Diver to receive Navy and Marine Corps Medal Posthumously
The Virginian-Pilot reports that they got a Freedom of Information Act report on the deaths of two Navy divers, Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Harris and Petty Officer 1st Class James Reyher which shows that Harris, who was trying to rescue Reyher, trapped under debris, could have escaped his own death by abandoning his friend, but stayed with him until they both died on Feb. 26, 2013;
The bottom was dark, strewn with debris from prior exercises and ordnance training, allowing them just a foot or two of visibility. Silt lined the pond floor and would further limit visibility if disturbed.
The men were going through their air faster than the calculations had estimated. Moments after they reached bottom, a signal from sailors on the surface indicated it was time to start their ascent.
That’s probably when Harris and Reyher realized they had problems, the investigator concluded. Reyher’s breathing apparatus had started leaking air, causing it to freeze, so he switched over to his backup regulator, hoping to stem the leak.
Meanwhile, he’d somehow gotten tangled at the bottom of the pond.
Harris tried to help. He wrapped some of the line connecting him to Reyher around his arm, straining to try and pull his buddy free. Soon their air was running low.
Rescue attempts from the surface failed while Harris tried to free his friend even though he could have escaped his own death.
That heroism will be honored in coming months, when the Navy posthumously awards Harris the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
Category: Navy
“No greater love . . . .”
Rest in peace, PO2 Harris. Well done.
Rest in peace also, PO1 Reyher.
Hondo…the same verse came to my mind. God rest these fine young men and bless their families.
Just read this story on the Daily Mail (UK). It’s the sort of story that is both sad and inspiring and infuriating all at once.
Someone had to really screw the pooch for these two sailors to have died.
Doesn’t take away from what Harris did, but I do hope somebody is called to account for what happened.
Yeah, someone at the top is gonna get whacked. Rest easy gents. You did your job in that you never leave a fallen comrade.
Get ready for your head to explode…
http://www.navytimes.com/article/20140119/NEWS/301190015/Panel-reduces-senior-chief-s-rank-emotional-hearing-divers-deaths
Negligence in duty equating to multiple deaths results in losing 1 pay grade.
May they both rest in peace.
Leadership failed these men miserably but the men did not fail one another.
Damn!
I’m not the most experienced diver but I have several certifications.
Two guys did a dive to 150 feet with scuba gear in 40-degree water and very poor visibility. That is a high-risk dive that required commander approval, a finding of operational necessity, and a lot of safety backups. Their bottom time was five minutes. They hit the water with of 11 minutes of gas — I have not found a source that identifies the gas in the tanks but it was probably air. The linked article says that their regulators froze up and were de-certified by the Navy after the investigation. They were diving in a pond (maybe fresh water?) and the bottom was littered with trash – more high risk. I see no training reason for them to hit the water with that little amount of air. There should have been someone on the bottom to insure that they didn’t get tangled.
“No greater love …” says it all. Going to 150 feet was cute – just to prove that they could do it – but given the air supply, water temperature, bottom conditions, safety arrangements, and the fact that the first two divers who tried this bombed out before hitting the bottom, there was no excuse for this dive. The Navy owes those families more than a medal and a “sorry”.
That explains why leadership was charged with dereliction of duty. The dive master was court martialed and tried to blame the equipment–which was never certified to work at that depth– sidestepping responsibility for the call he made to permit the dive. He lost.
“…sidestepping responsibility for the call he made to permit the dive…”
It sounds to me like this is where all the problems on this dive began.
They started with the idea of using a rebreather but the equipment was down. They could have switched to a system that supplied surface air (I didn’t get any more information about that) but that would have required moving some barges that were positioned for a later dive.
The Senior Chief Senior Diver sent them down with SCUBA and 11 minutes of air. He did not call the Commander for authorization – something that he was required to do. That commander was relieved.
Duration depends on the amount of air, depth, effort, and stress. I don’t know tank capacity or tank pressure so I don’t have a way to double-check the 11-minute representation or guess at a safety margin.
They were diving with an APEKS TX50 regulator The manufacturer recommends that it not be used below 45 degrees F, the water temp that day was 40 degrees F.
The articles also said that they used air faster than they expected; I don’t know how they figured that out. They were pulled from the water after about 31 minutes and their tanks were empty. I don’t know how to tell when the tank became empty. I think that they are speculating that their regulators froze up and started to free-flow. Free-flow is bad but it is possible to breathe the air if you are handy. But the air doesn’t last long.
When they didn’t emerge from the water on time, they moved a barge and winched up the safety line.
A Warrant Officer was also charged with dereliction. I did not follow up on him.
This link:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20140116/NEWS/301160028/Report-finds-problems-gear-used-by-sailors-fatal-dive
Shows a picture of the pond. The water is fresh.
Here is another link:
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/06/questions-remain-fatal-dive-case-despite-testimony
It takes balls to be a Hard Hat. Eh …. Bad friggin’ news day!