Posted by MHK on February 13, 2001 at 14:37:12:
In Reply to: Re: Tegner's Report/solo posted by Kendall Raine on February 13, 2001 at 14:10:06:
Kendall,
Thank you for that.. You said it better than I could..
If there was ever a case that suggests a buddy could have saved her, it's this one..
A diver with no air is solo, holding another tanks and bc under her arm and is unable to inflate the drysuit because the lp hose is attached to an empty tank..
It's seems reasonable to assume what happened here.
She had too much weight, she went to inflate teh bc and/or drysuit but was unable to inflate due to the lack of air. She goes to drop weightbelt and in so doing looses the tank she was carrying and then plummets..
How ANYONE can advance any type of arguement that it is OBVIOUS that a buddy would have helped, and more than likley would have saved her life..
You signed off by saying * I expect better*, but the sad reality is that I don't...
Very eperienced diver's are on this list day in and day out justifying such stupidity so I no longer expect better.. A chimpanzee could easily conclude that a buddy would have saved this woman, but you have recognized leaders of our community casting doubt upon the obvious all to continue to justify a dangerous style of diving..
I consider you and I pretty good divers, and I'd argue that either one of us could handle an emergency, but I'll tell you I was glad you were with me Sunday when at 230' I got a reverse block.. It was comforting to know that all I needed to do was call the dive with a thumbs up, you took over the reel and we ascended without incident.. Would I have survived if you weren't there??? Probably, but the point is there wasn't one second of panic. I knew you were there, we were both running 1/3's so there was plenty of gas.. It's that kind of intangible that get's lost when we are forced to prove the unprovable.
Mia was alone when she died, she is the only one for sure that knows what happened and since she isn't around to discuss it, the solo crowd will engage in speculation and obfuscation to muddy the issue when it is painfully obvious that she would be alive today if she followed DIR protocols...
Later