Two divers missing Whitsunday Islands

[SCUBAJENNIFER]

Great, I am pleased to see DAN backup what myself and plenty of others on this thread believe.

Some people on this board are far too suspicious in my view. There is not one iota of evidence to support the intentional "Open Water" theory and plenty of reports that dispute it, including the most offical statement yet from a named and credible source (DAN)

"Official"??? That was no more official than anything anyone else has written. That was just his personal feelings...He's just another person who wasn't there!

I'd like to hear more from the boat and the other passengers, that's where we will find the truth.

 

[Geoff_H]

The truth is out there already, just you're unable to change your mind and accept it.

Do you think DAN has access to better information than yourself on this? Or do you think he just made up that statement with nothing to back it up?

 

[Doc]

The truth is out there already, just you're unable to change your mind and accept it.

Do you think DAN has access to better information than yourself on this?

Absolutely and obviously. DAN knows with absolute certainty everything that happened once the authorities were notified, at least from the perspective of those authorities. It's that other stuff that's kinda' up for grabs.

Or do you think he just made up that statement with nothing to back it up?

No, "they" didn't. Just some guy with web access seems to have made up that emotionally charged officially unofficial statement with nothing provided to back it up.

At least, that's what I was trying to convey.

The truth is out there.

 

[Saltwater Junky]

DAN Divers Alert Network - Asia Pacific

Breaking News
Media Releases re: Divers Rescued in North Queensland
DAN Media Release re Richard and Allyson

Clarification re Divers Rescued in North Queensland
DAN would like to clarify some inaccurate reports that have been propagated in the media, within Australia and internationally, regarding the payment of costs associated with the search and rescue of the two divers in north Queensland.

DAN has stated they will be willing to cover the rescue of the divers, both DAN Members (DAN Europe and DAN America) from the time the divers were found, their evacuation to the hospital and any medical costs associated with their stay in the hospital.

John Lippmann (Executive Director, DAN Asia-Pacific) did also state that it might be possible that DAN could make a relatively small contribution to the cost of the search, although there is little or no coverage for “search” in the policy.


EXTENDED PDF FILE: http://www.danasiapacific.org/main/_pdf/MediaRelease-
Richard&Allyson.pdf

From these releases and whole incident a few questions come to mind.

1. Is it normal Dan procedure to make donations to S&R's?

2. Did Dan feel pressure to make a donation to the rescue because of Allyson's statement on national tv?

3. Are waterproof flares and flare guns available?

 

[Diver Dennis]

Why doesn't John Lippmann make his thoughts known about other similar incidents? Does he know these two personally?

I've not seen any other statements like this from DAN.

 

[Mike Veitch]

wow... the speculation on here is amazing..

I often carry an empty water bottle with me on dives, the Micronesian bottle trick.. a shark thing.
I wear nothing less than a 5mm... ever.. in 23C i would be wearing my 7mm semi dry.

i guess if i ever go drifting (again) i will be labeled a scam artist. Drifting even for 20mins at the surface is scary as hell.
200m in any sort of choppy sea and especially as the sun lowers after 3pm.. damn hard to find a diver, even with an smb.
surface currents move you quickly...
I worked liveaboards in currenty destinations Palau and the Tuamotu atolls for many years, both as a skiff operator and dive guide. believe me, it ain't easy to spot a person even 50m away in any sort of chop... its real easy to spot the boat but not vice versa..

 

[DandyDon]

From these releases and whole incident a few questions come to mind.

1. Is it normal Dan procedure to make donations to S&R's?

2. Did Dan feel pressure to make a donation to the rescue because of Allyson's statement on national tv?

3. Are waterproof flares and flare guns available?

1: Don't know
2: Who knows
3: See http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...t-signal-devices-do-you-have-use-why-not.html

Why doesn't John Lippmann make his thoughts known about other similar incidents? Does he know these two personally?

I've not seen any other statements like this from DAN.

Only a speculation (but this seems the place for such), maybe he wanted to prevent bad press backlash possible if it became commonly expected that they were going to pay then didn't.

wow... the speculation on here is amazing..

I often carry an empty water bottle with me on dives, the Micronesian bottle trick.. a shark thing.
I wear nothing less than a 5mm... ever.. in 23C i would be wearing my 7mm semi dry.

i guess if i ever go drifting (again) i will be labeled a scam artist. Drifting even for 20mins at the surface is scary as hell.
200m in any sort of choppy sea and especially as the sun lowers after 3pm.. damn hard to find a diver, even with an smb.
surface currents move you quickly...
I worked liveaboards in currenty destinations Palau and the Tuamotu atolls for many years, both as a skiff operator and dive guide. believe me, it ain't easy to spot a person even 50m away in any sort of chop... its real easy to spot the boat but not vice versa..

TYVM - posts like that from someone who actually knows what he's talking about always help.

 

[Doc]

Are waterproof flares and flare guns available?

SKYBLAZER aerial boating flares are sold at places as simple as MallWart. A three pack costs maybe $15.

You can not legally bring them aboard a commercial aircraft in any manner.

I used to fly with them all the time~ back when. It was illegal back then, too, but no one really knew or cared. I had planned to replace them once every 50 or so dives until I tried three that had been on 200+ dives over a 28 month period. Worked like champs.

No, I never tried them u/w. :no

Here's how I carry them: (note the whistle/lanyard tightly secured to me just above them)

 

[Diver Dennis]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Diver Dennis
Why doesn't John Lippmann make his thoughts known about other similar incidents? Does he know these two personally?

Dandy Don

I've not seen any other statements like this from DAN.
Only a speculation (but this seems the place for such), maybe he wanted to prevent bad press backlash possible if it became commonly expected that they were going to pay then didn't. /QUOTE]

No, this seemed directed at protecting the reputations of the two divers. As RoatanMan pointed out, this is pretty unusual. Why would they go against their policy of only paying for a rescue after the divers have been located?

Again, I don't think these two did this on purpose but I do think they screwed up... unless the statement made by John Lippmann is correct saying they were not the only ones outside the lagoon and they received a private briefing. The private briefing is certainly plausible since I receive them myself. Funny the two didn't mention that in their TV interviews.

 

[Scared Silly]

Folks might be interested in doing a search on the Sidney Morning Herald, the key words are

Dalton rescue

The Saturday 31 May issue is rather interesting.