Posted by MHK on May 09, 2001 at 10:24:15:
Further to Chris' post I believe many want an update as to what happened yesterday..
First off I want to thank Tim Burke of the Great Escape for donating his boat ( and for Tim's mom Joy for carrying all our tanks ;-))in the hopes of helping the family achieve some closure. I also want to thank my team for taking a day off work on such short notice.
John Walker
Bob Titus
Debbi Hill
Jeff Highley
Pat Farina
Adam DeHart
The information we received Monday from the USCG provided GPS coordinates. In addition to that we spoke to the surviving diver on the boat. It was his private boat and he was able to give some coordinates from his GPS, although his LED readout was not very clear, according to him. We only spoke via phone..
The coordinates given by the USCG differed in a material aspect from the coordinates given by the other diver. We were futher told by the surviving diver that they had anchored on the island side of the pinnacle in 318'. Further there was a pinnacle where they anchored that came up to 270' and that is what they were shooting for.
We searched for about 3 hours until we found some topography that matched the description given to us by the surviving diver. We found some topography that was a direct match for the described site and decided that given that gps coordinates could differ and the *minutes* were somewhat uncertain so we made a good faith jump based upon the decriptions.
We anchored in 320' and Walker, Titus and I planned to do a 360 degree sweep after laying out 100' feet of line. We planned for 15 minutes at depth unless we found the body and then ran a contingency schedule of 20 minutes to allow for added the time needed. Vis at depth was 20' or so and we stayed at 300' to allow a greater view of the terrain. Sadly we saw nothing and began our ascent. We did 15 minute BT and was out of the water in 84 minutes.
The dive plan[s], according to the surviving diver, was he would do his dive first and Tim would do his dive afterwards. The reported vis was 200'+ with no currents and very little swells. A perfect day for diving Farnsworth.
Th surviving diver reported seeing Tim at 290' continuing his descent as the 1st diver was beginning his ascent. They exchange waves and Tim continued down as the 1st diver began his ascent. Tim was diving a DUI TLS 350 ( orange) and was using double HP 120's. He had no deco gas and was diving on air, although he was trimix certified. There was no *planned* bottom time discussed between the two and Tim was reported to have said I'll be up in * about an hour*, and had planned on using his computer as his deco guide without using any deco gases. I understand he was using a SS BP with DiveRite wings and an intergrated weight system..
The surviving diver speculates that Tim wanted to go to about 320', or so, given where the anchor was sitting and given that he saw him at 290' heading down.
When the surviving diver got on the boat he realized that he didn't see any bubbles and began to search for Tim. It's important to note that he did not leave the anchor line in place, and thus the resulting difficulties in recovery. I spoke to the surviving diver last night after we got back and he said he didn't think to leave it there at the time because he believed Tim was probably floating doing his deco and his concern was to find the bubbles.
Last night he provided an added possible set of coordinates and offered to assist in another search effort. I'm leaving for 10 days on Saturday so we are going to try to put together another team on Friday, with the assistance of the other diver..
Much can be learned from this tragedy and I hope we can keep the flames to a mininum and seriously analyze this accident..
I have said often that many accidents can be prevented at the surface and I believe strongly that is the case here. In so far as some have indicated that this would have been a double fatalitiy if they were a buddy team I would say, we obviously will never know for sure, but the other way to look at it is perhaps Tim had a small problem that became fatal because of the lack of a fresh set of eyes or hands..
I'm SPECULATING ( as in NOT facts) but my belief is that if I were to do this dive I would do it much differently.
I would keep my END's at 100' and not have attempted this dive on air, but rather used something like a 12/60.. I would have used 19/35, 50/50 heliox and 02 for deco and had a planned BT, with a buddy using the same plan and had a team of support..
Diving at these depths does not allow the luxury of the mindset that most recreational divers have. A small problem at 60' does not generally carry with it a death sentance. A small problem at 320' is a much greater likliehood of severe consequences.
Every advantage that you can have you should be use at these depths. Adding severe narcosis, improper or ommited deco gases, solo diving and ad hoc dive plans speak to a mindest that is still in the recreational environment and will ultimately result in death if not changed.
Hope that clears up some of the outstanding questions...
Later