[HiTech RedNeck]

I wonder how long it took for him to slip out of view. Why couldn't someone else just dive down with a rope, swim over to the man overboard, and attach it.

[Mr. Mojo]

Well, I believe those ships move at a pretty fast clip. ...And by the time they got someone ready to dive with the appropriate gear, it would've been too long a swim. Just a guess.

[GATOR NAVY]

Why couldn't someone else just dive down with a rope, swim over to the man overboard, and attach it.

You have to understand the size of an LHA. No one is going to dive 40 or 50 feet intentionally off of a ship doing 18 knots. The best chance for a man overboard off of any ship is for someone to see him right away. That happened here. They got a boat off in 5 minutes and a helo off in 10 minutes. There's not much more that they can do.