Tank Explosion in Cozumel

[mike_s]

Honestly, the way i've seen tanks get handled in Coz i'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

I wonder if tanks are hydro'd and vis'd like they should be in Coz....

I bet that they "don't pay attention" to things like that down there like they should at all shops.

 

[Rookie_J]

I wonder if tanks are hydro'd and vis'd like they should be in Coz....

I bet that they "don't pay attention" to things like that down there like they should at all shops.

i don't recall seeing any type of inspection stickers on the tanks we used in Jamaica..

 

[liberato]

i don't recall seeing any type of inspection stickers on the tanks we used in Jamaica..

Are those the ones that when you blow your nose after the dive you have blue snot?

 

[KrisB]

Are those the ones that when you blow your nose after the dive you have blue snot?

Is that nastier than green snot? How does it rank against orange?

 

[Rick Murchison]

Any verification of this rumor yet?
Rick

 

[metaldector]

The tank Explosion discussion was hot and heavy a few years back prior to Luxfers trade-in policy to get suspected tanks off the market and prior to VIP's using eddy currents to check for cracks. It seemed to die down until this incident. The power of a tank exploding is huge. Two or three years ago the dive shop in Sebastian, Florida was blown up when an old steel tank came apart while filling. This killed the owner by decapitation, blew out the supporting wall into the parking lot, fill tank, and collapsed the ceiling. The owners wife and customer only a few feet away were not physically hurt, deaf maybe, in shock, and of course horrified, but otherwise unhurt.
The shop was closed for a year until a new owner bought it. I didn't witness the explosion but did stop by a few weeks later and was amazed to see cement blocks thrown 30 feet out into the parking lot.
My thoughts on Mexican VIP's and fill proceedures are that they are quite inferior to US standards. I'd pick up my tanks filled from them and not stand around watching them be filled.

 

[mike_s]

I wouldn't be surprised if "old tanks" often were sold cheaply to some of these "third world" dive operations.

A perfect example of something like this in the Aircraft industry happens all the time. The FAA issues an "Air Worthiness" Directive/notice about an aircraft part that is "defective", such as a propeller, calling for it's replacment. A new propeller can cost in the thousands of dollars. Someone I know buying two fo them for his Cessna 310 spent $15,000 on new propellers. I figured the old propellers were "worthless" and thought it would make a neat wall decoration, but "Nooooooooo", he was able to sell them for several thousand dollars to an aircraft parts exporter who would then "re-sell" them to someone who needed new propellers say in South America where the Air Worthiness Directive did not apply in that country.

The deffective part can fail down there just as easily in the US, but it's legal to still use them on your plane. Of course when the propellers come off several thousand feet above the ground, it can be a momentus ocassion.

 

[H2Andy]

Any verification of this rumor yet?

nope... i can't find any news about it

 

[DiveGolfSki]

The tank Explosion discussion was hot and heavy a few years back prior to Luxfers trade-in policy to get suspected tanks off the market and prior to VIP's using eddy currents to check for cracks. It seemed to die down until this incident. The power of a tank exploding is huge. Two or three years ago the dive shop in Sebastian, Florida was blown up when an old steel tank came apart while filling. This killed the owner by decapitation, blew out the supporting wall into the parking lot, fill tank, and collapsed the ceiling. The owners wife and customer only a few feet away were not physically hurt, deaf maybe, in shock, and of course horrified, but otherwise unhurt.
The shop was closed for a year until a new owner bought it. I didn't witness the explosion but did stop by a few weeks later and was amazed to see cement blocks thrown 30 feet out into the parking lot.

Was this the Riviera Beach accident? If so, there was a lot of back and forth with Luxfer on this one and may be part of the Cozumel accident (if there was one). Here's the link:

http://www.wahoo2001.com/Divingincidents/dangerous tank explosions.htm

I, too, still can't find anything on the Cozumel accident though

 

[Web Monkey]

I wonder if tanks are hydro'd and vis'd like they should be in Coz....

I bet that they "don't pay attention" to things like that down there like they should at all shops.

I got a 3600 Lb fill on an AL 80 that had no stickers of any kind and was all corroded (tank and valve).

While it's nice to have a lot of air, I treated it *very* gently and became much happier as the pressure dropped.

Terry