Error Local diver critical - Cirkewwa harbor, Malta

[Kay Dee]

If the twin is net 11-12 and assuming negligible buoyancy of swim suit and body, it will drop like Iron so He won’t be found at surface. I hence doubt it can be too true.

And to the other poster size does matter it affects drag

Any chance you could actually answer the question I posed so we know what you are actually talking about / describing in your "pushed him to swim' sentence?

I find 'pushed' a very odd word to use in this context, but I am beginning to assume that maybe English is not you first language?

 

[Edward3c]

If the twin is net 11-12 and assuming negligible buoyancy of swim suit and body, it will drop like Iron so He won’t be found at surface. I hence doubt it can be too true.

And to the other poster size does matter it affects drag

Where does the incident state he was on the surface when found.

 

[gregbenson314]

Any chance you could actually answer the question I posed so we know what you are actually talking about / describing in your "pushed him to swim' sentence?

I'm not the commenter you're asking, but "pushed" seems an OK word to use here. In GUE training (and perhaps other agencies), for an unconscious diver rescue, you have to demonstrate that you can move them horizontally at depth whilst making"them and you" neutral. This is to simulate rescue from an overhead environment e.g. cave.

 

[Wookie]

I’m going to set the stage here with some assumptions to try to answer the “you don’t know what you don’t know’ stupid comments made by some in the thread.

I assume this was a shore entry.
I assume this was a diver with steel twins and a dpv.
I assume the entry point was not protected, meaning there were waves.
I assume the diver was in a full wetsuit or drysuit, movement restricted more or less.
I assume the DPV was sprightly negative, as I rig mine when I use a DPV

So, this diver, with 20 kilos of dead weight on his back, and 10 more attached to his crotch strap wants to get in the water to relieve some of the stress of 30 extra kilos of weight. Except he forgot to turn his air on. He climbs down the entry, drops his scooter, bends over to recover it, slips, whatever, can’t add buoyancy, can’t get a breath, can’t stand up.

If you have never been in a situation just like this, it’s fine to ask questions to learn from another diver’s mistake, but pushing bodies, GUE rescues, and other false equivalencies have no place in the discussion.

This is a tragic case of diver error and we will never know why the diver chose to enter with his gas turned off, but it had fatal results. The lesson is to turn your air on before you jump in the water.

 

[Ukmc]

I will ask a question - as I don’t dive a twinset. If he didn’t panic, and was somewhat experienced why wouldn’t he ditch his rig and swim up or even popup passively if he is in a wetsuit?

 

[Kay Dee]

I will ask a question - as I don’t dive a twinset. If he didn’t panic, and was somewhat experienced why wouldn’t he ditch his rig and swim up or even popup passively if he is in a wetsuit?

Riged as he most likley assumingly was, easier said than done with no air in ones lungs to begin with, plus the added 'shock' of realising that is the case.

 

[Wookie]

I will ask a question - as I don’t dive a twinset. If he didn’t panic, and was somewhat experienced why wouldn’t he ditch his rig and swim up or even popup passively if he is in a wetsuit?

And to add to KayDee, my backplate is rigged with 2” webbing, no quick release buckles. So to ditch, you have to (in order) unclip scooter from D-ring, undo crotch strap (mine is buckled if using a scooter, quick release if not), undo waist belt, and contort your way out of shoulder straps that don’t loosen.

That’s a lot when you have no breath. Which is why we practice valve drills on the surface, underwater, in the pool, in the ocean. I am not limber enough anymore to reach my valves with just my arm over the shoulder, I have to use 2 arms, one to hoist the rig higher on my back, the other to reach my valves.

This is why you hear us old guys say “I’m too old for tech diving”. It isn’t because we forgot how to breathe underwater, it’s because we no longer have the physical strength or flexibility to respond well if the SHTF.

 

[Tritip]

I forgot it is pushing upwards or sideways since it is long time ago.

Yeah but taking full breathe in before you jump is good practise as typically you are going to take that deep breath from the regulator rather than before then putting on regulator.

 

[Ukmc]

I don’t dive doubles, but there are several things I don’t understand - one test your BC and breathe from the regulator prior to entry . Two - Iit dumbfounds me that one would be so negative diving on a first place that they can not find up and even more so do not inflate BC prior to jumping in (even for negative entry). Something doesn’t match up here. I guess we don’t have a lot of details to go by.

 

[Wookie]

I don’t dive doubles, but there are several things I don’t understand - one test your BC and breathe from the regulator prior to entry . Two - Iit dumbfounds me that one would be so negative diving on a first place that they can not find up and even more so do not inflate BC prior to jumping in (even for negative entry). Something doesn’t match up here. I guess we don’t have a lot of details to go by.

You are correct. You should always test your gas supply before entering.

You are not correct. I’ll bet my twins (steel HP hundreds) are -20 lbs (10 ish kilos) full add a stainless backplate for another 4 lbs.