Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] nekton fatality

Vance,

Thank you for sharing that, an invaluable "real world" experience, and a previously missed accident.

I always learned my lessons well from NTSB reports, but submersibles haven't left the same trail. The reasons are obvious but, still...these types of stories by experienced divers / sub pilots, are even more valuable than those reports, because you put a human element to it they lack.

I come away from this placing even more value to a predetermined operation limitations and contingency manual.

The escape bubble scenario, will have me thinking for awhile.

Thanks again

Joe

>From: vbra676539@aol.com
>Reply-To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] nekton fatality
>Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 21:16:10 -0400
>
> Alpha and Beta were doing a recovery on a 26' speedboat from 200 plus >feet. They got slings under the boat's bow and stern and started the lift. >Alpha surfaced and Beta stayed to oversee the lift. The speedboat's bow >sling slipped and its hull slewed to one side as it fell free, hitting the >sub in the conning tower and breaking one viewport completely in half!!! >The sub flooded immediately and sank (and boy howdy, that must have been >some ride). The pilot and co-pilot were alright at that point, discussed >the blow and go technique which was their only option. When the hatch >popped, the remaining air bubble held captive in the conn roared up and >sucked the pilot right out of the boat. He surfaced about half dead, and >says he doesn't remember that ascent to this day. He survived to build and >operate Delta for its entire lifetime. His copilot was less fortunate, and >was found by the Alpha on the bottom near the sunken sub. Alpha retrieved >the body and then went back to retrie!
> ve Beta. It was a tragic case of bad luck and poor judgement, not >improved by time or hindsight. I think this happened during Beta's first >year of operation, but don't hold me to that.
>
>I'd say there was plenty to learn. The sling was not attached to the boat, >for instance, and the sub was too damned close to a load. I don't know >about pre-job planning and briefings. These were serious people, and this >was no lark. They were working, and something went badly wrong. Armchair >quarterbacks could point a finger or two, and if you and I were doing the >same job today, we'd probably call around and try to glean some lessons >learned from the folks who were there. I've done a bunch of lifts using >submarines, but I'll have to say that we didn't stay near loads in >midwater. Get hooked up, test the load then get the hell out seemed like >good advice, and that's the way we generally played it. Nobody wanted to be >UNDER a load and with iffy visibility, about two seconds could be the >difference between seeing the lift, and running into it.
>
>This was the first of four fatalities in the business (that I knew of at >the time) three in the US and one in France, which served the rest of us as >lessons learned. Painful lessons, to be sure, and sad. One to two surface >and/or saturation divers died per year (on average) during the construction >days in the North Sea, for instance. But none of them were submersible >related. No lockout divers, no pilots, no crew. A hundred percent safety >record was considered the minimum goal, as the penalties for screwing up >were draconian, and often fatal. Looking back, I suspect we had some help >from the lucky stars, or the fates or the hand of God, depending on which >way you swing. We ran those boats right on the hairy edge of disaster >sometimes, but the accumulated experience and expertise pulled us through.
>
>I got a nice little attaboy from the Navy guys once, just for doing >something they thought was downright crazy. An experienced Trieste pilot >might have 200 dives in his resume for his entire career, and there I was, >diving 150 to 250 dives EVERY YEAR!!! And I was just one maniac in a >crowded asylum. Together, the dozen or so subs operating in the oil fields >at any given time were doing thousands of dives per year...thousands!!! >There were plenty of incidents, I can assure you, and a few accidents for >spice--but no fatalities. None.
>
>The Navy was mightily impressed by that, but this was back when I all but >took it for granted. In retrospect, it seems fairly obvious that this >fashionable and distinguished gray that I wear at my temples these days >might really be a marker for overuse of cheek and sheer luck, eh, what? And >just as a side note consider this: Delta Oceanographics runs twice as many >dives per year than I did, and in perfect safety as far as I know. Alpha, >Beta, Gamma and Delta have done ten or twelve thousand dives between them, >with one fatality in nearly forty years of operations. That's pretty >impressive. Mind you, I'll bet they could tell you a hair-raising story or >two. In fact, I know they could. I've heard some of them.
>
>Vance
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: joeperkel@hotmail.com
>To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>Sent: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 8:41 AM
>Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] ebay subs
>
>
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>"an operational error that resulted in a broken viewport in Beta",
>
>
>Vance, I'd be curious to know what happened here? I'll guess this was a >deep dive considering the lines design depth but, is this something to >learn from?
>
>Joe
>
>
>
>
>
>From: vbra676539@aol.com
>Reply-To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] ebay subs
>Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 08:03:56 -0400
>
>
>The 1 atm is the old Nekton Alpha. It was the 1st of its class, not >certified by ABS, and sold off when Nekton, Inc. went belly up. The odd >cage around it is someone's idea of safety. Mostly it looks like it always >did, shinier perhaps, but intact. This boat evolved from the little >Submaray (I think) and led the way for a series that has done more than >10,000 dives with only one fatality (which was an operational error that >resulted in a broken viewport in Beta, rather than a failure of design). >You gotta love those Nekton boats!!! And I agree, a hundred grand is a >whole bucket full of money--but then again, ask some of the builders what a >certifiable 1000 foot sub cost, and they'll quote 125K to half a million >and not even bat an eye. The difference is that Dan or somebody could build >this boat for a third to a half of what they're asking--as long as you >don't count his time. And hey, who's counting?
>Vance
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: irox@ix.netcom.com
>To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
>Sent: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 6:21 PM
>Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] ebay subs
>
>
>
>The big food version of scuba tow:
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260036619314
>
>And a 1ATM that looks very much like a delta sub:
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220032301940
>
>Ian.
>
>
>
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