tombiowami
Contributor
Here is a post from the GUE list... more of those mean spirited DIR folk again...
From: "MHK" <mhkane@prodigy.net> | Block Address | Add to Address Book
To: "Don Hoover" <Don.Hoover@datastream.net>, rpreuninger@zinntech.com, quest@gue.com
Subject: Re: Deep Recovery
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 12:26:21 -0800
Don,
Here's a cut and paste of what I put out on our local BBS..
Let me know if that clears it up, if not e-mail me privately and I'll
expand..
It seems as though some have seen the article about our efforts and I,
as
well, want to identify myself with John Walker's comments that not
enough
credit was given to the other team members. John and I had the
opportunity
to be interviewed and I know we both disclosed the team members names, but my sense is that space limitations precluded a full listing, so I share John's thoughts.. Without a full team effort we could NEVER have completed this mission. Thanks guys!!!
Further to my earlier report respecting the dive operation I thought I'd describe the events of Friday and Saturday. On Thursday evening Sgt. Connelly notified me that the sonar equipment that they had flown in from Canada was turning up some meaningful information and could our team be ready to go Friday morning. Once again, thanks to a Herculean effort by
Jim Hoffman, John Walker and Terry May the blending process was completed in short order. Early Friday morning our team arrived at Lake Castaic. The team consisted of the bottom diver's of John Walker, Kendall Raine, Mark Lonsdale and myself with Pat Farina & Terry May working as support divers. We were
told that the sonar imaging located *targets* in the 240' range. We mixed to allow for some added safety margin and blended a 15/50, using 50/50 and 02.
The bottom water temp was 51 degrees and the visibility was less then 5' and it was as dark as you could ever imagine..
The sonar technology was very helpful and was able to pinpoint certain targets, but was limited with respect to direction. In other words, the sonar image could show a target but it wasn't able to show which direction the target was from the sonar. It reads 360 degrees so the operators were aided by the use of ROV's to help with direction. Accordingly, we were told about a jump that we were scheduled to make at approx. 2:00. However, we were faced with extreme wind conditions on Friday which prompted the
boat to get swept off the target. It took another couple of hours of waiting in the cold and the wind to re-discover the target. All throughout all the respective governmental agencies were very helpful and cooperative. It was a totally professional operation and I believe that much of the credit for that belongs to Sgt. Connelly for his leadership abilities.
Finally at about 4:00 we were told of a pretty sure target so Mark
Lonsdale and I were team 1. We were told that the bottom was 240' and that the target was within 30' of the down line. As it turned out the vis was much worse then Tuesday and we had 5', at best. Upon reaching the bottom I tied off a line and Mark and I began a search pattern and at about 180' degrees we located the body. Mark proceeded to secure the body while I attached
the lift bag.. After Mark and I secured the body and cleared the area I shot up the lift bag. We left the bottom after a 10 minute bottom time and completed our deco in 50 minutes so we were out of the water in an hour. The major complexity of his dive was that we were told we were in 240', whereas the actual recovery took place at 262', so to answer Frank's question of last week, we needed to adjust * on the fly*.
About 7:00 Friday evening Sgt. Connelly asked us if our team would be willing to complete a night dive recovery since they had just acquired a pretty good target. John Walker and Kendall Raine agreed, with Pat & Terry agreeing to act as support. Once again, it's important to note that we had the lake closed off, we had ample support from the Lifeguards, Sheriff's and local law enforcement so the controlled conditions allowed for the night
recovery. Kendall and John proceeded and were able to secure the body within 5 minutes of leaving the surface for a recovery depth of 259'.
Upon arrival at base camp, as Walker noted, the family members were all still awaiting word as they had set up a week long vigil in the remote hopes that we could retrieve a loved one. The elation in their voices and in their hearts is what this is all about.. One of the family members told me that he will sleep for the first time in a week because of the recovery.. That is what this is all about!!!!!
The bar had now been raised since three of the four had now been recovered and the boat had been searched, so we didn't want to disappoint the last family, however it's important to note that we can't let our judgment get clouded when it applies to dives in the 260' range. Accordingly, we needed solid information and we needed some sleep and fresh tanks.
We arrived on Saturday morning ready to go again.. Due to prior
commitments none of the other bottom team was available other then Mark Lonsdale and myself with Terry and Pat once again available for support. What that meant was we only had gas, divers and support for one jump so the info needed to be solid. The wind had calmed down for Saturday and the conditions were
much more favorable and at about 3:00 Mark and I received the call.. By now we had a routine going and Pat and Terry knew exactly what we needed, they preformed magnificently and Mark and I were able to retrieve the final body at 256' with a bottom time of 9 minutes and a total run time of 51 minutes.
Again the vis was less then 5', the silty condition once we located the body and began to work reduced the vis to almost non-existent and the water temp was 50'.
