Front page of today's Sun-Sentinel....

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/

Interesting to say the least....

I choked on my cereal early this am looking at a very large photo of bondage
wings, steel tanks, etc.  along with an article on "doing it right."

John

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Hirschman 
To: techdiver@aquanaut.com 
Date: Monday, January 19, 1998 12:41 AM
Subject: Divers Supply Press Release


>For the people who would like to know the real truth.... Here it is....
And
>I'm sorry if the facts don't agree with the fantasies of others.
>
>
>
>Official Press Release
>of
>Divers Supply
>Compiled by: Jeff Hirschman, Dick McNatt, Renee LaChapelle,
>Larry Roth, and Captain Ed Cooke
>
>January 18, 1997
>
>This report was compiled from all the known facts as it pertains to the
>accident which
>occurred on January 12, 1998 that involved Andre B. Smith, John S.
Claypool,
>and Mike
>J. Elkins.  There is no speculation or exaggeration in this report.  Only
>the facts as known
>to us will be conferred in this report.
>
>Dive team consisted of:
>Andre B. Smith, 57 over 10,300 logged dives.  35 years experience in
>military,
> commercial, sport, and technical  diving.  Instructor trainer who was
> qualified to teach novice through the top levels of technical diving.
>
>John S. Claypool, 34 Experienced in sport, technical, and law enforcement
>diving.
> Instructor qualified to teach novice through advanced nitrox.
>
>Mike J. Elkins, 36 Experienced in sport and technical diving, pursuing
>further training
> in order to improve his skills and capabilities.
>
>Larry J. Roth, 42 Experienced in military, sport, and technical diving.
> 29 years experience.
>
>Dive Plan:
>This was to be the second trimix dive in Elkins class.  The plan called for
>a dive on a sandy
>bottom to a depth of 250 fsw (feet sea water)with a bottom time of 20
>minutes - gas supply
>permitting.  All divers were configured with a trimix consisting of 17%
>Oxygen, 38%
>Helium, and 45% Nitrogen which was contained in twin low pressure steel 95
>cubic foot
>tanks with an isolation manifold system.  The travel gas, a 40% Nitrox (40%
>Oxygen, 60%
>Nitrogen) mix was contained in a single low pressure 72 or 80 cubic foot
>scuba tank
>mounted on the left side of the divers harness.  The decompression gas, a
>80% Nitrox
>(80% oxygen, 20% Nitrogen) mix was contained in a single low pressure 72 or
>80 cubic
>foot scuba tank and was mounted on the right side of the divers harness.
>Additionally, two
>72 cubic foot decompression bottles (Nitrox 80%) and one 72 cubic foot
>travel gas (Nitrox
>40%) were ready aboard the vessel if needed.  All equipment and redundant
>configurations
>were in compliance with IANTD (International Association Nitrox and
>Technical Divers)
>standards.
>
>
>Dive Profile:
>The decompression schedule was planned for *100fsw/1min  90fsw/1min
80fsw/1min
>70fsw/3min  60fsw/2min  50fsw/5min  40fsw/6min  **30fsw/8min  20fsw/13min
>10fsw/28min Backup plan (if Nitrox-80 lost) 30fsw/10min  20fsw/19  10fsw/45
>
>*Switch to Nitrox 40% **Switch to Nitrox 80%
>
>Eyewitness account of surviving team member:
>On 12 January 1998,  I was a member of the dive team consisting of Andre
Smith-
>IANTD Trimix Instructor, Mike Elkins- IANTD Technical Nitrox Certified
>Diver, John
>Claypool- IANTD Trimix Certified Diver and myself- IANTD Trimix Certified
>Diver.
>The team's goal was to make a discovery dive in the area of the "Classic
>Barges" off the
>coast of West Palm Beach, Florida.  Additionally, Mike Elkins was making
the
>second
>trimix dive of his IANTD Trimix certification program as Andre's student.
>Futaba Elkins
>was also aboard as a Technical Nitrox student of Andre's and our safety
>diver.  The boat
>used for the dive was the SS Minnow operated by Captain Ed Cooke.  Due to
>the speed
>with which events unfolded and the difficulties experienced, this is my
best
>recollection of
>the entire incident.
>
>A dive plan was worked out by Mike and myself separately, then compared and
>approved,
>by Andre.  The plan was for a 250 fsw dive for 20 minutes bottom time, 68
>minutes
>decompression for a total run time of 99 minutes surface to surface.  All
>diver's gas
>consumption rates allowed for safe completion of the planned dive.  Gases
>were planned
>for 17/38/45 bottom mix, 40% nitrox travel mix, and 80% decompression mix.
>All gases
>were mixed and verified in the West Palm Beach Diver's Supply store by
Andre
>and each
>respective diver .
>
>Gear preparation was completed aboard the Minnow without problem, followed
>by a dive
>briefing.  The brief consisted of the dive plan, surface and decompression
>plan, and
>emergency procedures.  Every member of the team fully understood the plan
>and executed
>it correctly.
>
>All divers entered the water and descended normally.  Bottom conditions
were
>approximately 1/4 kt north current, 60 ft visibility.  A slow drift dive
was
>started with all
>divers remaining in close proximity.  During this portion of the dive Mike
>was having
>difficulty with his buoyancy trim and was kicking vigorously to stay off
the
>bottom.  He
>appeared to be struggling,  so I went up to him and encouraged him to add
>more air to his
>buoyancy compensator, then raised the back of his tanks to help shift any
>trapped air and
>improve his trim.  He waved me off and appeared to relax some.  I stayed
>right next to him
>and we continued to drift until we stopped a few moments later to inspect
>some concrete
>rubble.
>
>At this time Mike signaled to Andre that he was at his bottom mix turn
