Blogger News Network

Two divers are dead after a freak accident aboard the Coast Guard’s cutter ship ‘Healy’ five hundred miles north of Alaska. The accident took place on August 17^th when the ship finally took a two hour break from travel giving the crew a chance to relax a little. During this break, two crew members, Lt. Jessica Hill and Boatswain's Mate Steven Duque, decided that they wanted to take a polar dive (not an uncommon activity). With crew members holding ropes attached to them on the surface in case the divers became disorientated while under water, something went wrong and a frantic pull of the ropes to bring the divers became a futile effort as the divers were pronounced dead two hours after being resurfaced despite rescue efforts by the EMTs on board. The ship was on a research mission to study the Earth’s crust but all travel and activity has been suspended pending the findings of the two investigations that have been launched. The ship’s captain, Capt. Douglas Russell, has also been relieved of duty and all polar diving has been suspended. One investigator has said that Lt. Jessica Hill and Boatswain's Mate Steven Duque were the first coast guard diver deaths since the 1970’s.

Divers' deaths under polar ice remain mystery (CNN)