Originally Posted by
Carbon Bootprint
Actually, it's not a good idea to take a flight on any pressurized aircraft a day or so after diving, though that will also depend on what type of diving you've done. A lot of newer dive computers -- even mine, for that matter, and its not so new -- offer FLY/NO FLY displays that account for your dive depths and times and calculate when you're good to get back in the air.
It's also worth remembering that the dive tables were originally developed empirically: If more than a tiny percentage of divers got bent diving a particular profile, they shortened the bottom time or lengthened the decompression time; if nobody ever got even a little bit bent on a given profile, they lengthened the bottom time or shortened the decompression time. And that was all done using healthy 18-24 year old men in top physical condition. So it's worth while to be a bit conservative and stay away from the limits....