Question about death of Edward Cossaboom, 1914

[HalcyonDaze]

Mythbusters tried the experiment ...

Yeeeeeeeeesh. In Christopher Moore's Fluke: Or, Now I Know Why The Winged Whale Sings one of the characters is the son of a Greek sponge diver who went that way. As it's a Christopher Moore novel (i.e., extremely irreverent and realism is played with), the character is traumatized for life by Looney Tunes cartoons where Marvin the Martian gets reduced to a helmet with two feet sticking out, as that was how his father was buried.

On a more serious note, there was also the infamous Byford Dolphin accident involving a decompression chamber. Not reading for the faint of heart.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Well, I heard in the Mythbusters video that the experiment "diver" had 135psi.

135psi / 14.7psi/ATM = 9.184 ATM

9.184 ATM * 33ft/ATM = ~303ft

So, yeah, I can believe that if you took me in a pressurized vessel or suit to 303ft...then let all the pressure out...very bad things will happen to my body.

Now, the OP said that the victim went from 75ft to 140ft...which is 65ft and 2 ATM. That is approximately 4.5 times less of a pressure differential than what the "diver" in the Mythbusters video experienced.

So, personally, I can imagine that the OP victim can definitely die from that...but...would it push his whole body into the helmet like we saw the "diver" in the Mythbusters video?

I dunno....but I am not gonna find out for myself!

 

[Ghost95]

If a valve failed between the helmet and the surface at 140', like a bad check valve, the pressure differential though the hose would be 4+ atms. If the hose was rigid enough it would be a nasty end to your day.

Oh and the Byford Dolphin pics.... Gruesome decompression.

 

[tbird2020]

A similar incident happened on an attempted salvage outside of Tacoma in 1899 at a depth of 200 feet. Compressor died and the diver was crushed to death instantly. Pretty deep for back in the day. The bark Andelana disappears while lying at anchor at Tacoma on January 14, 1899. - HistoryLink.org