limit.
>(Approximately 15 minutes into the dive.)  We then assumed our ascent
>positions .  I was
>on Andre's right, John on his left and Mike on John's left.  Andre released
>the first liftbag
>as planned and we started to ascend.  After rising to about 200 fsw, we
>started to sink and
>Mike appeared to be having trouble adding and/or venting air from his
buoyancy
>compensator.  Andre assisted Mike and we started to go up again and rose to
>about 175
>fsw.  Mike was still experiencing buoyancy problems and possibly perceived
>he was
>running out of air.  We started to descend again and my view was obscured
by
>all the
>bubbles rising up to my face.  Before I could determine were the air was
>coming from, we
>descended to about 220 fsw.  Andre handed me the buoy line to keep it clear
>of us while
>he devoted his attention to Mike.  The liftbag deflated sometime during
this
>descent.
>Andre began to quickly pull it down to use to pull Mike up.  John,  now too
>away far to
>assist, had begun his own ascent and I had my first opportunity to get in
>front of Mike to
>assist him.  He was beginning to panic and may have exhausted his bottom
>gas.  Before I
>could get to him with my octopus,  Mike began breathing off his travel mix.
>Due to the
>great depth and high partial pressure of oxygen in the mixture he was now
>breathing, his
>"central nervous system oxygen toxicity" level was dangerously high as was
>the chance of
>oxygen induced convulsions.  I grabbed Mike by the tank manifold and
inflated my
>buoyancy compensator (vest) fully to try and drag both Mike and Andre to
the
>100 fsw
>level where we could more safely handle the problem.  We got to
>approximately 150 fsw,
>when I felt a shudder in my hand.  I was hoping Andre was shaking Mike
>instead of the
>onset of his convulsions.  When I looked down Mike was not moving.  I now
>ran out of
>air,  stopped swimming and tried to get Andre's attention for air or to
>signal him to meet
>me up higher.  Andre may have been trying to share his own air supply with
>Mike, but my
>view was blocked.  We had now sunk back down to180 fsw at which point I
lost
>my hold
>while trying to get around Mike to Andre.  Since my buoyancy compensator
was
>fully
>inflated I could not stay with them.
>
>While I was trying to control my ascent, I saw John above me and attempted
>to join him.
>He had his liftbag out and was preparing to inflate it.  I caught up to him
>but could not stop
>my rate of ascent until 80 fsw.  I looked down and saw John, he still
>appeared fine.  I then
>began to descend down to my first decompression stop at 100 fsw.  While
>stabilizing
>myself  I lost sight of John.
>
>Since I was now alone, I deployed my liftbag and began my decompression
>schedule while
>I tried to determine how best to modify it, in view of the problems.  I
>tried to signal the
>boat with my bag while I  looked for the others.  Later I heard a boat
>engine revving at high
>RPM.  I hoped the others had surfaced and were heading for the beach.
After
>about 30
>minutes a boat drifted up to me and then moved out of my view.  Later I saw
>another boat,
>that stayed with me.  It pulled up on top of me and I then knew it was the
>Minnow.  I
>finished my new decompression schedule and surfaced after 125 minutes.
>
>Once onboard, I found none of the other divers onboard and briefed the
>Captain on the
>situation.  Captain Cooke  told me that Andre's liftbag had come up before
>mine, but no
>one was with it.  There was only about 90 minutes of daylight left, so I
>suggested we
>request a USCG helicopter and then helped Captain Cooke organize a search
>pattern to
>find the lost divers.  Search conditions were excellent and the sea state
>low.  The Coast
>Guard data marker beacons (DMB) were easily visible on the surface, making
the
>probability of finding a surfaced diver very high.  We searched until 0400
>the next day,
>returning only once to refuel.  USCG assets joined immediately and searched
>through
>January 15th and Sheriffs department through January 16th.
>
>
>Conclusion:
>A search was attempted on the bottom of the accident site on Thursday,
>January 15th but
>was aborted due to weather conditions.  An extensive search was conducted
on
>the bottom
>of the accident site on Saturday, January 17th.  The teams consisted of:
>1) RV Ocean Window (561) 252-2526
>2) Captain Ed Cooke of the SS Minnow with
> Trimix Divers: Jeff Hirschman, Renee LaChapelle, and Mike Haverstock
> Safety Divers: Major R.T. Keegan, Sergeant G. Webb, and Officer D. Howard
> 2nd Support Team: Larry Roth, Pete Winston, Douglas Frederick
>
>Results of the surface and bottom searches:
>There were no discoveries or recoveries made.
>
>We would like to thank the following groups and individuals for all of
their
>help in this
>tragic event:
> USCG Station Lake Worth
> Helo Golf November
> Captain Bob Johnson of Rampage Dive Charters
> Palm Beach Sheriffs Department - Dive teams, boat crews, and air search
units
> RV Ocean Window (561) 252-2526
> West Palm Police Department and dive team
> Captain Ed Cooke of SS Minnow
> And all of those who have gone out of their way to help
>--
>Jeff Hirschman
>
>--
>Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
>Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
>

--
Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.

Navigate by Author: [Previous] [Next] [Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject: [Previous] [Next] [Subject Search Index]

[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]

[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]