submersible missing near the Titanic

[Mysterian]

Map from USA Today. I’m hoping this ends on a positive note. If they’re alive and have’t lost power, being cooped up in that claustrophobic tube facing fear and uncertainty is daunting enough.

 

[Mysterian]

At this point, I'm actually hoping it imploded. Given that there are almost zero rescue options unless it managed to surface, implosion would be a far more merciful death than sitting in a tin can, freezing in the dark at the bottom of the ocean, waiting for the air to run out.

It‘s gruesome to think about, but I agree. Years ago I read about the Byford Dolphin accident. It’s a nightmare what explosive decompression can do, but it’s the only instantaneous option they have.

More articles are springing up that the sub company OceanGate was previously warned about the Titan’s hull safety from as far back as 2018.

 

[dvcgirl67]

A Canadian sonar plane has picked up “banging noises” at 30 minute intervals….indicating that it may be the occupants of the submarine signaling. Vessels and submersibles are being moved to that area. It would make sense to signal in intervals like that….signaling constantly would drive them crazy and would cause over exertion and rapidly use up the remaining air supply.

I still haven’t seen anything show exactly how they’d retrieve it. Guessing with remote submersibles attaching a cable of some sort to a vessel above? Unfortunately, they still haven’t located it. The clock is ticking as it would seem that they’re down to around a day’s worth of air…..the stuff of nightmares for sure.

 

[mjkacmom]

Wow...that lack of compassion is astounding. Appears all the money in the world is not going to be able to save her husband and her son. Do you think she's just going to go out and purchase new ones?

I can't imagine what she is going through. You have no idea if she expressed concerns. Ultimately her husband and son were adults making their own decisions.

I was talking about this last night, I have the same amount of sympathy for these people as I would for an average Joe gifted the trip, human is human, just because they’re wealthy doesn’t mean they don’t deserve kindness and sympathy.

 

[MamaMermaid]

A Canadian sonar plane has picked up “banging noises” at 30 minute intervals….indicating that it may be the occupants of the submarine signaling. Vessels and submersibles are being moved to that area. It would make sense to signal in intervals like that….signaling constantly would drive them crazy and would cause over exertion and rapidly use up the remaining air supply.

I still haven’t seen anything show exactly how they’d retrieve it. Guessing with remote submersibles attaching a cable of some sort to a vessel above? Unfortunately, they still haven’t located it. The clock is ticking as it would seem that they’re down to around a day’s worth of air…..the stuff of nightmares for sure.

I guess this is a good sign but boy, is it harrowing! It doesn't seem like they will be able to be rescued, even if they're found... a sudden implosion would probably have been better for them mentally than just sitting there in fear waiting for the air to run out. Awful to think about.

I feel so bad for their families...

 

[Moliphino]

On the positive side (if such a thing exists), all the passengers are male, so it'd be easy for them to use a bottle.

What if they need to do more than pee, though? I think my guts would be churning if I was facing probable death.

Did you know they're trying to construct a Titanic II? It will have all the modern safety features, a Diesel engine and so on. It was proposed quite a while ago and construction has I believe started. However, the completion date has slipped time and time again - last I heard it was due for completion at 2022.

I think they've been talking about that since at least 1997. I wanted to go on it so badly.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I guess this is a good sign but boy, is it harrowing! It doesn't seem like they will be able to be rescued, even if they're found... a sudden implosion would probably have been better for them mentally than just sitting there in fear waiting for the air to run out. Awful to think about.

I feel so bad for their families...

I feel terrible for the families as well. The more I read about others who have gone down, I do wonder why anyone would get into one of these things. Or this this one in particular. Then again, everyone, even signing those waivers....never thinks it's going to happen to them. As I said, we recently did a helicopter tour in Hawaii. I googled helicopter crashes in Hawaii after our tour and I'm not sure I would have gone had I done so before. While statistically uncommon, the company we went with (one of the most popular ones on all four major islands)....has had several incidents with fatalities and life altering injuries.

A writer/producer for The Simpsons went down to see the Titanic on this submersible last summer. He described it as "sinking like a rock for 2.5 hours"......then being pushed off-course by currents by about 500 yards.....then only having 20 minutes to see the Titanic as they needed to ascend. They got lost. It would just seem to be that they should have some guidance capabilities on the submersible itself, but instead it appears that they rely entirely on the vessel above for navigation.

