Instructor bent after running out of air at 40m

[dmaziuk]

What is wrong with the explanation that 40m on a single is a mistake for a bunch of kids?

The odds.

 

[Deco David]

There is a big discussion about this article/interview BBC just did, and at first I thought this article was fake news, just from how ridiculous it is, but after reading it more, and looking at the transcripts of the actual interview, I find that it is actually this idiot diver claiming these things, and not the reporter writing it wrong. Here is a full response to the article, and what really happened. Do you guys agree? No way 4 "experienced instructors" all ran out of air at 40m on a regular recreational dive. Read it here- A Response to BBC Article "The Dive That Crushed My Spine" - Art of Scuba Diving

I'm new to diving, just 52 logged dives but that includes OW certificate at South West Rocks (NSW), 10 days in Solomons, 7 days live aboard in Red Sea, 3 night dives, easy wrecks and reef drifts), but when I read this article I saw gaping holes in the account and or some stupendous errors of judgement. Indeed, I thought that if I was the boss of whichever agency they were 'qualified' by I'd 1) revoke all qualifications until they retook them, 2) investigate the centre / instructor that passed them to ensure that they are working right (they probably are and this sounds like over-confidence gone wrong).

 

[Steve_C]

It is not a question of tank size. Question is why 4 supposedly experienced divers all forgot to look at their SPG. They all were low on air at the time of the incident. You can be diving a 120 or doubles and if you never looks at your SPG you will get in trouble. All being seriously narced and deeper than they are used to fits that.

 

[A.S.H.]

Hello Fellow Divers,

I can't believe that Diver said all of that on the record with a straight face and expect the rest of the world to believe that horrendous level of absolute B.S. That 4 Experienced ( Instructor ) divers ran out of air at near the same TIME.

I don't ever claim to be a expert, just a Diver that dives and tries to learn something new every time. My first Certifying agency Was NAUI out of Texas, and my Instructor to this day I remember him beating it into us, PREPLAN, PLAN, CHECK YOUR GEAR, CHECK YOUR AIR, DIVE, and only dive your confidence level, not training level, there is a difference.

IMHO, 1- I think they pushed to deep and and bit them is the ass badly, and didn't have the air on the return trip.
2- They had a massive brain fart and and didn't check the air levels in there tanks at the start of dive a went with half filled tanks.
3- They really are that incompetent and DARWIN and MURPHY both kicked them in the NUTS for outstanding stupidity.

That being said they are massive holes in there story...

I'll learn from there mistakes, and what not to do. I just hate he ended up handicapped for it.

 

[KenGordon]

The odds.

So you think the behaviour of each of a bunch of kids is independent of the others? They will not be trying to outdo each other, they will not have been diving badly and getting away with it and so believe themselves above the rules? If the culture was accepting of poor behaviour then why not expect them all to do it?

The fact that there were four seems to me not to matter too much, especially once two are out of gas and everyones into elevated breathing.

Why is it more believable that they went way past 40m and ran out of gas that they ran out at 40? It take even more stupidity to go even deeper but the same inability to plan or observe a contents gauge. Only the narc and rate of gas use really change.

Is the problem here that SB people regard 40m on a single of air as a sensible and safe thing and to suggest getting hurt doing that is a possibility threatens the view that diving is a safe and cuddly pass time?

 

[Steve_C]

Hello Fellow Divers,
3- They really are that incompetent and DARWIN and MURPHY both kicked them in the NUTS for outstanding stupidity.

Well, kicked three of them anyway.

 

[A.S.H.]

We all have our opinions on this accident. None the less it was a preventable and avoidable.

 

[dmaziuk]

So you think the behaviour of each of a bunch of kids is independent of the others? They will not be trying to outdo each other, they will not have been diving badly and getting away with it and so believe themselves above the rules?

Not at all, quite the opposite in fact. And when s*it goes sideways and someone gets hurt I fully expect them all to tell the parents "we don't know what happened, it must've been just bad luck sheer coinki-donk, we did nothing wrong". I've never done anything like that myself, no Sir, no way no how.

What I don't get is how dumb you have to be to repeat that story on teevee and expect that nobody in the whole big world will call your BS. I mean, seriously:

Because obviously we prepare for with extra air and things like that. but in this instance there were disparities in the breathing rates and stuff.

Yeah. "And stuff".

 

[KenGordon]

Not at all, quite the opposite in fact. And when s*it goes sideways and someone gets hurt I fully expect them all to tell the parents "we don't know what happened, it must've been just bad luck sheer coinki-donk, we did nothing wrong". I've never done anything like that myself, no Sir, no way no how.

What I don't get is how dumb you have to be to repeat that story on teevee and expect that nobody in the whole big world will call your BS. I mean, seriously:

Yeah. "And stuff".

So all your dives go perfectly to plan and you plan every dive? You never find unexpected circumstances that increase consumption? You never get narced and fail to check your gas? You never get distracted by looking after a buddy? Immune to task obsession?

I think the most interesting thing here is the denial that this can happen as described. People calling themselves ‘experienced’ when probably they have just done the same dive day after day for months. That never happens does it? Not doing the calcs before a dive? Unheard of. Assuming what happened yesterday is a guide to today.

I think that this level of diving is stuffed with people like these and by and large they get away with it. I don’t find it so shocking that it comes off badly now and again to claim the people that got hurt this way are liars, rather they are just an example of why good practice is necessary.

 

[scubadada]

Unless someone has access to the recompression record or the accident investigation with a computer dive profile, it would appear we are all stuck with our own favorite hypothesis