Diver explains: The Byford Dolphin Disaster 

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I searched all over RU-vid trying to find a video that would explain this incident so a layman like myself could understand. Yours is by far the best. I’d say your video is like a 747, while all the rest are camper vans. Cheers.

For anyone here from the Titan incident please note: The Titan and the Byford Dolphin incidents are actually not the same physical process it's more like the opposite. The Byford Dolphin incident was a rapid decompression. The Titan imploded or you could say it was a "compression" (not decompression). You can view it like this: The pressure inside the decompression chamber in the Byford Dolphin incident did go extremely rapid from 9 to 1 bar. Everything INSIDE the chamber wanted to go OUTSIDE of it. And alot of stuff inside your body wants to EXPAND. The pressure inside the titan did go extremely rapid from 1 bar to ~400 bar. Everything OUTSIDE the vessel wanted to go INSIDE. And alot of stuff inside(and outside) your body gets CRUSHED. Both processes are instant deaths, faster than the brain can react, though the titan incident is probably even more brutal.

This is one of those awful things that's way worse for the people who had to witness the aftermath than it was for those who died. I'm glad they didn't even know what was happening, but I feel terrible for whoever had to go in and clean up what was left.

People seeking to go deep underwater should be told this story as carefully and clearly as it’s told here. “The bends” is an explosion that gets much worse the more atmospheres the body has absorbed. At a survivable depth, it’s excruciatingly painful, and if a bubble forms in the inner ear, the diver will be so dizzy he’ll vomit uncontrollably. Thanks for this clear explanation.

As someone who's actually done a saturation dive, your videos really got me shook. Btw, our biggest fear at the time was fire.

Excellent recap. To give an idea of the difficulty of this kind of underwater diving operation, consider that at all times a spaceship is "only" trying to prevent 1 atmosphere inside from equalizing to 0 atmospheres outside. The vessel on the Byford Dolphin was trying to keep *9* atmospheres from equalizing to 1. If you're on a space station and it develops a leak you only need to figure out where the leak is and patch it before you bleed off all your atmosphere. On a high pressure diving vessel like that a sudden leak means you literally explode.

This is a mad window into the extreme endurance and remarkable ingenuity of humans, and the risks pioneers face. Addicted to these episodes now, so tense watching this one as every detail drops.

Had a friend describe this incident, and it was interesting, but the concepts made no sense to me so it didn't really leave that big of an impression. This video on the other hand, had me anxious and on the edge of my seat with every new detail you explained. Fantastic job.

This story has always fascinated me, but your account is by far the best-explained and most well-illustrated description of what actually happened. I just had to come online and comment on it. Great job!

The sobering thought about this incident was its inevitability. If the Byford-Dolphin divers didn't buy it then others would in the future. As the saying goes - Health & Safety regulations are written in blood. The fact that safety systems weren't robust enough to prevent this terrible tragedy meant this fate was hurtling towards everyone in the industry and like a game of musical chairs - when the music inevitably stopped someone was going to be SOL. Suffice to say - when management assures workers in a novel and hazardous occupation that "safety is their number one priority" - take those words with a grain of salt.

Reading/hearing about this incident always makes me sick to my stomach to think about, and as a former veterinarian with interests in surgery and pathology as well as a bit of an addiction to anything horror-related, that's VERY hard to do. The part of the pathology report of this case that I actually find to be the worst is where it talks about the blood of the divers who were deeper in the chamber - it details how the sudden increase of [nonpolar] nitrogen and helium in their blood caused the instantaneous precipitation of proteins and fats that were dissolved in the plasma, so their vessels were basically instantly clogged with chunks of fat and protein along with bubbles of gas. Like you mentioned, the only saving grace is that they were instantly and painlessly rendered unconscious, likely before their nerve fibers could even complete the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Still, I wouldn't wish such a fate on my worst enemy... And finally can I just say that it blows my MIND that whoever built the chamber didn't think, "hm, maybe an actual mechanical, physical failsafe mechanism should be included, since there will literally NEVER be a reason to be able to open the compartments at different pressures..." I mean even if they didn't know exactly what would happen to the divers on a physiological level, it's still very obvious that explosive decompression would be super dangerous to anyone outside of the habitat. I will seriously just never understand why there was no failsafe, it really was a matter of "when" and not "if" because of that. PS great explanation of the behavior of gases at pressure and in the body, really makes it clear why what happened happened

Fabulous explanation. I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around what happened, but I was struggling a little because I’m not familiar with diving or physics. Your video is very helpful, so thank you!

