to wait or not to wait

[jetdriver]

I need help. I'm planning a night dive followed by two morning dives. Then catch a plane back home. Should I wait at least 12h or can I use the following table :http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/pdfs/AscentToAltitudeTable.pdf
to compute my surface time before flying ?

Any recommendation would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[jonnythan]

For my money I'd definitely skip the two morning dives. It's not worth it.

 

[redacted]

Whether you will need to plan the full 24 hours or if you can trim a bit from that. I don't see how you can be thinking about flying that same day unless you are doing your morning dives on spare airs.

If the problem is: can you finish your planned diving at noon on one day and fly 20 or 22 hours later midmorning the next day, then that can be managed with good dive planning and execution. I often fly in less than 24 hours after a Cozumel trip, but my last day of diving is done on the conservative side. I either stay shallower or shorten the bottom times from the Cozumel norm.

 

[DivingGal]

jonnythan once bubbled...
For my money I'd definitely skip the two morning dives. It's not worth it.

I'm with you, I wouldn't do the morning dives.

 

[Walter]

I always wait at least 24 hours after my last dive before I fly.

 

[frogfish]

Fly the next day !

 

[Kaos]

Don't forget, it's not like the plane can go back down if you start feeling pain at altitude.

 

[Charlie99]

jetdriver once bubbled...
I need help. I'm planning a night dive followed by two morning dives. Then catch a plane back home. Should I wait at least 12h or can I use the following table :http://www.ndc.noaa.gov/pdfs/AscentToAltitudeTable.pdf
to compute my surface time before flying ?

Any recommendation would be appreciated.

Thanks

Don't forget that you are supposed to use the highest pressure group reached in the previous 24 hours. You might find that this will put you out towards 12 hours anyway.

I'd skip the morning dives and use a rich nitrox mix on the night dive, with extra slow ascents and extra hang time at safety stop.

Having been on a plane that had to depressurize to 10,000 ft altitude due to a cargo door ajar sensor malfunction, I'm doubly cautious. I had done the night dive the night before and was beginning to wonder what was going on as I had begun to feel a bit dizzy several minutes before the pilot explained what was going on.

 

[fins wake]

Don't forget, it's not like the plane can go back down if you start feeling pain at altitude.

It can, actually, and if you seriously begin to think you have the symptoms of DCI developing, you should insist on the pilot contacting DAN through his radio. He will probably be given the advice to lower the cabin pressure as much as he can (which often involves actually flying lower as well to make this easier) and then to land at an airport near a hyperbaric chamber.

This very thing happened when DCS began developing in an instructor last year on a flight from Tenerife to Sweden. The pilot landed in Lisbon, Portugal and the victim used the Navy hyperbaric facility there. Needless to say, pilots, airline accountants and other passengers aren't happy for this to occur, so keep your diving insurance up to date, and try not to fly too soon after your dives. Personally, I'd go with the others here and skip the morning dives.

Having been on a plane that had to depressurize to 10,000 ft altitude due to a cargo door ajar sensor malfunction, I'm doubly cautious. I had done the night dive the night before and was beginning to wonder what was going on as I had begun to feel a bit dizzy several minutes before the pilot explained what was going on.

This is interesting, because I thought cabins were usually permanently depressurized to 8000 feet on commercial flights (CAA standard). Perhaps the drop in cabin pressure was sudden and way below 8000 feet? There are plenty of commercial pilots on this board who can comment with authority. The physical effects themselves I don't doubt, and Charlie's example shows why flying after diving has to be taken seriously. :balloon:

 

[Charlie99]

fins wake once bubbled...
. This is interesting, because I thought cabins were usually permanently depressurized to 8000 feet on commercial flights (CAA standard). Perhaps the drop in cabin pressure was sudden and way below 8000 feet? There are plenty of commercial pilots on this board who can comment with authority. The physical effects themselves I don't doubt, and Charlie's example shows why flying after diving has to be taken seriously. :balloon:

I meant what I said. Normal cabin pressure is 8,000 feet max. Low cabin pressure alarms go off and oxygen masks drop just a bit above 10,000 feet. The pilot explained that his checklist for handling a cargo door ajar alarm was to reduce cabin pressure to 10,000 feet to help force the door inward and that some people might be a bit lightheaded from the altitude. He also mentioned that if he went any higher, masks would drop.

What was really unusual is that we stayed at 10,000 foot cabin pressure all the way through our unscheduled landing in Honolulu, and then rather rapidly repressurized to sea level while taxiing to the gate. The rapid repressurization caused a lot of discomfort in some people.