Posted by Chris on September 05, 2001 at 21:41:15:
In Reply to: Confused about Farnsworth Fatality posted by GOPACK on September 05, 2001 at 21:23:39:
First stage failures can be open or closed.
Some designs are more prone to fail open, but there are no guarantees.
There are also valve and burst disk failures, which although rare, have a finite probability of occurring.
The posts about the accident are all speculation and rumor.
Since the victim cannot be found, that may be all we'll ever know.
Do not give to much credence to the over verbose Monday morning quarterbacks.
Never the less, planning and practicing bailout and safety procedures is always a good idea.
No matter how you dive, you should have a plan for emergency situations, and practice the procedures before you undertake a dive where your life may depend on them.
I use front side of Catalina trips for practicing, trying out new gear, and experimentation.
The one thing you usually find out when practicing, is there are skills involved that are not obvious until you try.
You need to know this before your life depends on it!