I was told that when technicians work on nuclear bombs, there is one who does the work, and a second who reads the instructions out loud from the manual, step by step. This is the best they can do for safety. In a case like the Byford Dolphin incident, it is inexcusable that there were not mechanical fail-safes designed into the system.

There is some speculation that the divers were so fatigued from their long hours diving there might have been a communication error or misunderstanding between diver Truls Hellevik and tender Crammond. Truls might have unwittingly made some hand-signal that the pressure hatch had been closed and that it was ok for Crammond to proceed with unlatching the diving bell... Others speculate that Crammond might have "communicated" with Hellevik though the pressure chamber window and asked if it was "ok" to proceed which Hellevik misunderstood as a gesture Crammond would proceed only *after* the hatch had been closed. Whatever the case may be Truls Hellevik was in the process of sliding the circular hatch into the correct position when Crammond unlatched the locks to the diving bell... This pressure door was designed to work much like the door of a bank vault. It was center double hinged and had to be swiveled into the correct position before the door could be pushed into the circular frame and be properly shut. What happened was that the door was swiveled almost to the correct position when the latches were released. The gargantuan force (I've read the forces would amount to roughly 20 tons instantly trying to escape through the small opening) therefore violently pulled the circular pressure door into a slightly diagonal position much like a manhole cover left ajar. What remained was a small crescent shaped hole (about 60 centimeters long) and all those 20 tons of forces violently pushed Truls through it. Needless to say his body was too large to fit through that small crescent shaped opening and it was therefore bisected. Anyways knowing that this happened within a few milliseconds, and the human mind perceives something in a tenth of second it's clear neither Truls Hellevik nor anybody else had any idea what hit them. It's really strange to think that a pressure chamber designed in 1975 *didn't* have any safety signals or warning systems to prevent such an accident from happening. I mean it wasn't WWII levels of safety so to use something so dangerous in 1983 was beyond belief.

This is the best explanation I've ever heard on the subject, and I've heard and read about it many times before. Incredibly well explained.

English is not my first language so I had a really hard time understanding the whole story before I came across your video. You’re the only one who explained it really well and very detailed. Appreciate it man

The recreational diving limit is 40 meters/133ft. There are 16 pockets in the body which store the nitrogen. If you dive past 10 meters, a safety stop is required to be safe. Just because there’s a no decompression limit doesn’t mean you won’t get the bends(DCS) under that limit. There are now strict procedures because of this accident.

Thank you for explaining the physiology and physics involved and the step by step procedures that took place. I watched other videos on the incident but never understood what exactly happened. Your explanation was clear and now the whole tragedy makes sense.

This is the clearest explanation of this tragedy that I've seen. Good job on explaining it with understandable comparisons and visuals. Also really good job on the description of the process that went wrong. It helped me visualize the scenario and understand how things were supposed to work. Thank you!

Thank you for referring me to this horrific phenomenon, Sseth.

Its weird to say it like this, but im happy they (apparently) felt no pain, because surviving long enough to feel it sounds horrible

The Byford Dolphin came here into Belfast in 2015 for work to be done by Harland and Wolff. At one point there were three Dolphin rigs - Byford, Borgny and Borgholm - berthed side by side. A rare sight indeed! I'm pretty sure that the pic at 1:09 is the Byford at H&W. Interesting too is that in April 2007, the 'Samson' gantry crane hit a Henson crane causing it to collapse.

Wow I feel bad for everyone especially the survivor who was blamed for the accident. Survivor’s guilt is a real thing especially in tragic circumstances.

That was such an awesome sound effect of the air rushing out it sounded real my heart was pounding!

First of all, how does this guy not have more subs? He does a really good job explaining and uses real photos and video when available. His videos are real good... And how in the world did the one guy survive that?

This is the absolute best and easy to understand video I’ve seen on this tragedy. Kudos.

Damn, what a horrific accident. As someone who enjoys snorkeling at most and never heard about saturation diving until today, I appreciate all the details and clearly explained technical concepts. Good job keeping your vids both informative and suspenseful. Looking forward to more content

I was working as a North Sea Diver,when this accident happened, the rumour was that there was an argument over overtime payments and one guy walked away and did not inform the other the the TUP chamber was still pressurised , the guy removed the horseshoe clamp ,that's the clamp that holds the bell onto the TUP . The soda sorb blew out through the TUP after the bell took off and it acted like a giant grit blaster on the diver in the lock ,one if the guys in the habitation chamber was found very dead and still looking like he was reading his book SAT divers are currently paid £30 k a month in the North Sea ,now you know why

I really appreciate your explanation. A lot of channels cover this incident but they always seem to just read the steps the divers were supposed to take/the steps they did take off a script without actually articulating what each of those steps mean. Thank you for being thorough, mate!

