Foo:
From the description of the video, I can't really see what intrinsic value that it would lend to the casual viewer (albiet diver)...The video should be inspected by professional accident analysts, then given to to the family to do what they will. None of us have to see it in order to "learn" from it- reports should be available to those who want to avoid his mistakes, if he even made any. JMO.
May he rest in peace, and his family be comforted.
Foo
I finally read through all the entries on this thread. As a trained safety professional, with over 25 years in the field and having investigated diving accidents in the past, I would like to second the quote by Foo above. There are many, many factors which go into an accident analysis, and simply viewing the video probably will not be of much benifit to those untrained in accident investigation. Even divers who may wish to view it may come away with a false premise based on only viewing the video.
From seeing his web site, I would venture that the video was to be used, but in a very edited manner. He has several clips of video on the website, but none are all-inclusive of a dive (which is very long, by the way--sometimes 6 hours from what I saw).
It appears that there will be no in-depth accident investigation. To conduct such an investigation, one would need not only the video, but autopsy results, history information from everyone involved, the complete dive profile, including gas mixtures used, and other information.
That information would include an detailed investigation of the equipment used. The rebreather, for instance, should have been impounded, with no one allowed to touch it until after it was analyzed, and a chain of custody established immediately after the recovery. Here are some of the possibilities that should have been determined:
*The gas in the breathing bags should have been analyzed for the O2, dilutent, and CO2 content.
*The scrubber should have been analyzed to determine whether it had failed, and the electronics looked at for malfunctions.
*It is also possible that the workload, combined with the depth, overtaxed the rebreather's ability to scrub the air, but nobody would know unless there were definative test results on that particular unit.
*Divers are also known to modify their equipment, and this would need to be determined.
In short, there are many, many possibilities, and without a thorough examination and analysis all we are left with is speculation.
If these, and other measures I don't have time to detail were looked at, then we could learn more. Until then, we probably won't understand what happened.
Concerning whether to show the video, I would be against it for the following reasons:
--For one thing, it would highlight the fact that some think it is reasonable to dive to 220 meters, doing extensive decompression without the support necessary to do it safely (if that is even possible to conceive--safely diving to 200+ meters, I mean). Rebreather technology may be advanced, but this is stretching the limits, and more than a bit stretching the limits too.
--Secondly, as mentioned above, it could give false impressions about what happened. I assume there is no dialog from the diver (he was not wearing a FFM), so we really don't quite know what was actually happening (I have not at this time seen the video either).
--Apparently, it does show a diver who has been dead and underwater for 10 years. Even if someone approved this (and that includes the family), it is doubtful anyone would like to be seen publically like this. Most likely the reason for the bag was that they had no confidence of the diver staying in one piece during recovery.
--Finally, it probably would be sensationalized by the press.
It would have been good if a really thorough accident investigation was conducted. But the fact that nobody knows any of the results tells me it was not, and therefore the whole story will never be known. Speculation will abound, and the video would only feed the rumors.
Having read of his and his wife's work, I feel this is a great tragedy, and this world has lost a very interesting person. It should give pause to anyone who is considering diving deep, no matter the reason. My condelesces to the family, and the community in Hong Kong and elsewhere where he was known and loved.
SeaRat
