear up I went up to 7k feet last weekend to chop wood in the mountains and no issues. I had felt some issues with 3k feet 3 weeks after I got back, but looks like everything has resolved it self. 20/20 hindsight now I know a heck of a lot more about the bends and such way more then I ever learned in my classes. I have decided not to get AOW but only nitrox for the next few years ill just limit my self to 65' deeper then that nitrogen loading starts to happen see how that works out. The purpose of this thread is to warn other divers that to watch out when flying if you at all cost give your self at least 48 hours after deep diving everyone will say,"I knew that why didn't you". There will be a few who will end up like me who only dives 1 time a year and wants to get in a dive the last day before they go back home.

You need to understand that nitrogen loading is a function of DEPTH and TIME. In many ways longer, shallower dives are more "dangerous" than deeper, shorter dives, at least with respect to DCS. It is the degree of saturation of the longer half time tissues that hurts you flying, and that only occurs with shallower, longer dives (assuming no-D).

 

[DandyDon]

Glad you're doing well, Kell.

 

[Blastman4444]

To Correct my self what I forgot to say was if I dive the same plan as far as time limit to 100' but I dive to 50' that will cut my nitrogen loading in half which is a recommended by the DAN medic. His words were nitrogen loading doesn't happen nearly as fast as it does at 100'. The reasons to limit my self to 65' are because I very well could be one of those who doesn't process nitrogen so well, and I really don't want this to happen again when I surface. Some other things I have learned is to make sure I understand the dive plan and question it if it seems too aggressive, and question it if they don't follow the plan. In my case I just let the DM plan it I was thinking at the time well he knew what he was doing plus I didn't check a dive table at the time of planning SDI doesn't train using tables only computers they do explain how to use a table. I will always in the future make sure I have a flip chart with the tables to confirm the plan the DM is proposing.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

The purpose of this thread is to warn other divers that to watch out when flying if you at all cost give your self at least 48 hours after deep diving everyone will say,"I knew that why didn't you". There will be a few who will end up like me who only dives 1 time a year and wants to get in a dive the last day before they go back home.

Are you sure about that? I mean, presuming that by "deep diving" you mean around 100' -- like on the dives you made that precipitated this thread. I basically don't fly so I may be forgetting the right figure from my training, but I remember it as being 18 hours or maybe 24 to be a bit more conservative.

Not to say you can't have a personal policy of waiting longer; I just don't remember that "everyone knows" it should be 48 hours at all costs. (I will go back and review my class books though.)

Blue Sparkle

PS: I just wanted to add that if I were going to be flying out from a dive trip with a variety of dive options, well then of course I would try to plan any deeper (say 100') dives for other-than-the-last day before flying, and instead dive shallower on that day.

 

[Thalassamania]

To Correct my self what I forgot to say was if I dive the same plan as far as time limit to 100' but I dive to 50' that will cut my nitrogen loading in half which is a recommended by the DAN medic. His words were nitrogen loading doesn't happen nearly as fast as it does at 100'. The reasons to limit my self to 65' are because I very well could be one of those who doesn't process nitrogen so well, and I really don't want this to happen again when I surface. Some other things I have learned is to make sure I understand the dive plan and question it if it seems too aggressive, and question it if they don't follow the plan. In my case I just let the DM plan it I was thinking at the time well he knew what he was doing plus I didn't check a dive table at the time of planning SDI doesn't train using tables only computers they do explain how to use a table. I will always in the future make sure I have a flip chart with the tables to confirm the plan the DM is proposing.

You may be confused, the partial pressure of N2 at 100 feet is about 3.4 ata; while the ppN2 at 50 feet is about 2 ata, so you do not cut you nitrogen loading by half. Nobody "process" nitrogen at all, it defuses in and defuses out, there is not active transport, no processing. People have different amalgams of "tissues" and thus take up and give off nitrogen at different rates. You computer, when in surface mode, scrolls you current no-D limits as determined by the residual nitrogen that you have taken up during previous dives and need to account for, less the nitrogen that you have lost during your surface interval(s).

 

[Blastman4444]

As far as the computer it doesn't have a way to download the logs. Obviously these numbers are pushing the limits I also ascended slower then the rest of the group.

1st dive 93' 24 Minutes Bottom Time
Dive started at 9:43am
Ascent Rate was 51-60 FPM

Surface Interval 49min

2nd dive 101' 25 minutes Bottom time
Dive started at 10:57am
ascent rate was 51-60 FPM