The Simpsons guy did say that they had sandwiches and water on board (guessing enough for a lunch type deal), but that nobody ever eats the food. And while I know it sounds terrible, I can't help but think that most of them had to do more than urinate in all these days....ugh. I mean, I usually take an Imodium to "shut down systems" before a long flight because....well, I don't poop on planes. The whole experience has to be harrowing.

 

[georgina]

The coast guard is holding a press conference at 1 PM eastern.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I just feel so bad for these poor people. What a horrible, awful way to go.

 

[DLgal]

The coast guard is holding a press conference at 1 PM eastern.

They are going to probably call off the search or announce they are transitioning to a recovery mission, rather than search and rescue. At this point, there isn't enough time to get them up, even if they did somehow locate them.

 

[dvcgirl67]

They are going to probably call off the search or announce they are transitioning to a recovery mission, rather than search and rescue. At this point, there isn't enough time to get them up, even if they did somehow locate them.

I wonder if they might let it go another day before switching to search and recovery. Only because I don’t know if they’ll call it if there’s a chance that they still have air…which they theoretically do, until tomorrow morning.

Unless that navy salvage ship is on site…exactly where the submersible is (if they find it)….there’s no way to even get it to the surface.

 

[RedHead0186]

I don't know what's worse: not being able to find them in time, or finding them in time but not being able to rescue them.

 

[cvjw]

After reading about this sub, I can’t believe anyone agreed to go on it, much less paid $250K each to go on it. It had no back up plan for an emergency. Seems like they would at least have 2 of them, so if one got stuck, they could send the other one to tow it back to the surface.

And after hearing about who the CEO liked to hire - young, inspirational workers instead of 50 year old men who had submarine experience - it is amazing this tragedy hasn’t happened sooner. That CEO is probably doubting his hiring practices now.

 

[White Cat]

After reading about this sub, I can’t believe anyone agreed to go on it, much less paid $250K each to go on it. It had no back up plan for an emergency. Seems like they would at least have 2 of them, so if one got stuck, they could send the other one to tow it back to the surface.

And after hearing about who the CEO liked to hire - young, inspirational workers instead of 50 year old men who had submarine experience - it is amazing this tragedy hasn’t happened sooner. That CEO is probably doubting his hiring practices now.

What about 50 yr old ladies with some submarine experience. They are some.

 

[cvjw]

What about 50 yr old ladies with some submarine experience. They are some.

He probably wouldn’t hire them either because they were too old.

 

[dvcgirl67]

He probably wouldn’t hire them either because they were too old.

To me…the 50 year olds were likely to require higher salaries. Younger engineers may be super inspirational….they’re also less expensive and cheaper to hire in many cases.

 

[Disneefun]

To me…the 50 year olds were likely to require higher salaries. Younger engineers may be super inspirational….they’re also less expensive and cheaper to hire in many cases.

And easier to bully into doing what you want, dang the consequences.

It sounds like this guy only wanted to to be surrounded by people who would tell him all his ideas were wonderful. He didn't want truth tellers or people who would push back on his ideas. And that's what experienced people will do. They'll push back, if their experience tells them that whatever you're doing is insane. Younger workers are more likely to buy into the messianic complex and go along with it.

 

[White Cat]

He probably wouldn’t hire them either because they were too old.

Maybe. It just seemed you implied women were not capable, when they are.

 

[cvjw]

Maybe. It just seemed you implied women were not capable, when they are.

How did you get that implication? The CEO of the company said he would not hire 50 year old men with military or submarine experience. He preferred to hire inspirational young people. He didn’t mention women. The above poster mentioned 50 year old women. I said they would probably be too old for the CEO to hire, since he specifically mentioned 50 year old men, not that they weren’t capable. He should have been hiring the best people for the job - regardless of age, sex or race.

 

[QueenIsabella]

And easier to bully into doing what you want, dang the consequences.

It sounds like this guy only wanted to to be surrounded by people who would tell him all his ideas were wonderful. He didn't want truth tellers or people who would push back on his ideas. And that's what experienced people will do. They'll push back, if their experience tells them that whatever you're doing is insane. Younger workers are more likely to buy into the messianic complex and go along with it.

Yeah, my husband (engineer) is that one jerk in the room who won't sign off until every one of his questions is answered. It can be a pain to live with...but he's the guy you want running your nuclear reactor (which he did). He and I both have nuclear submarine experience--no way would we participate in this whole fiasco. I do feel for the families, though.