Posted on 01/28/2005 8:36:41 AM PST by robowombat
WTF, back in the 60's we used to dive beneath the ice in the old limestone quarrys located around Lemont just outside Chicago. We would cut holes in the ice, rig up nylon lines, and several of us would dive down to the bottom around 100 feet. Was not that bad with a 1/4 inch wet suit and long handle woolen underwear.
So, over 40 years later with modern gear, they can't go ice diving?
Still the guy that did it was one brave guy.
If it had, I believe that the writer would have used different wording to describe what happened. And there probably wouldn't have been debris from her truck all over the road if she had slid over the edge without flipping over.
A prudent driver, knowing of an existing dangerous situation should adjust to the driving situation.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
If a member of my family has a bad accident, I am going to learn from it to make sure it doesn't happen to me.
The govt can't protect us from everything.
Having said this, I still feel sorry for the guy.
"would you dive 105 feet..."
You have a point. I know that there are divers who use special suits for arctic conditions but I don't think you can count on them being available to help just because he has 8k. But if they "can" help, if such a diver was available for hire by the state, then they should - if all parties are willing. It just seems like they don't care enough to try.
"What am I missing? If the car skidded off the road, went over a cliff, into a quarry, and sank in 105 feet of water -- why is debris scattered in the road?"
Uh, duh, I think the vehicle also went through a wall.
I agree that they both should have been more aware of the driving conditions and they should have driven more carefully. However, if the city had put some kind of barricades along the side of the road, neither of them would have gone over the edge. Aren't those the kinds of things that people pay taxes for? They lived on that road. They had to drive on it.
For $8K isn't there a private scuba contractor willing to do it? Heck I would- but it may take several or many dives just to locate it- you would need a dry-suit, and at 105 feet you can under stay submerged a few minutes to avoid potentially hours of decompression
My dive team has already done recoveries like this one.
Ice is a problem for the surface support people. Less so for the divers if they are diving proper procedures. Viz is always a problem in lakes & quarries. We do most things 'blind' and by 'feel'. Also, water temp is constant at that depth -- year round.
They need to send a single diver down to put a line on the car. Likely, it will be upside down. Thread a wrecker's hook through the A-frame. Get out of the way and let the wrecker winch it in.
Thankfully they didn't have to dive 105 feet
You'd have 15 - 20 minutes of Bottom Time. More than enough if you have an equipment line on the target. Don't search. Use a side scan sonar unit to locate the mass of the vehicle. Rent one with a qualified operator. Their in Maine, so bring someone in from the coast.
I didn't realize that the cost of city operations was taken directly from the city managers pocket either!
If I was qualified, but I don't ever plan to be qualified. With the ice, it is an overhead environment so you really would need a cavern certification and associated equipment.
The authorities probably don't have cavern-certified divers and would have to contract out the job anyway. So it is definitely in their interest to just let him hire them since he has the money.
I dive, but as far as I am concerned cavern diving is a death wish even with the right training and equipment.
Since I couldn't find anything about a wall in the story, you must have other sources. What kind of wall? What was it made of?
I was thinking the same thing. I've seen people drive on snow and ice covered roads as if it were the middle of July, completely oblivious to the fact that they could spin out of control in an instant.
As for me, I drive somewhere between 5 - 10 mph on snowy roads, but that's just me. Better late than dead.
Punctuation is your friend.
Has anyone posted the obvious here??? She risked driving over dangerous roads for a cat...and got herself killed...and since no mention of the cat...probably the cat too....
The cost really seems to be an issue in this particular case for some reason. I wonder if the Kennedy family paid for all the recovery efforts for JFK jr.?
Maybe it hit a guardrail.
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