Missing Titan Sub! Thread 4

[Mommasgotabrandnewbag]

As thread 3 is filling up here is a new one. For the benefit of those just joining the conversation;

Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3

Yes we know they're billionaires
We can discuss things that are horrifying and ghoulish, thanks for your opinion.
Migrant boats are sad too

As you were 😁

@Janiie - the sub is made of recycled materials, including old scaffolding poles

As a huge pessimist, I didn’t really have any hope from the word go. It seemed such an impossible task to find something so small so deep in the ocean and in a place where there will be a great deal of other debris around.

When I heard about the noises that were supposedly heard, I felt a glimmer of hope but still felt that just finding the vessel was very unlikely, let alone raising it from the sea bed. I’m comforted to read the posts now saying that the reports of banging were not true. My only hope now is that death was instantaneous for these poor men. The thought of sitting in that tiny capsule over such a long time while oxygen- and hope- gradually depleted- is the stuff of nightmares. My thoughts are with the families of those on board. I wonder whether any of them still have any hope at this point or whether they are now trying to come to terms with the idea of not seeing their loved ones again.

Thank you to the very clever posters who have shared their knowledge on these threads. I am frequently embarrassed by my incompetence in the fields of physics and maths and these threads have revealed just how many gaps in my knowledge there are- but thank you for helping to fill in some of those gaps, just a little.

A friend has just linked me to a series of videos going viral by a Mexican chap who went on the trip and documented the lot. Far more information than anything else I've seen as long as you don't mind subtitles - all the interviews with OceanGate staff are in English anyway.

@WrongWayApricot the black boxes on commercial planes do have a transponder which activates on a crash and in water. Commercial vessels have epirb system which is similar. Transponders and lack of them on titan are questions for the operators...

GPS doesn't work underwater. That has been said in the reporting and by the rescuers and experts many times.

I am still hoping against hope that there is still a chance that these people could be rescued alive, though I admit that hope is dwindling and looking increasingly slender.

Lessons MUST be learned from this episode, whatever the outcome!

@Flapjacker48 oh I see thanks. Yeah at a quarter of a million dollars you'd think you'd get an emergency beep included

Why would there be underwater tracking at 2.5 miles down? Hardly anything (including sea cabling) is that deep.

@BarbaraofSeville that is interesting thank you. I was also thinking in the event that it bobbed up to the surface and was just floating. Trying to spot that little white dot within the surf on an Ocean must be almost impossible, whereas if it had florescent markings of some kind - it may help.

Even if this submersible had been found then recovering would have been a huge challenge. The experts on this sort of deep recovery in the USN (who have recovered planes and nuclear warheads and items from lost submarines) have the advantage of to to plan a recovery after a item located.

The rather smug grin emoji and the explanation mark are frivolous and unnecessary.

Because folk in submersibles go down there?

Does gps just not work underwater, or not at those depths?

You really would think there would be some kind of tracker that works in water.

It feels like one of those watershed moments where people just don't realise how dangerous something is until there is a tragedy and then lessons are (hopefully) leant and regulations are brought in/tightened to try and prevent it from happening again.

What good would that do?

It couldn't physically keep eyes on the other submersible. It couldn't transfer passengers if one craft became stricken. It couldn't tow a disabled submersible. All it would do is put more people at risk.

I wonder why it's worth sending people down there at all - perhaps it won't happen again anyway.

They can only see out of the tiny window at one end. They'd get nearly the same experience from the safety of dry land with the footage beamed onto a video wall. They could even do it in a simulator if they want the experience of being sat in a small tube for a few hours.

I agree the wording, etc, is not great @oakleaffy Perhaps you could start the next thread if this one is filled.

To those asking about the Supplementary Sub- I read (but at the very start so memory fading now), that OceanGate would have required 3 years to build another similar Sub either to follow up on the Titan etc and they did not have time to wait I.e didn't t want to wait which is consistent with the approach taken by the CEO over the building of this flimsy sub and 'breaking all rules as he boasted' and ignoring all contrary advice over safety. It was experimental. an innovation as he put it. I recall thinking surely, the billionaire self-dubbed 'world explorer' could have waited for 3 years for the second sub to be in place?! It left me baffled.

The billionaire, wanting to go there, invited the French Titanic expert friend of his to show him the titanic- hence the poor guy (French-PH) wasn't really looking forward to this dive. I wish he had listened to his instincts. Also explains why the CEO would want to join the 2 so he maximised his experience and tour of the titanic with the expert. As many people have said, it's the father and dad duo many should feel more sorry for.

Not only this, but just in case the vesselanaged to float to the surface, maybe some reception could be picked up.

I’m comforted to read the posts now saying that the reports of banging were not true.

could someone link such a post please ? Thanks

No, many people knew how dangerous it was and forewarned the CEO but he wouldn't listen.

GPS Stands for Global Positioning Satellites - so the satellites need to be able to "see" the thing they're tracking. A quick google just told me anything more than about 10cm of water and it stops working

Has English subtitles, too.
Will be interesting, to hear his perspectives on this death trap.

Thanks for posting.

People aren't "sent down there" any more than they are sent to the top of Everest or to explore underwater cave systems; they choose to go. You may not understand that particular urge but I'm sure you are familiar with the idea that others seek experiences that you do not.

Why do people climb Everest when so many die? Why not safely watch a video instead?

Why do people scuba dive when it can be dangerous? Why not do it in a simulator?

I didn’t realise that going to the Titanic wreck was even an option (for a billionaire at least) but if I had that money then I would have jumped at the chance. Sounds absolutely fascinating.

Maybe they should have GPS bob thing on a string or something

@SheilaFentiman

What good will it do? Seems to be the line taken by OceanGate. Same approach to classification etc etc. In fact there was a quote of theirs doing rounds to the effect that it was more operational risk (i.e the pilot) which was real then the mechanical risks. To be fair, his sub was very flimsy to withstand deep currents for a long time- that should be a rethink surely.