H2O to Flight

I am an Airline Pilot that would like to do some diving on my 24 hour layovers. What is the time limit for water to wings? The Cabin Altitude is 8500 feet and the duration of the flight is 6 hours. One (maybe two) dive to, probably, no greater than 60 feet.

I googled it and thought I could find the info very easily. All I found was one link at scuba-doc .

thanks,

Scusea

You could take a look at the small print on the backside of your PADI divetable.

Sorry, I don't have a divetable. This is a recreational dive with a dive master/reputable company in Kona.

PADI tables state 12 hours after a single dive.
18 hours or more after multiple dives.

hope it helps.

You won't find it any manual, but if you are not diving below 60 feet then your increased risk on ascending to an effective altitude of 8,500 feet (ie. a pressurized cabin) is pretty tiny.

The old US Navy dive tables used to say (probably still do say) wait 4 hours before flying after a no-decompression dive, and I think that is still a good rule of thumb.

On the other hand, please don't do this when you are flying a plane which is carrying any of my family or friends...

If you are diving with a computer I would go by that. I wear two computers and neither of them tells me to wait more than twelve and a half hours after a two-dive morning trip doing one deep and one shallow dive.

The current "best recommendation" which spans agency boundaries is:

Single NDL dive: 12 hours
Multiple NDL dives: 18 hours

If you're interested in how these numbers came to be (for example, it's actually 17 hours, but <shrugs> read page 94 for more amplification, not for the faint of heart!) then here is the FAD 2002 Workshop.

Also interesting is that the economic model (cost of being bent vs cost of less dives) also targets 18 hours.


All the best, James

I think it is safe to assume you are a commercial pilot. I would be surprised if there were no FAA regulations that would prohibit you from PILOTING an aircraft with less than 18 hours of SI, regardless of your dive profile.

mrlipis:

I think it is safe to assume you are a commercial pilot. I would be surprised if there were no FAA regulations that would prohibit you from PILOTING an aircraft with less than 18 hours of SI, regardless of your dive profile.

Click to expand...

That is something worth to know or investigate.
I would be surprised as well.Unless no one at the FAA, or any other aviation agency, is a diver.(what strikes me as unlikely)

Tha Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations ( Capapilots.org) states under chapter 8.Medical facts for pilots 8-1-2. Effects of Altitude, under section D:

d. Decompression Sickness After Scuba Diving.

1. A pilot or passenger who intends to fly after scuba diving should allow the body sufficient time to rid itself of excess nitrogen absorbed during diving. If not, decompression sickness due to evolved gas can occur during exposure to low altitude and create a serious inflight emergency.

2. The recommended waiting time before going to flight altitudes of up to 8,000 feet is at least 12 hours after diving which has not required controlled ascent (nondecompression stop diving), and at least 24 hours after diving which has required controlled ascent (decompression stop diving). The waiting time before going to flight altitudes above 8,000 feet should be at least 24 hours after any SCUBA dive. These recommended altitudes are actual flight altitudes above mean sea level (AMSL) and not pressurized cabin altitudes. This takes into consideration the risk of decompression of the aircraft during flight.



NOTICE that it says the altitudes are ACTUAL flight altitudes NOT pressurized cabin altitudes.