Krazy Kiwi wrote:

> I just put my 2 tanks in for test last week & I fret about being 1 month
> out of date as they rarely come out of the cupboard during winter.
> Wonder how out of date the exploding tank was or whether it was one of
> those was on the recall list due to a hairline cracks fault.
> That poor man :-(  What a horrendous way to go.

The follow up report contains information on this.  It's only as good as the
source, but it addresses the questions you ask:
1. The tank was reportedly almost 5 years out of hydro.  That's twice the
DOT (Department of Transportation) standard.  Unfortunately, the DOT
standard does not apply to privately owned and used tanks, only to tanks
used commercially in interstate commerce.  It's not illegal to fill an out
of hydro tank, it's just against industry policy in the U.S.  It's almost
unheard of for a shop down here to fill a tank out of hydro or out of visual
if they notice.  Some are better about noticing than others, but you'd think
someone would notice out of visual and out of hydro.  Everyone wonders how
and why it happened this time.
2. I recall that the tank had a sticker indicating it was last visually
inspected in 1999 (the date could be wrong, but I know it was reportedly out
of date).  Thats at least a year out of date and perhaps as much as two
years.  There's considerable question about how the tank could be only one
or two years out of visual and 5 years out of hydro.  Visuals are also an
industry standard here, in this case not even required by DOT, but they are
not normally done on a tank out of hydro.  There's some discussion to
suggest that the VIP sticker may have been bogus, but no actual facts so far
to back that up.
3. The tank is reported to have been severely rusted internally.  This
obviously suggests that it was a steel tank rather than an aluminum one and,
therefore, not one made of the suspect alloy or subject to the kind of
cracks we have all heard about in aluminum tanks.  I'm assured by those that
should know, that under the rigth conditions, severe rust like this can
develop in a single year if water, expecialy salt water, gets inside the
tank.  I think I'm going to have my shop take a look inside my new steel
tanks a bit more often, just to ensure that they and I survive my diving
needs.

This is clearly a tragedy, but one that raises more questions than answers.
I suppose that's not unusual, but everyone really is wondering how and why
someone who should know better, would fill a tank out of hydro and out of
visual as well as how a tank that reportedly split rather than fragmenting,
did the kind of damage to life and property we're hearing about.  The fact
that the Florida dive industry, usually quick to respond to tragedy with new
safeguards and charges to their customers hasn't said a word about this one,
makes it seem even more likely that the accident occurred based on things
everyone knows better than to do, but someone did anyway.

Lee