Afterwards, we had a major de-brief with all the players from the
various agencies involved and at the briefing what was obvious to everyone in the room was that this was a total team effort, team commitment and team success.. Everyone involved was equally valuable and the entire project could not have been completed had it not been for a Herculean effort by all involved..
For my part, I want to express pride, gratitude and appreciation to everyone but I wanted to specifically recognize the following:
Sgt. Mike Connlley
Mark Lonsdale
John Walker
Bob Titus
Kendall Raine
Terry May
Pat Farina
Scott Brooks
Jim Hoffman
I read somewhere in the L.A. Times that the * team is only as strong as the weakest link* ;-), but seriously truer words were never spoken because our team really helped three families get some closure..
Hope this fills in all the blanks, but let me know if you have follow
ups..
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hoover" <Don.Hoover@datastream.net>
To: "'MHK'" <mhkane@prodigy.net>; <rpreuninger@zinntech.com>;
<quest@gue.com>
Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 12:00 PM
Subject: RE: Deep Recovery
> MKh,
>
> Will you describe the procedure used to search and recover the
remains as
> well as bottom time and deco procedures. I have done recoveries from
shore.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MHK [mailto:mhkane@prodigy.net]
> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 3:16 PM
> To: rpreuninger@zinntech.com; quest@gue.com
> Subject: Re: Deep Recovery
>
>
> I'm sure I spend about that much but I didn't want to leave a
misleading
> impression...
>
> BTW, you're reference to *priceless* is right on the mark..
>
> The family members of all three families had set up a week long vigil
and
> every time we returned from the dive location you could just see in
their
> eye's that they wanted the ordeal over with.. One of the brother's
of one
> of the victims told me that he slept for the first time in a week
when we
> recovered his brother..
>
> Later
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roy Preuninger" <rpreuninger@zinntech.com>
> To: "'MHK'" <mhkane@prodigy.net>; <quest@gue.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 12:01 PM
> Subject: RE: Deep Recovery
>
>
> > Though spending $50,000 per year for training, travel, equipment,
service,
> > gas, etc., is well within the realm of reality, I didn't think
there are
> > many that do. Despite that, the cost of the recovery operation was
> probably
> > anything but cheap.
> >
> > For 10 divers:
> > Traveling to/from dive site
> > Dive gases
> > Lodging
> > Meals
> > Income lost
> > Equipment depreciation
> > Miscellaneous
> >
> > Closure for family: priceless
From: "MHK" <mhkane@prodigy.net> | Block Address | Add to Address Book
To: "Don Hoover" <Don.Hoover@datastream.net>, rpreuninger@zinntech.com, quest@gue.com
Subject: Re: Deep Recovery
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 12:26:21 -0800
Don,
Here's a cut and paste of what I put out on our local BBS..
Let me know if that clears it up, if not e-mail me privately and I'll
expand..
It seems as though some have seen the article about our efforts and I,
as
well, want to identify myself with John Walker's comments that not
enough
credit was given to the other team members. John and I had the
opportunity
to be interviewed and I know we both disclosed the team members names, but my sense is that space limitations precluded a full listing, so I share John's thoughts.. Without a full team effort we could NEVER have completed this mission. Thanks guys!!!
Further to my earlier report respecting the dive operation I thought I'd describe the events of Friday and Saturday. On Thursday evening Sgt. Connelly notified me that the sonar equipment that they had flown in from Canada was turning up some meaningful information and could our team be ready to go Friday morning. Once again, thanks to a Herculean effort by
Jim Hoffman, John Walker and Terry May the blending process was completed in short order. Early Friday morning our team arrived at Lake Castaic. The team consisted of the bottom diver's of John Walker, Kendall Raine, Mark Lonsdale and myself with Pat Farina & Terry May working as support divers. We were
told that the sonar imaging located *targets* in the 240' range. We mixed to allow for some added safety margin and blended a 15/50, using 50/50 and 02.
The bottom water temp was 51 degrees and the visibility was less then 5' and it was as dark as you could ever imagine..
The sonar technology was very helpful and was able to pinpoint certain targets, but was limited with respect to direction. In other words, the sonar image could show a target but it wasn't able to show which direction the target was from the sonar. It reads 360 degrees so the operators were aided by the use of ROV's to help with direction. Accordingly, we were told about a jump that we were scheduled to make at approx. 2:00. However, we were faced with extreme wind conditions on Friday which prompted the
boat to get swept off the target. It took another couple of hours of waiting in the cold and the wind to re-discover the target. All throughout all the respective governmental agencies were very helpful and cooperative. It was a totally professional operation and I believe that much of the credit for that belongs to Sgt. Connelly for his leadership abilities.
