Titanic tourist submersible gone missing

Haych

A chilling nightmare situation.  I recall when the Kursk went down and feel the same gut wrenching sense of despair for the poor souls on board as I did then.  It must be a horrible way to go just waiting for oxygen to run out and to die of either asphyxiation and/or CO2 poisoning.  

All in a tiny, claustrophobic space.  Shudder!

It really is the stuff of nightmares.

boogieman

Stuff of nightmares for me, being stuck in a confined space, pitch black outside, with the oxygen running out. It’d almost be better if the thing has been crushed by the pressure. 

LionAquaLooper

In a scenario like you said where you're waiting for O2 is being depleted, eventually you just pass out like you're feeling light headed and you fall asleep and don't wake up I would think?  If they're still down there they'll be clinging on to some hope that they'll be found, and then fall asleep after 3 days (or less). I suppose it's that hope that would keep them sane to some degree.  If the hull was breached then it's instantaneous.

Whereas the guy who got killed by a shark - that's what would really terrify me in my final moments. 

DrCornelius

LionAquaLooper said:

In a scenario like you said where you're waiting for O2 is being depleted, eventually you just pass out like you're feeling light headed and you fall asleep and don't wake up I would think?  If they're still down there they'll be clinging on to some hope that they'll be found, and then fall asleep after 3 days (or less). I suppose it's that hope that would keep them sane to some degree.  If the hull was breached then it's instantaneous.

Whereas the guy who got killed by a shark - that's what would really terrify me in my final moments. 

That shark clip absolutely terrified me, possibly the most upsetting thing Ive ever seen

Gandalph

DrCornelius said:

LionAquaLooper said:

In a scenario like you said where you're waiting for O2 is being depleted, eventually you just pass out like you're feeling light headed and you fall asleep and don't wake up I would think?  If they're still down there they'll be clinging on to some hope that they'll be found, and then fall asleep after 3 days (or less). I suppose it's that hope that would keep them sane to some degree.  If the hull was breached then it's instantaneous.

Whereas the guy who got killed by a shark - that's what would really terrify me in my final moments. 

That shark clip absolutely terrified me, possibly the most upsetting thing Ive ever seen

I agree and really wish I'd not seen it. Its difficult to un-see something like that. 

boogieman

LionAquaLooper said:

In a scenario like you said where you're waiting for O2 is being depleted, eventually you just pass out like you're feeling light headed and you fall asleep and don't wake up I would think?  If they're still down there they'll be clinging on to some hope that they'll be found, and then fall asleep after 3 days (or less). I suppose it's that hope that would keep them sane to some degree.  If the hull was breached then it's instantaneous.

Whereas the guy who got killed by a shark - that's what would really terrify me in my final moments. 

Unfortunately oxygen starvation is not a pleasant, quick, clean death. Its certainly not like just drifting off to sleep. Victims will be coughing and struggling for breath at first, then getting horrendous headaches and delirium, followed by a lot of pain as their organs gradually shut down. 

LionAquaLooper

Gandalph said:

DrCornelius said:

LionAquaLooper said:

In a scenario like you said where you're waiting for O2 is being depleted, eventually you just pass out like you're feeling light headed and you fall asleep and don't wake up I would think?  If they're still down there they'll be clinging on to some hope that they'll be found, and then fall asleep after 3 days (or less). I suppose it's that hope that would keep them sane to some degree.  If the hull was breached then it's instantaneous.

Whereas the guy who got killed by a shark - that's what would really terrify me in my final moments. 

That shark clip absolutely terrified me, possibly the most upsetting thing Ive ever seen

I agree and really wish I'd not seen it. Its difficult to un-see something like that. 

I saw screenshots on some news websites and that was enough for me.  I'm also aware there's a video circulating but no way will I press play if it landed in my inbox.  Like a lot of people, I too saw Jaws when I was a kid and that terror that my imagination created is still inside me.    

jonnyburgo

axisus said:

Scary scary. You would never get me in a thing like that. Not even on dry land. 

I think you'd be pretty safe on dry land.

PearlsPreserve

Offset said:

Apparently the only vehicle controls in this submersible are a Playstation controller and a solitary 'button'.  I find this quite staggering.  And with no backup sub in the operating company's fleet, well... who in their right mind would want to go down in it?  Let alone for the purpose of ghoulishly raking over a submerged graveyard?

Perplexing.  And whilst hoping for a happy ending, I very much doubt this will end well.

I have a strong suspicion that's just news media sensationalising the control mechanisms. I have no doubt there will be some form of redundancy and back up.  

And there are very few submarines capable of going to this depth, so I can't see how they could have a backup, or how much use it would be.

