DATELINE: 10th September 2001

NAVY DIVER LOST
A Royal Navy clearance diver has lost his life while on exercise off West Scotland.
The diver had completed a dive to 82m using a Carleton Mk16 rebreather, used only by the military, before experiencing a problem which caused him to switch to open-circuit.
He ascended with his buddy to an emergency breathing apparatus stationed at 42m but, instead of plugging into the system, he went straight on upwards.
His buddy surfaced and a search was carried out. It was eventually found that the dead diver had lodged underneath the diving vessel.
"Once he was on open circuit, he only had a limited gas duration," a rebreather industry source told Divernet. "When he was found, the diluent cylinder which supplies the open circuit demand valve was empty."
An RN press spokesman told Divernet: "The diver was on an exercise evaluating decompression tables. His death is now the subject of a fatal accident enquiry."

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