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I have just moved to Singapore, so I do not know these people personally. However, I have spoken to Phil Lemette's friend/instructor about this incident. According to the friend/instructor, this was a case of peer pressure (the girls). This is the story from him (I only relay what was discussed with me): Phil did a bounce dive to 100m (on air) the week before, bringing back the sand from the ocean bottom, to show the girls it could be done. So on the next trip, Phil had independent double tanks and the girls only had single tanks (I know, don't ask). When the bodies were found, one of Phil's tank was still full and the rest were empty. It was speculated that Phil deliberately only breathed from 1 tank so he could guestimate the girls' air pressures while descending under narcosis (again, don't ask me why, I'm only the messenger). The younger sister abandoned the dive around 65m, and the couple went on. Phil's computer registered over 90m when recovered. The younger sister said that she never signaled to the couple that she had abandoned her dive, so it was possible that once they reached bottom, they might have spent some times searching for her. This action, under extreme narcosis, coupled with low air would definitely trigger panic. What happened after that, who knows ? This is an extremely isolated case. I don't think that anyone could lump this as a 'tech' death. The divers were not certified at any 'tech' level: Phil has basic EANx, the girl enrolled in basic EANx but didn't complete the course (basic EANx is recreational-level specialty). I have met a lot of 'tech' divers around Singapore. Some are wanna-be and some are competent (like everywhere else), but I have noticed that deep air diving (>45m) is still the norm here. The main reason cited to me is cost. > ---------- > From: Michal Alaniz[SMTP:michal@ix*.ne*.co*] > Sent: Thursday, July 16, 1998 3:21 AM > To: Dan Volker > Cc: Tech List; RMC; George Irvine; george > Subject: Re: More new tech divers die,,,,this time in Singapor > > If the divers drowned during this accident, then the question is where > in depth. I have heard of people drowning in 10 feet of water and 130 > ft of water. The end result is a drown person. > > What is not clear to me is if the team were using recreational gear or > tech gear and what type of dive (recreational or technical)they were > performing. Just because someone is signed up for a course does not mean > that intellectual and experiential interest predisposes someone to a > mishap. Many factors need to be taken into consideration such as dive > site conditions, divers phyical and mental conditions with dive goals > and dive objectives. > > It would be best to have more information than "new tech divers die" to > assess the actual causes in this case. > > Michal > -- > 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'.
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