OCT95-A diver suffered hypoxia and went unconscious in about 15 f/4.5 m while diving a refurbished CCR-1000 rebreather during a "Rebreather Experience," and was pulled to the surface by the safety diver and dive partner. She was revived with no ill effects.
The cause of the incident was attributed to battery failure on the unit, which left the primary PO2 sensors and oxygen-addition value inoperative, and resulted in no oxygen being fed to the diver. In addition, the diver failed to properly monitor the primary and back-up PO2 displays which would have alerted her to the problem. This would have prompted her to manually add oxygen to the system as per standard protocol, and abort the dive.
According to personnel conducting the dives, the batteries on the unit, which had been dived twice earlier that day, were checked according to a pre-dive check list prior to the dive. There was some discussion that the batteries had been tested without a load and therefore gave an inaccurate reading. Reportedly, the unit was turned on beofre to the dive, which would have delivered a load.
The diver was a physician, and stated that she analyzed the oncoming hypoxia symptoms (euphoria, confusion, incoherence) into unconsciousness. The safety diver and partner realized that something was wrong and pulled her up.
NOV95-A 27-year-old recreational/enriched air instructor died while conducting a deep air dive with three other divers to about 300 f/ 92 m or more. He used a single 100 cf. cylinder with redundant regulators (H-valve) and EAN 50 stage bottle. The body was never recovered.
Reportedly, the diver, who was working the charter, "tagged along" with a private instructor and his two students who had completed a deep diving course the day before and were making a bounce dive to 300 f/92 m on air (#!!@#?) along the wall using recreational gear.
According to his employer, the diver was not overly involved in technical diving, but had 4-5,000 dives under his belt, including 1,000 dives to depths between 150-200 f/46-61 m, and had dived several times to 400 f/123 m on air. Although the diver was aware of the dangers involved, he "liked" deep air diving.
The group with which the diver descended along the wall was not using a decompression line or support divers. The instructor reported that he signaled his two students to ascend after about 4-5 minutes of bottom time. He then reported that he noticed that the diver who was at about 275 f/84 m was heading up the wall at an angle, at which time the instructor began his own ascent and lost track of the diver. Another instructor who had trained the diver challenges this report and believes that the diver may have actually planned and made a deep plunge at that point and never returned.
The instructor surfaced after about 29 minutes of run time. Several recovery dives were made to no avail. This is reportedly the fourth recreational diving death this year on the wall in the Bahamas. We question the sanity and responsibility of an instructor diving to 300 f/92 m on single air cylinders with students in tow.
NOV95-A fish collector suffered a spinal hit on a 200-300 f/61-92 m air dive to collect fish after he got separated from his down line (and his travel decompression gas) when the boat broke loose. He was forced to surface prematurely, swim 20 minutes to reach the boat, and then complete his decompression.
The diver and his 19-year-old partner, who reportedly had no formal deep diving training, left their boat unattended while they descended to deeper than 200 f /61 m to collect a specific fish which apparently could bring up to $3,000 for a matched pair. They reportedly attached their travel gas (air stage) and oxygen to the anchor line. The 19-year-old got so narked that he decided to remain on the line while the fish collector swam to collect the fish. The anchor pulled away, and the boat and decompression gas drifted away. When the collector surfaced because of a gas shortage, the boat was a 20-minute swim away. The collector got to the boat and breathed all the remaining gas (including O2) in an attempt to properly decompress. It is not known when the collector began to experience DCI symptoms. The two drove several hours to reach a chamber, crossing the Liki Liki Pass (1,500 feet above sea level) in the process. When they arrived, the collector was unable to climb out of the truck unaided and had lost all feeling below his chest. After 15 days of treatment, the diver improved to having feeling in his waist. The prognosis is that he will never walk again-based on a report from Dennis Pierce/Epic Dives.