PLYMOUTH, UK (10 Aug 2005) -- The death of a diver who drowned after going back down to a shipwreck to free a snagged marker buoy was 'wholly preventable', a coroner ruled yesterday. Raymond Thomas, 47, of Cardiff, came to the surface after finishing his exploration of the James Egan Layne in Whitsand Bay, off Cornwall. Although he and his dive buddy, Andy Pritchard, 59, were running low on air, they submerged again to recover a buoy which had become tangled in the wreck. The pair had only been underwater for three minutes when they ran out of air and resurfaced in a panic, the inquest in Plymouth heard. Fellow divers on their boat, the Furious, managed to pull Mr Pritchard on board but Mr Thomas sank below the surface before they could get to him. Mr Thomas, a married quantity surveyor, was on a weekend diving trip to Plymouth with Cardiff Underwater Swimming Club when the accident happened on May 21. The club members, including Mr Thomas's 16-year-old son, dived on HMS Scylla, a retired Royal Navy warship which last year became Europe's first artificial diving reef, in the morning. Then after lunch, six of them went down to the James Egan Layne, a US Liberty ship torpedoed on her maiden voyage in March 1945 and one of the most dived wrecks in British waters. Neil Richards, who was supervising the diving that afternoon, tried to discourage Mr Pritchard and Mr Thomas from going back in to get the buoy. | | Feeling seasick and wanting to return to shore, he told them, 'Don't bother, I'll buy you a new one or you can have mine.' He added, 'I heard Ray saying to Andy, 'I've only got 30-31 bars, do you want me to come back with you?' 'I didn't stop them going back in because I thought they were only going to go and cut the line.' Mr Pritchard told the inquest he had only intended to try to pull the marker buoy - which was worth just £30 - up to the surface. But to his surprise Mr Thomas dived back underwater. Mr Pritchard said, 'I followed him. I was then aware that I was running out of air because I could feel a restriction in my breathing.' He gestured for Mr Thomas to share his own air supply with him, but his friend replied by indicating he was also struggling to breathe. Mr Thomas's body was found by a separate diving party five days later. A post-mortem examination found he died from asphyxiation caused by drowning. Recording a verdict of accidental death, Plymouth Coroner Nigel Meadows said, 'Simple basic diving procedures were not followed, and I have absolutely no doubt had they been followed we would not be here today.' SOURCE - icWales |