I've heard several tellings of the BD incident, but I pictured it differently until I heard this version. I guess it was lack of understanding on my part; I knew there was an explosion and that it was a devastating blast...I hadn't realized that the trunk, the bell, the men, the very air detonated. I appreciate your concise summarization. Subscription sequence initiated.

This is one of the best explanations I have ever heard of not only this incident, but of how the forces involved work. Thank you

Out of all the videos I've watched about this incident, and all the scuba diving videos I've seen, you explained the process of why divers breathe mixed gas better than any of the videos. Thank you so much. Now I get it. Now I'm not confused. Thank you again. Great video.

Easily the best video I’ve seen on this terrible incident. Your clear and patient explanation and narration is a credit to you and your channel. I guess it takes a diver to really explain this well. Thanks for the video.

My respect to all those men who take these dangerous jobs, so that we can live our life easily without any issue.

Their brain neurons didn't even fire fast enough for them to raise what was happened. From their perspective, they went from being alive to disappearing from existence in a millisecond.

You earned yourself a new subscriber! Your ability to narrate captively and put the listener in the situation you're describing is awesome... and you have a very soothing voice!!

Thank you for the clear and concise explanation on how it happened. Absolutely tragic incident.

While not a diving person myself (most ive done is sit in a 14 foot pool), this story is one of the most gruesome and scary stories of saturation diving I know.

If the images I’ve come across are actually from this incident, there really wasn’t a lot left of them intact, it seriously was destructive.

I recently came across your channel and really enjoy the vids. Been watching a lot of them keep up the good work

Thank you! This is such a great and in-depth explanation. I wrote an essay on the effects of decompression on the bodies in this case when I was at university for Forensic Science, but had a hard time picturing what it was like in the bell and chambers. I’ve got a whole new outlook on it now. What a horrifying thing, and all for oil drilling.

Hiya. Found you through Legal Vices 😊

A lot of useless Ai produced garbage on RU-vid. This is by far the best channel I have come across on these type of topics. Keep it up!

Very well explained and sound design was on point. Great telling of this horrific accident.

You have a good channel mate, I've watched a good few of your vids and diving is definitely a dangerous job with lots of things that can go wrong. I'm glad that these lads atleast didn't have to feel any pain.

You did a great job on the video. I could understand you clearly while doing work. Keep on posting mate.

Subbed! Great video, this is the best explanation of this accident I've seen. Keep up the good work!

The only video explanation of this incident that actually gave me a good understanding of what happened.

i love this channel so much. i'm pretty much a knucklehead when it comes to anything related to these type of topics, but you explain it so well

I can't even stand the pressure of diving to the bottom of my pool. How do people even do this?

Your videos that you show really do make your content so much better, im nerding out on your channel

Thanks for explaining it properly!

My goodness that's horrific. I had a friend called Dave who was a pressure diver. He died recently, after having been retired for only about a couple of years. RIP Dave.

I thought this was a bigger channel than it was, comments for the Algo! Thanks for the content!!!

you explained this so much better than any other video ive seen. i was under the impression(from other videos) that it happened while submerged. ty

Least viewed but most illuminating vid on this I’ve seen. Watched several videos which really only recited the info but this guy knows what he’s talking about.

It would be good for Saunders to speak further about this accident from his perspective. It seems extraordinary that Crammond, himself an experienced diver, should not triple check communication when they all knew they were working with a faulty system.

Such great content and a great narrator!!! I had NO idea what saturation diving was all about!! Fascinating stuff. Subscribed!!!!

Idk why but trying to understand this is insanely difficult for me.

I must have read or heard someone explain it quite a few times, but the way you relayed the behaviour of nitrogen in the body was the clearest I've had it presented to me 👍......and I can be remarkably obtuse 😳

Thank you for your explanation I’ve been attempting to understand how this accident occurred but never found a description I could understand

Fun fact y'all - it's not an explosive decompression unless it happens in under one second! Great vid! Cheers mate!

That was a stellar explanation of such an enigmatically horrendous event

This was a well made video, thank you!

Unbelievably horrific! I hope and pray none of those men realized what was happening…. I feel for the family’s. Death in any way is hard but to die like this, while it doesn’t matter for the men who died this type of death has to be extremely difficult for the family’s to deal with.

I was aware about the air inside the habitat, which is already horrifying, but when you mentioned that the air inside their bodies will expand to 9x the volume I was like... shit. That's a horrific story... In a weird way I am glad they didn't feel anything at least and it happend to fast for anyone to notice. But... that's not really comforting :( RIP.

