Pending Mission for my team...

[MK27DIVER]

Body found in Chapman quarry -- themorningcall.com

Yes you read it right....they found the body floating in the water about 8" down with an air pocket in their jacket keeping them a float....the approaching boat disturbed the air pocket and the body sank. Nobody in the boat was dressed to make an underwater dive. Crews have been unable to locate the body using sonar. Estimated in 155' of water down a 100' cliff to get in the water (other areas are lower on opposite end of quarry. Crews will attempt to locate again today using side scan sonar. Lots of debris in that end of the quarry underwater (old cranes, cars, etc.) My team may be called for our SSDS due tot he depth once the body is located. Either way, this is a very long job.

If you have Google Earth the approx location of the recovery is
40 degrees 45 hours 30.93 minutes North and 75 degrees 24 hours 03.66 minutes West

 

[ReefGuy]

Wow! Good luck and be safe.

 

[Gary D.]

Remember NO PEER ORESSURE and Risk VS Benefit. He’ dead so let’s not increase the count trying to recover him.

Be safe and good luck.

Gary D.

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

Remember NO PEER ORESSURE and Risk VS Benefit. He’ dead so let’s not increase the count trying to recover him.

Be safe and good luck.

Gary D.

I agree with Gary. Unless you have guys certified in mix and obviously knowledgable about deco procedures, this may be one for a commercial dive company or technical divers that are versed in PSD. There were some guys doing this a while back and posted about it on the deco stop (thedecostop.com). Here is the link:
The Deco Stop The depth and cold water of a quarry with stack up risk faster than benefit.

Having said that............ perhaps Video Ray or another ROV company would assist you upon request. An ROV and a qualified operator would be the safest option. The body should be pretty close to where it went under unless there is something that would cause a current. The other issue with an ROV is possible evidence, location ad documentation, if this has to do with a homicide and not a drowning. For that matter it could possible rule out foul play as well as confirm it. The ROV option assumes there is some visibility in this quarry as it is deep and cold. Mark

 

[MK27DIVER]

Update: It has been determined that the body is most likely in 85' - 110' of water but still not pinpointed. The ROV was used but the one propeller kept freezing up so it would only go in circles, the side scan sonar did not locate the victim either. My team actually trains at this quarry pretty regularly but since we are 45 minutes away they haven't called us in yet. We have SSDS and can dive 4 different Surface Supplied devices including the Kirby Morgan Mark 27 (we have 3 of these). Luckily we are mostly made up of current and ex military & commercial divers so everyone is well versed in diving at depth. Our deepest recovery was 220 feet back in the old Mark V helmet. There is a small water fall as well as ice cave and springs in this section of the quarry. I'll keep everyone posted....here is a good news link to keep you updated..

Pennlive.com Search: chapman quarry

Check out Google Earth at the coordinates I originally posted or just put in Chapman, PA and you can't miss the quarry.

 

[BladesRobinson]

I am curious to learn what brand of ROV had the problem. Can you advise or describe the unit?

The International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists (IADRS) can get a ROV onsite within 24 hours and I would venture to guess that we could get one delievered (with an operator) within several hours. Available at "no charge" and only ask that direct out of pocket expenses be reimbursed (travel expenses or shipping).

If you need equipment, information or technical support, please contact the IADRS by calling: 1-800-IADRS-911

Regards,

Blades Robinson, Executive Director
International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists
International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists - IADRS

 

[MK27DIVER]

We were asked to respond to this location on Saturday to assist with the recovery efforts. We contacted a neighboring county EOC for their ROV. They agreed to bring it along with 3 instructor "pilots" from Video Ray. Video Ray was sent out via boat to the location and set up there equipment on a small ledge to try an better diagram the area. After 4 hours of operation they couldn't find a hole that the teams supposedly found during the week using sonar. Turns out those teams had their settings wrong but that is another story. The plan then came together that our unit would take all our surface supply tools out to this ledge and set up an operation to send a diver down to try and locate the hole and put the ROV in it. So we used 6 boats to haul 4 cascade bottles, air control center, command box for helmets, divers, tenders, surface supply lines, SCUBA back up bottles, etc. Operation setup took about an hour. We manuevered our boat out to point last seen and we were going to drop the diver there and move out into the quarry to find the hole. We were working on 140' tables since that was the estimate depth there. My diver got to 80' and was starting to break branches in an under water tree. We gave him his 90' voice com and he came back with "found the body". While trying to break branches he put his hand right on the guys shoe (he was upside down). We pulled the diver up and sent a SCUBA diver in to meet him at 10' to secure the casualty. Brought it up and rolled it into our AVON inflatable. Went back to the dock and handed it over to the coroner, broke down operations, shuttled all the gear back, loaded the boats and Mission Complete.

 

[dittrimd]

Wow first off great job! It sounds like you and your team really have it down to a science. I wish all recoveries went that well. Nothing like dropping right on top of the victim. It just goes to show you that while technology like sonar and ROV's can help it is not always a given they are going to be able to get the job done for whatever reason.

Mark D.

 

[Jorbar1551]

great job. sounds like it went down very smoothly

 

[BladesRobinson]

Brother,

I have often said that the MOST CHALLENGING recoveries are the ones where the victim is not on the bottom, and not on the surface either. It is hard enough searching a 2 dimensional plane but when divers need to consider the third dimension, especially in limited visibility, the level of difficulty is greatly increased.

I have not personally had the opportunity to dive in trees. I have spoken to divers who have and I have profound respect for folks who do this on a regular basis. Please accept my congratulations to you and extend my congratulations your teammates. You all are real heroes in my mind.

To forum members who have never been faced with this (yet), if you are not finding a victim at the last seen point (LSP), consider the third dimension. I know of three recovery operations that were "witnessed" rescue mode operations that went into the recovery mode because public safety divers worked on the assumption, if the victims were not on the surface, they had to be on the bottom. In most cases, this is a reasonable assumption but when good teams come up empty handed, the team leaders need to ask "why?"

In two instances I know of, the victims were stuck to the undersides of vessels. One of the victims was a public safety diver who had released his weight belt in an emergency and his positively buoyant dry suit pinned him to the underside of the ship he was searching. The other incident involved a victim wearing a PFD and involved in a boating accident. Strong currents had forced the victim under the front end of a barge and the friction from bottom growth prevented the victim from washing out from the back end of the vessel. Witnesses saw the victim go beneath the barge and divers spent nearly 30 minutes searching the bottom beneath the barge.

In the third incident, a public safety diver had a line clipped off on his gear* and the line became fouled on the bottom. As he ran out of air, he ditched his weight belt and attempted an emergency ascent. His dry suit provided buoyancy but he did not surface because the fouled line was attached to the bottom. Back-up divers were immediately aware of the problem but were unable to find the victim because he was mid-water, not on the bottom where they were searching. Search divers discovered the line going towards the surface but assumed it was attached to one of several buoys that marked the search area.

I throw these scenarios out for consideration because "we" often forget the third dimension when conducting searches.

Blades


*NOTE: Instead of carabiners, divers should consider the benefits of quick release snap shackles.