BOURNEMOUTH, UK (19 Mar 2008) — A 22-year-old diver from Daventry drowned after running out of air because his equipment was not properly checked, an inquest has heard. Mark Steel was scuba diving at the Kyarra, a First World War wreck off the Dorset coast near Swanage, on August 22, 2005. The self-employed electrician gave his friend Michael Chapman a signal known to indicate he was running out of air and was about to resurface. Once on the surface, he held on to his marker buoy and made eye contact with Michael Marsh, skipper of the dive ship Killer Prawn, before rolling backwards and disappearing into the sea without his mask. His body was found two years later, in August 2007, by a diver near the Kyarra and he was brought ashore by a police dive team. An investigation showed that a valve was closed which stopped him from accessing air in his second tank, Bournemouth, Poole and East Dorset Coroner's Court heard. It had been closed when the cylinders were refilled following two dives the previous day and Mr Steel had not reopened it. Tests were carried out on Mr Steel's skeletal remains which showed he had drowned and Coroner Sheriff Payne recorded an accidental death verdict at the inquest, sitting in Bournemouth. | | An inquest into the death of BSAC diver Mark Steel found that his equipment was not properly checked. Mr Payne said: "From the evidence I have heard procedures are not strictly followed, recommendations from scuba diving organisations are not strictly followed. A lot of people follow different procedures." Mr Steel, who was a Speedway motorbike rider representing England at the age of 17, dreamt of opening a dive shop in Australia and had booked a flight over there before he died. CDNN RELATED NEWSUK - Diver found near Kyarra shipwreck may be missing BSAC diverSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
