Instructor bent after running out of air at 40m

[MaxBottomtime]

When I was certified 40 meters (130 feet) was the recreational limit. I and thousands of others dived to that depth on a single tank all the time. I don't do it much anymore but I wouldn't call anyone a pussy for diving within their training. It still doesn't excuse not looking at your SPG.

 

[Storker]

it is in post #133 in this thread.

134

 

[KenGordon]

134

That wasn’t a link but a screengrab from FB. I had hoped there was something more specific but looking at the BBC FB Page all that is there is what is in the screen grab.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm going to cut the guy a little Slack. It seems to me that the whole purpose of this story is because he and his team are raising money for charity by doing the mountain climb.

He used the same expressions a couple of times. For example, he refers to the other three divers with him that day as other dive professionals. That doesn't make them all instructors, probably divemasters, or one other instructor and two divemasters.

He used a phrase including "disparities", when telling about the surprise of finding themselves out of air but he also emphasizes all of the signaling and slate writing etc., to make the ascent plan from OOA at depth. To me, he's using a euphemism to replace longer winded explanation of seeking the missing tanks, etc.

As unlikely as his story, has seemed, it is far more unlikely that all 4 noticed they were out of air and so did a bunch of signaling and slate writing to decide how to ascend. My wag is that the note sharing occurred when they couldn't find the tanks. In other words, they drafted plan B on the fly but whilst they still had some remaining air.

 

[ANDYCA]

My main problem with this is that the article is titled:
"The scuba dive that crushed my spine"
This was not a puff-piece with a title like that, and this week I've had my partner and mother on the phone worried about this and asking if it could happen to me, which I then have to take the time to try and allay their concerns.
This inconvenience obviously pales in comparison to someone living with a lifelong spinal injury, but making this article mainstream is spreading poor information to the masses.
I came here hoping there would have been an official report including dive profiles, without it there is little point continuing the discussion. If this had happened to me I would certainly not want it discussed like this.
While it would help the diving community to know exactly what happened, even if they did nothing wrong there is still the fear that something might invalidate their insurance and affect them financially as well as physically for the rest of their lives.
It loos like Osborn may have made a bit of a mistake giving an interview for a puff-piece about raising money for charity, which got this horrific title.

 

[Steve_C]

A better and more accurate title "How the choices and actions I and friends made on a scuba dive crushed my spine"

 

[KenGordon]

A better and more accurate title "How the choices and actions I and friends made on a scuba dive crushed my spine"

That is usually the case with accidents though.

 

[ANDYCA]

A better and more accurate title "How the choices and actions I and friends made on a scuba dive crushed my spine"

Without that dive report and profiles this is an equally bad title. I was thinking more "Disabled diver takes on Snowdon Push Challenge for charity"
Fewer clicks with that title though.

 

[doctormike]

I came here hoping there would have been an official report including dive profiles, without it there is little point continuing the discussion.

A&I is a great forum for accident analysis. These threads often let us bring up a wide range of possible failure modes, and discuss hypotheticals that are great for learning and teaching.

I would say that 95% of the time, there is never any "official report" available to the public, and dive profiles are rarely available either.

That doesn't make the discussion pointless. This isn't a legal deposition about this specific case. The actual case itself is usually a starting point for a wider conversation.

 

[boulderjohn]

That wasn’t a link but a screengrab from FB. I had hoped there was something more specific but looking at the BBC FB Page all that is there is what is in the screen grab.

It was post #134--sorry.

Here it is. In the paragraph above the screen grab you will find the link. It is in the word "here."

A person who claims to have been working at Taba dive centre when this happened posted a comment on the BBC FB post. I've hidden the person's name as I'm not sure what this forum's policy is on privacy etc., but you can find the original post and comments here.

View attachment 472572

Obviously take those comments for what they're worth though his profile (and his wife's) do suggest they worked at that Taba diving centre so who knows...