RE: The First PSUBs Fatality

[Brian Danielson <BDANIELS@stb.com>]

Ray :

I may still have a newspaper photo of a 2-man psub in Germany (article and
caption in German) where both occupants died. If I can find it, I'll scan
and submit to you.

Years ago, before I had researched subs to any great depth (sorry) I
remember thinking to myself, how could that happen? Building a sub is
simple, right?

Well, it is true that building a sub is simple, once you have the
understanding and go through the full design process correctly by proven
methods and obtaining qualified assistance in areas you are not qualified
for. By this I stand by Richard Hess's latest email. Well stated.

Brian.

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Ray Keefer [SMTP:Ray.Keefer@eng.Sun.COM]
	Sent:	Monday, March 01, 1999 11:07 AM
	To:	personal_submersibles@psubs.org
	Subject:	Re: The First PSUBs Fatality

	Hi,

	Wow. Come into work after a relaxing weekend and the whole alias is
alive!
	I'll skip adding my 2 cents worth in, the horse is already dead. :)

	> A one atmosphere three man submersible suffered a catastrophic
failure 
	> of one of its viewports.  This happened in 38' of water, the sub
was 
	> designed to operate at a depth of 100'.  When the viewport failed,
one 
	> man drowned, and the other was barely able to escape with his life
by 
	> making a free accent to the surface.  The man was killed by his
own sub. 
	> I'm sure he thought "it can't happen to me, I've designed and
built this 
	> sub myself".

	Can we get articles? Photos? News clippings? I want to start a new
page
	called "Disasters"? I want to be very chilling clear that if you
screw up
	you are DEAD.

	Were these guys members of the PSUB group?

	I think it would be nice to collect some stats. Maybe once a year
the members
	could report in how many dives they did in the year. How many
accidents.
	With accident reports. How many deaths.... This way we can learn
from 
	each others mistakes.

	Regards,
	Ray