Depending on one small air compressor to supply around 200 psi and furnish the entire diving operation with breathable air was foolish. It takes that much pressure for one diver at a 200-foot depth. Here, we were using it to supply a diver and a chamber - with bad seals. That’s tough to stay up with, even for the 5120’s.

* * *

My adopted little brother Matt was in charge of running the decompression chamber that night. He usually did a good job, but I believe he was unaware of the air compressor issues.

As I just mentioned, not only were we having trouble with compressors, we were also having problems with the seals on both chamber doors. A decompression chamber has an inner area where you would have your diver lay back while you ran him through the decompression process. Time spent in the chamber depended on how long your bottom time was. It usually took around an hour on a normal 200-foot dive, following the Navy Dive Tables. When you finished running a diver through, and he was out of the chamber, you would then clean up the chamber, by wiping out the oxygen mask with some vinegar, and then blow the inner chamber back down to around 80-feet of depth pressure.

Leaving the 80-feet of pressure inside the inner chamber was a safety precaution. In the event, your compressors were to break down you would have enough stored pressure to save a diver in need of decompression.

* * *

On this particular cold winter night, Matt had just finished running a guy through the chamber and was in the process of getting it prepped for the next run. Actually, he was getting it ready for me. However, this was a chamber run that would never happen.

Matt, and the diver that just got out of de-compression, were having a hard time getting the inner door to seal. With the diver pulling as hard as he could on the heavy steel door, Matt throws as much air-pressure inside the inner chamber as possible. As they continue this fight with a worn-out gasket, Matt doesn’t realize he is draining the whole system, and about to kill his buddy 600-feet away .

I don’t blame Matt; he was doing all he could to work with the junky equipment we had. I’m pretty sure we were all to blame for this critical mistake to continue with the scheduled dives. The two old 5120 air compressors should have been taken out of service years ago. On top of crappy machinery, the rubber seals on the chamber doors should have been inspected and changed out before allowing any diver in the water. It’s strange how things turn out.