diving and flying

[Wetsuit Pirates]

Thanks for the link, I was also taught 24 hours for intervals like that. Interesting that DAN says its less than the courses I took.

 

[boulderjohn]

Thanks for the link, I was also taught 24 hours for intervals like that. Interesting that DAN says its less than the courses I took.

What courses?

I can't go back and recreate what was in my OW course, but I know the DAN recommendations have been the same as PADIs for at least as long as the decade since I became a professional.

---------- Post added July 2nd, 2014 at 08:21 AM ----------

I was recently on a liveaboard in Australia--the Spirit of Freedom. The day before the trip was over, we were all assembled in preparation for a dive, and the dive leader asked if anyone was going to be flying the next day, because the PADI "requirements" were for a 24 hour interval after diving. Anyone flying within 24 hours would have to skip that dive. All the other dive crew members were present, and they were all PADI instructors. That means they all should have known that he was wrong. I didn't say anything because I saw no reason to start an argument, since as it turned out no one was flying anyway. In my written comments at the end of the trip I did ask why he intentionally misstated it in that speech, one that he must give regularly.

I of course got no response, but I think I know the answer.

He had announced another policy on the first day, saying that PADI required all dives in a multiple dive day to be progressively shallower. That policy had a big impact on a dive day that went to as many as 5 sites. It determined to a large extent where we went, and it impacted where we could go on a site. I told him that the "requirement" he stated was actually an obsolete recommendation, and that all research showed that there was no reason for it. He got very uncomfortable, and his response was essentially, "OK, you got me. It's really a company policy, not a PADI policy." I am sure the 24 hour rule was also company policy.

They had some other policies on the dives that were extremely conservative. I believe the company policies were designed to make absolutely certain that there was no possibility of DCS whatsoever. In order to avoid the appearance that company policies were unnecessarily restricting dive options, at every opportunity they tried to shift the blame for their restrictions to PADI, figuring that no one would know the difference.

There is no excuse for an instructor not knowing the flying rule--it is a question on the final exam, and instructors must go over every question a student missed to make sure they understand it.