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Accident Report Sorry for my English. It took me a long to time to decide to write this E-Mail, because it is about things that I did for myself, and not as an Instructor, this is not a confession. It is just a contribution, I hope. Hurghada: This Springtime The plan was to dive from the boat close to the wall. Dive from there down to the bottom of the reef which was at about 65-70 m. The boat was going to leave us, and wait for us at the south end of the reef. The reef was West from North to South of the Island. We where 2 with the intention to explore the reef by ourself as solo, and get together again eventually on the way to the boat. I had a bottle of water just before the dive and was taking an Aspirin a day for the past week. My configuration was: Double 15 L. with double valve each (Technisub), connected by a HP custom soft manifold. Custom backplate and harness by RMB. Dive Rite Superwings. 2 Poseidon Jetstream Din, 1 Scubapro Air 2 power inflator, and 1 standard. 2 Aladin computer Transmitter, and 1 AirX and 1 NitroX (No pressure gauges to look at.) and backup Tables, 1 RMB Slate on the left arm with a Z-Knife, 1 Sunto compass. 2 Beuchat low volume mask (1 is spare) , Beuchat Gold-Fin, 5mm. Long John and Jacket. I always wear the Liftbag rolled and secured under some tube around the belt of the harness on the left, and the reel is clipped on a D Ring on the belt on the right. This configuration is very efficient, well tested, and worked very well during the emergency. We jumped in the water, performed bubbles and equipment check, My friend and I began descent. His plan was to stop at 70 for a few minutes or less, and then slowly at 10 m./min come up along the reef drifting with the current. My plan was the same but just deeper. My friend new that. And he also new that it would have taken me about 1 hour to come back. My real plan that day was to go to 100m but helium was not available. I wanted to see the bottom of that reef: Erg-Somaya in front of Hurghada, Red-Sea, Egypt. There was too much current that day, I should have aborted. This kind of dives are only done in perfect condition. But my ego told me to do it anyway, I CAN DO IT! This was mistake number 2, mistake number 1 was to go to 100m on air again. The bottom of the reef was actually at 80-85, my friend stopped at 70m. enjoyed himself, and went slowly up. I continued but I had to swim on a sand slope, that was going slowly deeper. Mistake number 3, You should not swim at that depth on air. I swam a while, and then I was there at 101m. Both computer where giving me the same data, I had the first stop at 12m. for 1 minute, and 21 min. to surface, and enough gas. I had 3 parameters for aborting the dive: 1 stop at 100m, 2 breathing 1/3 of the gas resources, 3 as soon as the computer was giving me a deco stop at 12m. I was at 100m and I had the first stop at 12m as planned, it was time to go. But there was a problem: I was narced out of my head. I could not think anymore. The swimming had killed me. I had problem finding my way back to the reef. I could only see in front of me, a good example of tunnel vision? I completely forgot having a compass, I was only worried of not loosing sight of the reef. Mistake number 4, focusing on one problem only, and the wrong one.. I did not inflate enough, mistake number 5, at that depth you should get positive, float out of danger zone, and swim slowly to the reef. But my brain was gone, I started swimming again , mistake number 6, looking for the lost reef. Every cick and I was getting a narcosis hit! I remember looking at the computers giving me: 99...98...97m. going up! And then Narcosis Blackout BIG TIME! Part of my brain was still trying to get out of there, but most of it was in a vegetable state. I kept swimming few meter off the bottom for 9 minutes, breathing from the regulator, without consciousness! I don't remember what I was doing. If I had independent tanks I would have drown, 1 tank was not enough for that bottom time. The Soft Manifold System worked. I woke up all of the sudden when both computers started beeping. I was back at 100m. The computer said: zero gas to be where I was, and to do the long deco that the computer had calculated. The deco time was more the 99 min. the first stop at 24m. I had 73 bars left in my tanks. WHAT!? I thought I was dead. But I did not panicked: I inflated, got up no more that 110-120% speed of what Aladin said. The current was taking me away, I was in the blue. At 60m. I stopped, head clear from the narcosis, I thought: should I go to the surface and probably die slowly drifting to the south, or just drop down again and forget the all thing? I went up again, at 24m. I deployed the lift bag, clipped myself, and performed the first 5 min. of deco that the computer was giving me. I knew I had not enough air to finish the required decompression, but the deep stop is important, I had to skip some other deco stops. At the end of this stop, the time to surface was still a blinking 99 min. I went from 24m. slowly to 6m. where I was going to stay as long as my tanks lasted. Thinking now, I probably had enough air for a 12m. stop, that would have made 3 stops, an probably reduce DCI damage. But I was to scared to waste gas at depth, and it was difficult to think logically. I've been drifting for more that 1 hour, I had pain in the right and left shoulder, I was getting hypotermic, and I had strong vertigo when I looked down in the blue. I was also confused and afraid. I heard and saw a boat passing by, but they did not stop, You don't feel good hanging out there when you are lost. The only good thing, is that both computer were giving me the exact desperate data. The captain of my boat, waited for my friend to finish his deco, and then started looking for me. He knows the currents, and found me out in the sea somewhere. He saw the bright red AP Valve self-sealing Liftbag. (if you do not have one yet, buy one) My friend jumped in the water, I signaled him what happened, by sending the slate up the deco line. He brought back a 10 L. half full EANx 50, because my tank were getting dry. He called the Chamber operator by radio, I was lucky he was there. The ride to the chamber was 1 our and half, breathing pure 02 for the first 20 min. The neurological test was showing, semi paralysis of the right arm, both legs had a very slow reflexes, but I could walk, general uncordination and of course pain. 1 shot of cortisone, 1 IV, 1 bottle of water one sandwich, and I went trough 5 hours of US Navy Type 6 treatment, in a very claustrophobic but good working, old military chamber. All symptoms went away after 15-20 min, and I did not need any extensions. I was back in the water after 10 days, with my Atlantis I at a shallow reef. Roberto Bagnasco
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