'I could see a couple of toes': Police diver describes haunting moment he discovered a body trapped inside capsized fishing trawler in tragedy that killed six men
- A police diver has described harrowing moment he discovered a trapped body
- Senior Constable James Hall found the first of six missing men on board a ship
- He spoke of how he first spotted a toe and then a foot behind a fridge in ship
- The FV Dianne capsized in October 17 near to the town of 1770, in Queensland
A police diver has described the harrowing moment he discovered a body trapped inside a capsized fishing trawler.
Senior Constable James Hall appeared at the inquest into the incident in Gladstone 550km north of Brisbane on Wednesday, and recounted the moment he spotted a human foot inside the ship.
He had found the first of six missing men believed to be on board the FV Dianne when it sunk near to the Town of 1770 in October 2017.
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Senior Constable James Hall (pictured) appeared at the inquest in Gladstone 550km north of Brisbane on Wednesday
Senior Constable Hall was forced to dive in the 'blackest of black' water and had to rely mainly on touch to explore the ship.
'I could see a couple of toes. I told topside I could see a foot, so we knew had one body in there,' he told the inquest.
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The foot, which was behind a fridge, was the very first sign that he'd located the crew.
The fridge had been wedged in the accommodation cabin's only exit, potentially trapping the crew, the court heard.
Senior Constable Hall had found the first of six missing men believed to be on board the FV Dianne (pictured) when it sunk
The picture shows Queensland divers resuming their search for four missing men on board a capsized boat
Inside the bunkroom, Senior Constable Hall found a large air pocket but said it wouldn't have helped the crew because the oxygen would have quickly been replaced by the crew's exhaled CO2.
'In that case you go unconscious and drown in the water,' he explained.
The body Senior Constable Hall had discovered was that of Adam Hoffman, who was 30-years-old at the time.
The body of skipper Ben Leahy, 45, was located on a following dive.
The bodies of Eli Tonks, 39, Adam Bidner, 33, Zach Feeney, 28, and Chris Sammut, 34, have never been found.
The only survivor of the accident Ruben McDornan (pictured) also said lighting, grab bags and mini oxygen tanks in sleeping cabins would be a good recommendation
Senior Constable Hall said despite the crew being 'true watermen and athletes', they would've been 'incredibly' disoriented after the boat turned upside down in darkness.
'Turn it upside down, flood that room and shake it all about and then have large objects moving around, your world is completely gone from what you know - you can't see anything,' he said.
'It's like vertigo ... you don't stand a chance,' he added.
Small personal breathing devices in grab bags and emergency lighting near the exits would have given the crew a chance, he said.
The image shows the crew members of the FV Dianne which tragically capsized in October 2017. The bodies of two were found, while the remaining four have never been found
The body Senior Constable Hall had discovered was that of Adam Hoffman (pictured) who was 30-years-old at the time
The only survivor of the accident Ruben McDornan also said lighting, grab bags and mini oxygen tanks in sleeping cabins would be a good recommendation to come from the inquest.
'That's a small cost for what I believe to be an absolute must item,' he said.
Counsel assisting the coroner John Aberdeen says the Dianne had all the correct safety gear but none of it worked when needed.
'Although there was an EPIRB on the rear wall of the wheelhouse, it could not be reached by anybody,' he said.
The vessel capsized in seconds and the crew had no time to put on life jackets or pick up grab bags, and an automatically deploying life raft failed to fire.
The inquest also explored whether ropes on the back deck could have coiled around the propeller causing the vessel to lose power in the large waves.
Mr McDornan agreed it was possible but said it was more likely the ropes wrapped around the propeller after the boat capsized.