Switch625

PearlsPreserve said:

I have a strong suspicion that's just news media sensationalising the control mechanisms. I have no doubt there will be some form of redundancy and back up.  

And there are very few submarines capable of going to this depth, so I can't see how they could have a backup, or how much use it would be.

Not according to this guy:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-65953941

darthed1981

RaymondLin said:

Offset said:

Apparently the only vehicle controls in this submersible are a Playstation controller and a solitary 'button'.  I find this quite staggering.  And with no backup sub in the operating company's fleet, well... who in their right mind would want to go down in it?  Let alone for the purpose of ghoulishly raking over a submerged graveyard?

Perplexing.  And whilst hoping for a happy ending, I very much doubt this will end well.

via Bluetooth no less.  (although it is said that it can't use cable due to pressure)

Loses connection or run out of battery....hit something...game over.

I suspect the people involved in the dives are told in no uncertain terms that what they are doing is very dangerous and that if something goes wrong, there is no help for them.

Like everyone who climbs Everest every year, they all know there will be a number of fatalities. 

They accept it because they are doing something most people don't do, and also because of the old fashioned "it won't happen to me" psychological block that lets mankind climb mountains, go in one-off submarines down to underwater tombs, and go to war.

darthed1981

...I'd also imagine they probably, even if the controller uses bluetooth, do have some kind of redundant control systems.  I'd not trust myself 100% to a technology that is going to connect me to my neighbour's soundbar whenever I want to blow the ballast tanks.

Offset

PearlsPreserve said:

Offset said:

Apparently the only vehicle controls in this submersible are a Playstation controller and a solitary 'button'.  I find this quite staggering.  And with no backup sub in the operating company's fleet, well... who in their right mind would want to go down in it?  Let alone for the purpose of ghoulishly raking over a submerged graveyard?

Perplexing.  And whilst hoping for a happy ending, I very much doubt this will end well.

I have a strong suspicion that's just news media sensationalising the control mechanisms. I have no doubt there will be some form of redundancy and back up.  

Not according to recent footage shot inside the sub and shown on BBC News today.  It really was a button... and a PS controller.  They may of course pack a spare controller and some spare batteries, but apart from that...

WezV

darthed1981 said:

RaymondLin said:

Offset said:

Apparently the only vehicle controls in this submersible are a Playstation controller and a solitary 'button'.  I find this quite staggering.  And with no backup sub in the operating company's fleet, well... who in their right mind would want to go down in it?  Let alone for the purpose of ghoulishly raking over a submerged graveyard?

Perplexing.  And whilst hoping for a happy ending, I very much doubt this will end well.

via Bluetooth no less.  (although it is said that it can't use cable due to pressure)

Loses connection or run out of battery....hit something...game over.

I suspect the people involved in the dives are told in no uncertain terms that what they are doing is very dangerous and that if something goes wrong, there is no help for them.

Like everyone who climbs Everest every year, they all know there will be a number of fatalities. 

They accept it because they are doing something most people don't do, and also because of the old fashioned "it won't happen to me" psychological block that lets mankind climb mountains, go in one-off submarines down to underwater tombs, and go to war.

This.

They will have been fully aware of the slim chance of rescue if something went wrong.

With things like the Everest example you are told there is a good chance rescue won't even be attempted.   People pay a lot of money to do it anyway.

Offset

"The BBC’s US partner CBS sent one of its reporters on a voyage with the same company last year to see the wreck of the Titanic.

In his report, David Pogue reads from what appears to be a waiver which describes the submersible as an “experimental” vessel, "that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death"."

Reverend

Looks like The Kraken Wakes has come true, 

Haych

This bit lifted from the beeb fills me with dread:

Before the sub begins its dive, a support team locks the crew inside by closing the hatch from the outside and sealing it shut with 17 bolts.

So, even in the event that the sub has dropped its ballast, has re-floated and is bobbing around on the surface of the ocean, the occupants can't even get out!  

I have no idea whether it has the ability to draw in air from the outside, but can't help thinking that it probably doesn't.

JezWynd

jonnyburgo said:

I think you'd be pretty safe on dry land.

Not completely. You are unable to exit the vessel unless someone on the outside unscrews the hatch.

boogieman

If it’s somehow managed to surface I’d imagine it has some sort of homing beacon that could show where it was? From the news there’s already several US and Canadian military aircraft out looking for it on the surface and with sonar, but nothing has shown up. I reckon it’s already at the bottom of the ocean. 

Cols

Leaving to one side the needle-in-a-haystack challenge of locating a very small submersible in a very big ocean - if it was found before their oxygen runs out, what can be done to rescue the occupants?