Eastbourne diver missing off of south England

[DandyDon]

The brief comment that she "fell into the sea as she was boarding" suggests a few possibilities - but I have to wonder how they could lose her at that point...?

BBC News - Major air and sea search for missing Eastbourne diver

Coastguards are carrying out an extensive air and sea search to locate a diver who fell from a boat off the East Sussex coast.
Dover Coastguard said the woman fell into the sea as she was boarding a vessel south of Eastbourne at 12:50 BST on Tuesday.

A rescue helicopter has been scrambled and the Hastings and Eastbourne RNLI lifeboats have also been launched.
Other boats in the area have also been helping out with the search.

 

[RickyF]

Something sure doesn't sound quite right! Has to be more to this story.

 

[Aceswild84]

Hopefully this gets updated soon. HOping for a swift and good ending to this story.

Chase

 

[mattcassell]

Updated. Search has been called off

BBC News - Diver search off coast of Eastbourne called off

 

[Scubasue1966]

SEARCH teams last night called off their hunt for a missing diver who was lost overboard off Eastbourne yesterday afternoon.
A major sea rescue was launched just afternoon at around 1pm for the diver, thought to be a woman, who failed to resurface after a diving trip six miles off the coast. She was among a group of divers, and she disappeared from view while returning from a dive.
A Mayday distress call was received which resulted in the Eastbourne lifeboat and Coastguard rescue helicopter being scrambled to search the area.
Eastbourne RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat was first on scene and, having assessed the prevailing sea conditions, Coxswain Mark Sawyer requested the assistance of Hastings all-weather lifeboat with the search. The trial Shannon class lifeboat which had stayed overnight in Sovereign Harbour whilst on passage was also requested to attend along with other passing craft and local fishing vessel Beachy Head.
After an eight hour search, nothing was found and with failing light the search was called off at 9.15pm last night.


The missing diver who is bow being presumed drowned has been confirmed as local doctor Judy Beard.
The 52-year-old disappeared on Tuesday afternoon after diving with friends off the Eastbourne coast.
A frantic eight-hour search was carried out but was stopped last night and Dr Beard is now being presumed drowned.

RIP Judy Beard

 

[DandyDon]

Did she fall while boarding or fail to surface? Big difference in the two reports.

 

[Simon-]

BBC News - Tributes to Eastbourne boat fall diver presumed drowned

 

[darren a]

Really dont understand the "wall of silence" that seems to surround this case. Someone falls off a dive boat, goes missing presumed dead and the search is called off, yet there has been no discussion at all about the incident on UK dive forums. Very odd.

Edit: Wow, my first post

 

[rickgillyon]

The UK dive forums I use have a no speculation no hearsay rule, which pretty much denies all discussion unless you were personally present. No lessons learned either.

 

[Quero]

Did she fall while boarding or fail to surface? Big difference in the two reports.

According to this news report:
Top doctor feared drowned off Sussex coast (From The Argus)
she fell from the ladder while reboarding the boat. The family have requested privacy, so I doubt we'll ever know if she suffered a health problem as she climbed the ladder. I haven't noted any mention of sea conditions at the time, whether it would have been difficult to climb the ladder due to wave action bouncing the boat or something similar.