scuba deep air record dive pt 2 1999 mark andrews the preparations for the dive

Axel was the first to see Mark at 91m/300 ft; he was traveling fast, faster that his bubbles (This is normal for his technique of ascent). He literally ran into Axel. Axel states that at this time his eyes where still not truly focused, but he appeared in full control and gave a clear OK sign. Axel let him go up towards Daran. He hit Daran seconds later at 76m/250 ft. Daran said that his eyes where totally focused, he was trying to dump air while disconnecting his inflater hose. His BCD wings where totally full, both over pressure valves on his wings had jammed shut and neither where venting air. The air two inflaters had also jammed on. With the speed of his ascent; Boyles law and the large bore inflator jammed on he could not dump air quick enough. Daran managed to hang on until 40m/130 ft before he released him. At this point he had let go of the line and, while dumping air was trying to remove his BCD wings. The wings burst at 20m/67 ft; one can only guess the speed of his ascent at this time, but it was enough to propel him to the surface even after the wings exploded. When he hit the surface, he later told me, he could not believe he was alive. He instantly realised that he had to get back down to depth. He had to carry out an immediate omitted decompression schedule. Lucy was the first of the support team to get to him. He grabbed her alternate air source and said get me back down. His BCD wings were now useless so he shed them and headed down to six meters where Daran grabbed him and took him to 18m/60 where he began his decompression schedule. Chuck and I first saw him at 18m/60 ft. We where both surprised to see him with out his gear. I realised that something had gone wrong but didn't know what. The team explained what happened by slate. There was nothing Chuck and I could do but wait. The rest of the decompression was a chore. Daran was focussed totally on watching Mark, I have never seen a more focused diver; in the next two hours he was never further than one meter from Mark, his eyes never left him. It was a tense time for all. When the schedule was finished Daran and Mark inched their way to the surface, where Mark went on oxygen for 30 minutes. He had a bad headache and felt seasick, but was otherwise ok. When he arrived back in the UK he under went a full medical at DDRC (Diving diseases and research centre). Amazingly he suffered nothing more than bruised lungs and a slightly damaged inner e