BSAC

February 2006 06/133
An instructor and two trainees conducted a dive to a maximum depth of 20m. Towards the end of the dive the instructor demonstrated how to inflate a delayed SMB using his octopus regulator. The regulator started to free flow. The instructor made a controlled ascent to the surface with the trainees.

February 2006 06/061
Two divers were engaged in a nitrox training course. They completed a 32 min dive to a maximum depth of 14m with practice decompression stops; 5 min at 9m and 5 min at 6m. 54 min later they dived to a maximum depth of 14m. During this dive the alternative air source regulator of one of the pair started to free flow when he used it to inflate a delayed SMB mid-water. The other diver gave him his alternative air source and turned the free flowing cylinder off then on again. The free flow continued. The diver with the free flow switched to his own pony regulator and they completed the dive as planned including practice stops as before. The water temperature was 4.5 deg C.

February 2006 06/062
Two divers were engaged in a training course. 15 min into their dive, at a depth of 12m one of the pair experienced a free flow of his octopus regulator whilst using it to inflate a delayed SMB. The other diver gave him his alternative air source and then turned the free flowing cylinder off then on again. The free flow stopped. The diver reverted to his own main regulator and the dive continued without further incident.

February 2006 06/060
Three divers were at a depth of 10m engaged in a training exercise. One of the three used his octopus regulator to inflate his delayed SMB; this regulator began to free flow. One of the other divers gave him his alternative air source and the third diver turned the free flowing cylinder off. The diver with the free flow then switched to his own pony regulator. The divers then ascended. At the surface the cylinder was turned back on to allow the diver to inflate his BCD. The regulator free flowed again so the cylinder was switched off as soon as the BCD was inflated. All divers left the water safely. Their dive duration was 25 min.

March 2006 06/070
Two divers conducted a dive to a maximum depth of 19m. At 18m the regulator of one of the divers started to free flow. He was using twin cylinders with two regulators. He was unable to reach the isolation valve. He surfaced breathing from the free flowing regulator. He was placed on oxygen for 30 min. No subsequent ill effects were experienced.

March 2006 06/167
A trainee and an instructor entered the water to participate in a training dive using a lifting bag. They descended to a maximum depth of 22m. At 20m the instructor attached the lifting bag to a shot weight and demonstrated how to fill it with his octopus regulator. He deflated the bag and the trainee filled it with her octopus regulator. The trainee's regulator began to free flow. The trainee took the instructor's alternative air source and the instructor turned the cylinder off. When he turned it back on again the regulator continued to free flow. He turned the cylinder off again and they made an ascent to the surface with the trainee using the instructor's alternative air source. They made a safe ascent including a short safety stop.

April 2006 06/238
Two divers descended a shotline to the seabed at a depth of 15m. At this point one of the pair pressed the button of his drysuit inflation valve. The valve fell out in his hand. The diver disconnected the feed hose and they aborted the dive. The drysuit was brand new and a circlip was found to have come off.

April 2006 06/268
Two pairs of divers entered the water to dive together to a maximum depth of 36m. As they approached their target depth the regulator of one of the divers began to free flow. His buddy gave him his pony regulator. The diver with the free flow began to suffer from a mask flooding problem. The four divers began their ascent. At 15m the free flow stopped but the diver continued to experience mask flooding. His buddy gave him his octopus regulator but he was unable to clear it. After two attempts he cleared the regulator. At 10m he switched back to his main regulator and they made a normal ascent with two safety stops. Once out of the water the diver was treated for shock.

April 2006 06/099
Two divers conducted a wreck dive to a maximum depth of 34m. They explored the wreck for a while then one of the divers indicated to the other that he had lost his weightbelt. They were unable to find the missing weightbelt in the poor conditions on the wreck. The other diver deployed a delayed SMB and then dumped air from his BCD and drysuit. The diver without the weightbelt held on to him and they started to wind themselves up the SMB line. They made a 2 min stop at 15m and a 2 min stop at 12m. They dumped further air and made a 3 min stop at 9m. The diver without the weightbelt was now quite buoyant and pulling upwards on the back of the other diver. They managed to complete a 5 min stop at 6m and a 4 min stop at 3m by which time both of their computers had cleared. Both were safely recovered from the water and no subsequent ill effects were experienced.

May 2006 06/107
Three divers conducted a wreck dive to a maximum depth of 30m. They descended a heavily weighted shotline. During the ascent up this shotline the weightbelt of one of the divers fell off. One of the other divers saw this and took hold of the diver and the shotline. The diver did not realise that his weightbelt had gone. They ascended slowly. At 6m the buoyant diver began to rise to the surface despite the efforts of his buddies. The buoyant diver's computer showed no decompression requirements. The other two required 2 min at 3m. They had not broken the surface and descended to 3m to conduct their stops while keeping watch on the buoyant diver on the shot buoy. All were safely recovered from the water and no subsequent ill effects were reported.

