SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Family and friends are remembering a Carlsbad father who died while scuba diving near the Mission Bay Channel Wednesday night.
Jeff Logandro was lobster fishing, when he ran into trouble and sank and now an investigation is underway to find out exactly what went wrong.
"Jeff is a great man, and he loved the ocean and he loved life. He was always surfing or fishing or diving, but I would say he loved his family the most though,” said Riya Gough, a family friend.
Gough says Jeff Logandro was an experienced diver. The husband and father of two little girls with another baby on the way the Carlsbad resident was excited about trying out his new equipment on a lobster dive Wednesday night at Mission Bay Channel.
His wife Michelle, who happened to return home from work early, was able to see him off.
"And she said bye, and he looked so happy and she said he had some new equipment and that he was just very happy to go out and go diving,” continued Gough.
But something went wrong, while still under investigation lifeguards say the 38-year-old may have become caught up in his gear or possibly panicked underwater and began to struggle shortly after jumping in the murky water. While one of his dive partners tried to keep him afloat, the other called for help when Logandro began to sink.
When lifeguards arrived, he had already been underwater for up to six minutes. After bringing him to the surface, they began CPR on his pulseless body.
Despite their efforts to revive him, Logandro was pronounced dead less than an hour later at UCSD Medical Center.
Diver Quinnton Duenez says this recent tragedy brings into sharp focus the special challenges that scuba divers face.
"Scuba divers have so much more weight, way more equipment that something can possibly go wrong,” said Duenez.
A remote, but real possibility, as this family tries to cope with this sudden, and heartbreaking, loss.
"He loved his wife so much and his children. He was such a good dad. A very good man,” Gough said.
As lobster season gets underway, lifeguards say it's crucial that divers are familiar with their abilities and their gear and that they always dive with a partner.