I spent two days (and a night) aboard the Byford Dolphin in the early 90s. She was doing exploratory drilling in the Great Australian Bight. My job was to install a transportable Inmarsat A terminal on the roof of the radio room and connect it to the shipboard telephone system and fax machine. Cellular phone service (AMPS) was very spotty. Telstra (Australian phone company) tried a duplex VHF phone link to the mainland but it didn't work very well. I had no idea of this drilling rigs dark past.

Ok so I've watched like 7 different videos about the byford incident , and only yours made me understand that not only was the atmospheric pressure inside the habitat at 9 atmospheres but also inside their bodies was also compressed at 9 atmospheres!! Hence why some of the stories explained how their fat cells were turned to oil because of the heat and pressure their bodies went through

I finally understand decompression sickness and the cause of it completely now. I'm autistic and though I've watched tons of videos about diver accidents and discoveries that summarize how it works, I've only understood it vaguely. I can't be told something 100 times and not get until it's told in just the right way and then suddenly I understand. You explained it perfectly here so thank you.

This is basically what happens if a space suit fails. I didn't fully realize that explosive Decompression could happen in atmosphere, but the more you know.

I sincerely hope the experts are right about their deaths being quick and painless, because the alternative is too horrifying for words.

Hey bro I just wanted to say I appreciate the warning about the graphic stuff online. Wanted to do more research and now I know to be careful. Love you

that explosive sound effect still shocks me now that I rewatched this video several times

8:58 God damn, for a microsecond I thought I was gonna die from explosive decompression. Scared the shit outta me! Lol I was so immersed. Good job!

This story was very well detailed, thank you.

Thank you so much for the breakdown 🙌🙏💔😢 Such a horrific accident my prayers go out to all their families and friends what a terrible tragedy I just know they are special angels God needed for a special assignment only they could fulfill ❤🙏🥹🙌

Thanks for giving a good step by step take on the procedure of what was supposed to happen and what did happen. Every other video never explains any detail and only uses the same stick figure diagram and says that one guy unhooked the bell too early and all hell broke loose in under a second. Other videos sound like they are just reading a Wikipedia Page. Heck, from the other videos of this subject, I thought the whole thing happened under water.

God I'm just imagining what I would look like from the outside to see this happen. A few people might have lost their ear drums

I had a hyperbaric event at 2 fathoms and it was bad; I can't imagine 9...it must be instantaneous

Very well spoken and delivered, love your channel

High pressure returning to normal pressure is scary as all hell

A little error when dealing with high pressures under water can be catastrophic as with an error in a space vehicle, great documentary!!

Whats worse than experiencing someone explode is experiencing them explode and knowing you're at fault.

Wow...can't find words to comment...Great explanation..

Working under pressure can be very dangerous. Audience wishes their survivors all the best. Cheers!

Thank you sir, very well explanation. I will rewatch. I want to share with my family but worry the gruesome details will scare them. Now I appreciate this type of work is extremely dangerous. I will be mindful and not complain when my desk bound job is long hours or customers give me mental stress. Nothing I do can possibly compare to the stress these workers face. Sending love from Singapore ❤❤, please make more such interesting videos.

Its either a very small B747 or a very large camper van for the volume of that plane to be only 9 times that of a camper van.

Hey hey people.

Very interesting video. Yes, I am here because of Titan. This is the first video that had me on the edge while absorbing the technical aspects of what happens with decompression vs compression. I didn't even know about the Byford Dolphin Disaster but the rabbit hole lead me here.

I honestly am too scared to look further into the images but what is the explanation for the most commonly used image of the diver with the white eyes?

Very well put, best video on the topic I saw so far, but one question: Did that happen at surface level or below the water? I suppose at surface level?!

Thank you for explaining what happened so I could follow it

I will not go looking for the images. Once it's in my head, it may haunt me for the rest of my life. Just hearing the story is enough.

You explained it so well

Really enjoy your videos, thanks so much.

I love the effects you used in the video!

Probably my favourite explanation of the Byford Dolphin Incident

What I don't understand is that the trunk needed to be 9 atm for them to move into the chamber. So when he hadn't closed the door I don't understand why it went to 1 atm straight away. The door from the trunk to the bell was closed and the trunk was at 9 atm. It had to be for the divers to move into the chamber. Can anybody explain this to me? Thanks in advance.

Here after the Titan fiasco. My recommendations are all about pressurization for divers and subs. I have learned a lot and understand this is not the same thing that happened to the Titan but overall the educational and historical information of this video was really engrossing to watch.