Flotsam and Jetsam

We Stand Corrected by DAN. In our April issue article “Dive Accidents above Water,” we wrote about a reader who broke her ankle on a dive boat and was told by Divers Alert Network it could offer no help. That’s because she had the wrong plan, DAN spokesperson Renee Duncan told us. “She had the DAN Master Plan, which does not cover topside injuries, but the Preferred Plan does.” Preferred offers “Nondiving Accident Medical Coverage” with a lifetime maximum of $10,000 and a $250 deductible. The Standard and Master Plans only cover in-water diving accidents.

Park, Sleep and Fly. Following up on another April article, “The Hidden Costs of Travel,” Undercurrent reader Bill Shepherd (Satellite Beach, FL) suggests divers going on vacation take advantage of the “Park, Sleep and Fly” programs at many major airports. You can stay overnight at a designated motel or hotel before a flight for a reduced rate, have complimentary breakfasts, use the airport shuttle and leave your car parked in the parking lot for up to 14 days free of charge. “We’ve used motel/ hotels in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Miami without any problems and normally save the cost of parking, which can equal the overnight lodging fee,” Shepherd says. More details at www.parksleepfly.com.

Dive Operator Avoids Punishment. A dive company fined $200,000 for its role in the 2004 death of an inexperienced diver won’t have to pay because it had already filed for bankruptcy. Robert Grant, 32, of Clayton, Australia, drowned on a dive trip with Melbourne Diving Services to Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Diving conditions there are more difficult due to colder waters and different equipment, but Melbourne Diving Services failed to properly assess Grant’s dive qualifications (he had a basic certification from 18 months prior and had not dived since) when he booked the trip and again on the boat. His BC was also nine pounds overweight. An Australian judge gave Melbourne Diving Services the biggest fine on record for this type of offense, calling its breach of duties “an absolute disgrace,” but the company had already been liquidated, and its former owner is now scot-free and working at the Melbourne Diving School.