May 2006 06/159
An instructor and two trainees entered the water and descended to a depth of 21m. They checked and adjusted their buoyancy and then set off finning into a current. One of the trainees noticed that it was becoming harder for him to breathe. He took his buddy's octopus regulator and signalled that he wanted to ascend. The instructor gave the trainee his alternative air source and all three ascended safely to the surface. It was found that the regulator had malfunctioned.

June 2006 06/127
Two divers commenced a wreck dive to a maximum depth of 29m. 12 min into the dive one of the pair heard a loud 'crack'. His buddy signalled that the diver had a problem with one of his hoses and that he was losing air. The diver looked at his contents gauge and saw that this was decreasing rapidly. They started their ascent. At 15m the diver's air supply was exhausted and he took his buddy's octopus regulator. They continued their ascent, making a 5 min safety stop at 4m. They were safely recovered into the boat. It was subsequently found that the diver's octopus hose had split.

June 2006 06/277
A diver breathing air used one cylinder of a twin cylinder system and had that cylinder refilled. His next dive was to a depth of 59m. While descending the shotline he noticed that the air in the refilled cylinder was 'not very nice'. He switched to the other cylinder and the air was normal. During his ascent from the dive he switched back to the refilled cylinder and again noticed that the air had a bad taste. He took the cylinder back to the shop where it was refilled; a problem was found with the compressor filter and the shop owner paid for the diver to have his cylinders cleaned.

June 2006 06/200
Two divers were conducting a wreck dive at a maximum depth of 19m. During the dive, the weightbelt of one of the pair fell off. His buddy saw this happen and grabbed both diver and weightbelt. He was then able to help the diver to refit the belt. The dive continued without further incident.

June 2006 06/201
An instructor and two trainees descended a shotline to dive on a wreck. They reached the wreck at 7m, adjusted their equipment, and continued down to a depth of 19m. At this point one of the trainees lost her weightbelt and began to make a buoyant ascent. The instructor took hold of the trainee and made himself negatively buoyant. They then made their way along the wreck back to the shotline. They made a controlled ascent up the shotline. The second trainee followed. The divers were safely recovered into their boat. No subsequent ill effects were reported.

July 2006 06/171
A diver left two cylinders to be refilled at an air station. He asked for nitrox 28 and labelled the cylinders accordingly. The following day he conducted a gas analysis on both cylinder and found that both contained air. He reported the problem to the air station.

August 2006 06/204
Two divers entered the water from a boat to conduct a wreck dive. They exchanged 'OK' signals then there was a loud bang and mass of bubbles was seen to be escaping from behind one of the divers. The other diver turned off the cylinder from which the air was escaping. He reported that a high pressure hose had failed adjacent to the ferrule that attached it to the first stage. Both divers were recovered into the boat. The failed equipment was replaced and the divers completed their dive without further incident.

August 2006 06/225
Two divers conducted a dive to a maximum depth of 30m. Some time into the dive, one of the pair, who was using a rebreather, noticed a leak in his neoprene drysuit. The leak got worse and the legs of the drysuit began to fill with water. The divers decided to abort the dive and began to ascend the shotline. The leak was in the neck seal and air was lost from the suit. This made it difficult for the diver to ascend, and the condition was made worse by the inertia of the water in the suit. At the surface the diver's BCD was fully inflated and he ditched his weightbelt to enable him to stay at the surface. The divers were both safely recovered from the water and no subsequent ill effects were experienced.

September 2006 06/233
A diver on an instructor course entered the water from a hardboat using a backward roll entry. As she did so her delayed SMB and reel, which were attached to her via a D ring on her BCD, caught on a cleat on the boat. The D ring was torn from her BCD and the SMB and reel remained in the boat; the student felt under pressure to continue the dive without this equipment. The student and her instructor descended a shotline to a wreck; the underwater visibility was 1 to 2m. The student led the dive and descended to the stern of the wreck. As she did so the visibility dropped to 0.5m and when she turned around she could no longer see the instructor. She looked around for him and lost sight of the wreck. Her depth was 35m. She made an ascent to the surface, concerned that she had no SMB in an area busy with boats. The instructor deployed a delayed SMB and made his ascent. The boat headed towards the SMB. The dive manager on the boat spotted the unmarked diver directly in the boat's path; he advised the skipper and both divers were safely recovered.

September 2006 06/294
A diver was about to enter the water when another member of the party noticed that her BCD had a fault. The BCD had a fitting for an emergency cylinder and this fitting was found to have sheared off; she was not using the emergency cylinder. A similar problem had occurred previously on another BCD and was thought to be due to the fitting catching on something as the BCD and cylinder were lifted back into the boat.