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LUSITANIA MISHAP, Aug 21st.95. The members of the official 1995 Lusitania Expedition would like to express their sincere regret at the news of the accident which occurred during the English teams return visit to this protected wreck. In particular we would commend Richard Tully, a research assistant at Brunel University, for his astuteness in catching an oxygen toxicity hit in his buddy, Jamie Power, the youngest member of the team, who works for British Airways. Jamie is reported after his stint in the Irish Navy's pot and his stay in Cork University Hospital to be in good form. As an aside, what would be the reaction of the various training agencies involved in Tech. Diving, to the suggestion that his group, known as the Starfish Enterprise, admit from their own publications, to leaving a trail of accidents, such as ...death, spinal bends, oxygen fires and now an oxygen toxicity hit, that the attention of the Health and Safety Executive (H.S.E.) in the UK and the Health and Safety Authority (H.S.A.) in Ireland is now looking more of a certainty. When the H.S.E./H.S.A. get involved the resulting effects will be as follows... (1) Some groups or organisations may go underground to avoid the stringent regulations. (2) The Tekies who got their honorary qualifications on the 'Grandfather Clause' will have their certifications checked and this may leave some agencies in a compromising position. (3) The growth of our sport will be curtailed and advances in equipment and techniques will have to be vetted by the H.S.E./H.S.A. with the infamous jaundice eye. The members of Irish Technical Diving (I.T.D.) would also like to take this public opportunity to reply to the recent publication of the challenge made by Mr Lad Handelman, Oceaneering founder and two members of the British/American 1994 Lusitania Team in aquaCORPS journal N.10 under Forum: 'The 94 Lusitania Expedition, Seductive or Suicidal?' TO THE COMMERCIAL DIVING COMMUNITY The remark by the American Tekie about putting 'a monkey in a hard hat rig and put him down at the bottom of the ocean' is without exemption a ridiculous remark which only serves to widen the gap between both of our communities. TO MR. LAD HANDELMAN The remark about skiing by the same Tekie, was uncalled for and somewhat below the belt. The language used by the British Tekie to Mr Handelman was offensive in the extreme. We have never seen or ever hope to see that sort of language used in public again by any member of our community. The printed story about the Irish team's incident in 1994 has now gone from the ridiculous to the sublime...It came as a surprise to all of us here to learn that an alledged trip to D.D.R.C. was made, as the Irish chamber was supposed to be 'Inadequate', despite the fact that we had a chamber operator trained in mixed gas technology, which when called on worked perfectly. No trip to the UK was deemed necessary. On a point of clarification to the misleading representations which are typical of the uninformed, the average dive experience of the Irish Team was twice that of the British team and all are senior active instructors, several of whom worked for the National Diving Organisation's Technical Commission. To spite representations to the contrary, the Irish Team's Technical diving instructor conveyed and confirmed in writing 'The best of luck with the Lusitania'. In the same vainness, contrary to what the uninformed would have you believe, the hard fact of the matter was the Irish Divers training and experience, coupled with a knowledgeable and well equipped surface support team prevented an accident from becoming a fatal incident. Some of the aspiring Tekie pioneers have forgotten the old adage.. THERE ARE OLD DIVERS, THERE ARE BOLD DIVERS, BUT THERE ARE NO....... Des, Brendan and Eugene @ I.T.D. Phone 353 1 8733044. Fax 353 1 8733969
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