Finally at about 4:00 we were told of a pretty sure target so Mark
Lonsdale and I were team 1. We were told that the bottom was 240' and that the target was within 30' of the down line. As it turned out the vis was much worse then Tuesday and we had 5', at best. Upon reaching the bottom I tied off a line and Mark and I began a search pattern and at about 180' degrees we located the body. Mark proceeded to secure the body while I attached
the lift bag.. After Mark and I secured the body and cleared the area I shot up the lift bag. We left the bottom after a 10 minute bottom time and completed our deco in 50 minutes so we were out of the water in an hour. The major complexity of his dive was that we were told we were in 240', whereas the actual recovery took place at 262', so to answer Frank's question of last week, we needed to adjust * on the fly*.
About 7:00 Friday evening Sgt. Connelly asked us if our team would be willing to complete a night dive recovery since they had just acquired a pretty good target. John Walker and Kendall Raine agreed, with Pat & Terry agreeing to act as support. Once again, it's important to note that we had the lake closed off, we had ample support from the Lifeguards, Sheriff's and local law enforcement so the controlled conditions allowed for the night
recovery. Kendall and John proceeded and were able to secure the body within 5 minutes of leaving the surface for a recovery depth of 259'.
Upon arrival at base camp, as Walker noted, the family members were all still awaiting word as they had set up a week long vigil in the remote hopes that we could retrieve a loved one. The elation in their voices and in their hearts is what this is all about.. One of the family members told me that he will sleep for the first time in a week because of the recovery.. That is what this is all about!!!!!
The bar had now been raised since three of the four had now been recovered and the boat had been searched, so we didn't want to disappoint the last family, however it's important to note that we can't let our judgment get clouded when it applies to dives in the 260' range. Accordingly, we needed solid information and we needed some sleep and fresh tanks.
We arrived on Saturday morning ready to go again.. Due to prior
commitments none of the other bottom team was available other then Mark Lonsdale and myself with Terry and Pat once again available for support. What that meant was we only had gas, divers and support for one jump so the info needed to be solid. The wind had calmed down for Saturday and the conditions were
much more favorable and at about 3:00 Mark and I received the call.. By now we had a routine going and Pat and Terry knew exactly what we needed, they preformed magnificently and Mark and I were able to retrieve the final body at 256' with a bottom time of 9 minutes and a total run time of 51 minutes.
Again the vis was less then 5', the silty condition once we located the body and began to work reduced the vis to almost non-existent and the water temp was 50'.
Afterwards, we had a major de-brief with all the players from the
various agencies involved and at the briefing what was obvious to everyone in the room was that this was a total team effort, team commitment and team success.. Everyone involved was equally valuable and the entire project could not have been completed had it not been for a Herculean effort by all involved..
For my part, I want to express pride, gratitude and appreciation to everyone but I wanted to specifically recognize the following:
Sgt. Mike Connlley
Mark Lonsdale
John Walker
Bob Titus
Kendall Raine
Terry May
Pat Farina
Scott Brooks
Jim Hoffman
I read somewhere in the L.A. Times that the * team is only as strong as the weakest link* ;-), but seriously truer words were never spoken because our team really helped three families get some closure..
Hope this fills in all the blanks, but let me know if you have follow
ups..
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hoover" <Don.Hoover@datastream.net>
To: "'MHK'" <mhkane@prodigy.net>; <rpreuninger@zinntech.com>;
<quest@gue.com>
Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 12:00 PM
Subject: RE: Deep Recovery
> MKh,
>
> Will you describe the procedure used to search and recover the
remains as
> well as bottom time and deco procedures. I have done recoveries from
shore.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MHK [mailto:mhkane@prodigy.net]
> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 3:16 PM
> To: rpreuninger@zinntech.com; quest@gue.com
> Subject: Re: Deep Recovery
>
>
> I'm sure I spend about that much but I didn't want to leave a
misleading
> impression...
>
> BTW, you're reference to *priceless* is right on the mark..
>
> The family members of all three families had set up a week long vigil
and
> every time we returned from the dive location you could just see in
their
> eye's that they wanted the ordeal over with.. One of the brother's
of one
> of the victims told me that he slept for the first time in a week
when we
> recovered his brother..
>
> Later
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roy Preuninger" <rpreuninger@zinntech.com>
> To: "'MHK'" <mhkane@prodigy.net>; <quest@gue.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 12:01 PM
> Subject: RE: Deep Recovery
>
>
> > Though spending $50,000 per year for training, travel, equipment,
service,
> > gas, etc., is well within the realm of reality, I didn't think
there are
> > many that do. Despite that, the cost of the recovery operation was
> probably
> > anything but cheap.
> >
> > For 10 divers:
> > Traveling to/from dive site
> > Dive gases
> > Lodging
> > Meals
> > Income lost
> > Equipment depreciation
> > Miscellaneous
> >
> > Closure for family: priceless
