Navy Dive manual changed and article 32 hearing for team CO

[Alaska-Herb]

http://wtkr.com/2013/06/20/senior-leade ... er-deaths/

What do you all think, Is a scuba dive to 150 for a trained EOD diver who is about ready to deploy under fire so risky that it was a poor command decision to call for the dive?

I admit that my personal bottom is only 139 however I am not a EOD diver who may be called into a live fire deep dive. I personally think that a 150 foot dive should have been well within their training.

I have never owned or dived a Apeks TX-50 but I would think that for this regulator to be in a EOD team locker it should be more than up to the task of a 150 dive.

So I personally think that the Commanding officers have been selected to be the fall guys for what is a equipment or a equipment maintenance issue.

OK educate me please lets hear what you think and where I might be wrong.

Thanks
Herb

[CaptnJack]

The news report I saw said "they only had enough air for 11minutes". No mention of tank size but an AL80 is approximately 11 mins of gas at 150ft with a modestly elevated SAC. So I think its plausible to assuming this was a 150ft dive on an AL80 or hp100 of air. There is NO WAY that kind of "plan" should make it through supervisory approval. Especially since there was zero operational necessity to take that kind of risk.

[Alaska-Herb]

Good catch I missed the line about 11 minutes of air available So yea the entire dive plan wold have been flawed but a EOD diver should have known he did not have enough gas for the dive and then to have two of them make the same mistake?

[CaptnJack]

Good catch I missed the line about 11 minutes of air available So yea the entire dive plan wold have been flawed but a EOD diver should have known he did not have enough gas for the dive and then to have two of them make the same mistake?

Yeah you'd think. But similar mistakes happened to the USCG Healy divers (5? years ago), descending mid-water with no bottom at all, no tender training, under ice, with 50lbs of lead, wearing a full face mask, and no power inflator. I won't speculate what went through the deceased diver's minds in either case, but part of the job of the CO is to be impartial and stop flawed dive plans that subordinates mistakenly propose.

I don't really know the appropriate level of discipline for when this responsibility is missed by any sort of dive supervisor. WA DNR got spanked REALLY hard by L&I after the geoduck surveyor diver death here last year. Since DNR had little or no dive supervision and violated numerous commercial diving rules and regulations. Obviously in this case the Navy can't really fine itself, so they are disciplining the CO personally for failing to follow their own rules.