Possible death on the oriskany Nov 14, 2009

[Cave Diver]

The Mobile Press Register is now reporting that the diver was 51 years of age. They've also listed his name, and that the cause has yet to be determined: REPORT

Content:

By Press-Register staff
November 16, 2009, 4:50PM
BREAKING.jpgThe man from a dive boat out of Gulf Shores, Ala., who died over the weekend after diving at a sunken aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Mexico has been identified as 51-year-old Timothy Teagarden of Georgia.

Jeff Martin, director of the Florida Medical Examiner's Office, identified the diver as Teagarden, but said the cause of death had not yet been determined and would require more investigation.

The man was taken to Baptist Hospital on Saturday afternoon after he was pulled from the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard told the Pensacola News Journal.

The Coast Guard sent a crew aboard a 41-foot boat to help the diver after getting a call about 12:20 p.m. Saturday about a diver in distress, said John Rizzo, a Coast Guard search and rescue specialist.

The Oriskany is a decommissioned aircraft carrier that was sunk 24 miles southeast of Pensacola in the Gulf of Mexico in 2006. When the Coast Guard crew arrived, the diver was aboard the Down Under, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was being performed on the man, according to the News Journal.

The Coast Guard crew escorted the boat to Pensacola Naval Air Station, where medical personnel were waiting, Rizzo said. The man was taken by helicopter to Baptist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No one at Down Under Dive Shop in Gulf Shores, Ala., would comment to the News Journal on Sunday.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

Thanks for the info. Was this a mixed-gas dive?

He was diving a rebreather so yes. Essentially, all CCR dives are mixed gas by their nature.

Jeff

 

[Cave Diver]

He was diving a rebreather so yes. Essentially, all CCR dives are mixed gas by their nature.

Jeff

I'm pretty certain that by referring to "mixed gas" he was asking if Trimix was used.

 

[Hetland]

Oriskany diver's death remains a mystery | pnj.com | Pensacola News Journal

November 17, 2009

Oriskany diver's death remains a mystery

Thyrie Bland
tbland@pnj.com

What caused the death of a diver who was found lying on a sunken aircraft carrier's deck Saturday won't be known until further medical studies and equipment tests are performed.

Timothy Teagarden, 51, of Suwanee, Ga., died Saturday after diving in the Gulf of Mexico, where the decommissioned aircraft carrier the Oriskany was sunk in 2006.

An autopsy was performed Monday, but the cause of Teagarden's death may not be known for weeks.

"He has a pretty good picture of health, so we want to rule out that there wasn't some type of equipment failure versus the results of just an accidental drowning type thing," said Jeff Martin, director of the Medical Examiner's Office.

The U.S. Coast Guard will send Teagarden's diving equipment to the Divers Alert Network, a medical and research scuba diving organization in Durham, N.C., Martin said.

The information from Teagarden's diving computer also will be analyzed and put into a report, Martin said.

There also will be studies to see if any health issues contributed to Teagarden's death, he said.

Diver in distress

Teagarden was among 10 divers who was diving at the Oriskany on Saturday.

The Oriskany was sunk 24 miles southeast of Pensacola in the Gulf of Mexico

The divers were aboard a commercial boat named the Down Under.

"We have dove with these folks before, and we consider them friends," said Mitch Craft, owner of the Down Under Dive Shop in Gulf Shores, Ala. "It's really tough. I can't really go into too much about it."

The Coast Guard in Mobile received a call at 12:32 p.m. Saturday about a distressed diver. Two other divers found Teagarden lying on the Oriskany's deck, said Lt. James McKnight, a Coast Guard spokesman based in Mobile.

The divers returned Teagarden to the boat. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on Teagarden, McKnight said.

A 41-foot Coast Guard boat with six crew members left Pensacola Naval Air Station at 12:40 p.m. to meet the Down Under. The boats met at 1:40 p.m.

The Coast Guard boat escorted the Down Under to NAS. The boats arrived at NAS about 3 p.m.

Teagarden was loaded onto a helicopter that left for Baptist Hospital. He was pronounced dead at Baptist at 3:35 p.m.

Risky dive

The Oriskany has made Pensacola an international diving destination, but making the dive is not safe for everyone.

When the aircraft carrier was sunk, the flight deck was 135 feet down, 5 feet outside the recreational diving limit.

The ship shifted about 10 feet deeper after Hurricane Gustav pushed through the Gulf of Mexico.

Some divers may think the additional 10 feet is not a big deal, McKnight said.

"Well, there is a very good chance something could happen," he said. "Diving — it's a safe sport, but it's not a sport without its risks."

 

[GLENFWB]

Has anyone ever heard of DAN evaluating equipment after an accident? Especially a Rebreather...I know that the Navy guys in Panama City have been used for Rebreathers in the past, just never heard of DAN doing that.

 

[netmage]

Has anyone ever heard of DAN evaluating equipment after an accident? Especially a Rebreather...I know that the Navy guys in Panama City have been used for Rebreathers in the past, just never heard of DAN doing that.

NEDU has been 'pushing back', and with the recent research/reports DAN has increasingly become interested in the subject, so it dosn't surprise me that they are stepping up to the challenge. I'm just not sure they would have the facilities to do some of the engineering type testing.

 

[rigdiver]

He was diving a rebreather so yes. Essentially, all CCR dives are mixed gas by their nature.

Jeff

To clarify. I was wondering if the dil had Helium in it. I read where the dive was to 165fsw or there about. Maybe narcosis was a factor???
I'm well aware of the mixing capability of RB's. Mixed gas generally refers to something with He in it.

 

[h2o2deep]

Well said and accurate... Your efforts to were greatly appreciated

 

[decaino]

Any updates on the exact cause of Tim's death?

 

[ditch-diver]

I don't have any info on the acccident but want to comment on a couple areas.

For future reference in your own mind because some have sort of agreed to disagree....

In the police diving world studies have been done relating to speed of currents(It has to do with the amount of current to move a body) and it has been found that a diver in good physical shape can maintain a sustained maximum speed of 1.8mph (2kts). So if you can swim against it, it is two or less knots, etc.

The foam mentioned by one of the witnesses may have nothing to do with embolisms or closed airways. It is very common in drownings whether SCUBA is involved or not.

The Reader's Digest version is that this Surfactant being produced has to do with the irritation of the alveolar lining cells by the inhaled water resulting in increased mucus production and blood plasma entering the lungs during a common antemortem gasp.

There is, at this point, no reason for those involved in the attempted rescue to think that they may have done something to cause an embolism.