PENSACOLA, Florida (21 Aug 2006) -- A man who had just surfaced after scuba diving Saturday afternoon on the Oriskany died of unknown causes. Details of the incident were sketchy and there were conflicting reports of what actually occurred. A U.S. Coast Guard boat was dispatched to meet a recreational boat en route to shore with a man who experienced problems after a dive on the decommissioned aircraft carrier, Petty Officer Troy Smith said. "It was diving related," Smith said. However, Stan Kirkland, regional spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the man was back in the boat from the dive when he became ill so he was not considered to have suffered a diving accident. "Apparently, he may have had a heart attack," Kirkland said. A dispatcher with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office said the call for medical help for a cardiac arrest went out at 1:30 p.m. "They were diving and he had some complications," the dispatcher said. The man was transported to the Coast Guard station at Pensacola Naval Air Station, where he was pronounced dead. His body was transported to the Medical Examiner's Office in Pensacola. The incident highlighted potential jurisdictional problems over accident investigations at the Oriskany. Protocol dictates that only the agency in charge of an investigation release specific information to the media. Smith said Fish and Wildlife was in charge of the investigation. An official at Fish and Wildlife said the Escambia County Sheriff's Office was handling the investigation, but sheriff's spokesman Mike Ward said that was not the case. | | USS Oriskany As a result, no information was available on the man's identity, age or address. A call to the on-duty medical examiner never made it past the switchboard. A woman who answered the phone relayed a message from the medical examiner that media inquiries would have to wait until Monday. Curtis Freeland, a diver and employee at Dive Pros in Pensacola, said he would not be surprised if the fatality turns out to be dive related. The Oriskany, sunk in 212 feet of water, is not an ordinary dive, he said. "Honestly, (accidents are) somewhat expected on the Oriskany," Freeland said. "Most charter boats require divers go down with a dive master, but you have a lot of people going out there in private boats." SOURCE - Pensacola News JournalSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
