QUEST (Fig. 13.3) or the DSRVs, for exam- 

 ple, is as complex as that of a commercial 

 airliner, and the wide range of potential haz- 

 ards is equal in every respect to that facing 

 aircraft pilots. 



The potential for failures which the opera- 

 tor may cause are legion, but they may be 

 attributed to one of several causes: Sickness, 

 inexperience, forgetfulness or error in judge- 

 ment. The first two can be controlled by 

 medical examinations and a rigorous train- 

 ing/testing program, respectively. The third 

 and fourth problems, forgetfulness and 

 judgement errors, can be controlled to some 

 degree by pre-dive check-lists and surface 

 advice, but in the final analysis it is con- 



trolled by the operator himself. Fortunately, 

 the passengers' desire for an operationally 

 routine dive is matched by that of the opera- 

 tor — as fail safe a system as is humanly 

 possible. 

 Launch/Retrieval Failures 



The systems used to launch and retrieve 

 submersibles are subject not only to electri- 

 cal and mechanical failures, turbulent sur- 

 face conditions may also cause situations 

 wherein the system may be operational, but 

 unsafe, owing to the erratic differential mo- 

 tion between the submersible and its support 

 ship (Fig. 13.4). 



Cables: The results of a cable or boom break- 

 ing during launch or retrieval are fairly ob- 



Fig 13 3 Control console o( DEEP QUEST (LMSC) 



628 



