Search for missing Robredo pilots suspended

The government has suspended the search for Captain Jessup Bahinting and co-pilot Kshitiz Chand, three days after the plane carrying them and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo crashed into the sea off the Masbate coast Saturday. On her Twitter account, GMA reporter Kara David noted that the retrieval operations for the two missing pilots were temporarily stopped following a diving accident that happened to a search volunteer. German diver Danny Brumbach had been unconscious Tuesday afternoon when he was rescued from the water, suffering from decompression sickness. David earlier said that Brumbach had gone as deep as 180 feet, then suddenly "shot up" to the surface. Rapid ascent puts a diver at major risk of developing decompression sickness, which causes nitrogen bubbles to form in the body and which could lead to death if untreated. Brumbach was put in the decompression chamber onboard the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP EDSA 2, and regained consciousness not long after. David tweeted that the German technical diver has been “awake, conscious and responding to questions.” — BM, GMA News