Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way

a reply to: Revontuli

That sounds about right. I don't think anyone has authority to certify anything at that depth.

Stick experimental on almost any craft and you are able to operate it for testing. Like home built aircraft.

I'm betting it was some sort of catastrophic failure. If it were hung up then you'd expect they'd still be communicating with the surface.

a reply to: Ravenwatcher

96 hours of "air" is just a bigger scrubber and tanks. Backup systems that are failsafe don't seem to be designed into this experimental craft.

It is not just a better sub at Disney land. It is a rich person's fair ground ride. You know. The kind where they set up dosens of rides in a few hours. And you wonder how safe it is when you see a couple of big bolts on the ground under the rollercoaster.

An aircraft black box can work up to a depth of 20,000 feet so I would almost be certain that the beacon that sub has is at least as capable and the power source would be self contained to the beacon.

If no pings are heard, is is obviously catastrophic, however even if there was a hull breach, the beacon could be detached and still working.

a reply to: beyondknowledge2

You sure? because I remember a mythbusters episode where the deep divers line was cut,and the organs went into the helmet before if collapsed.

a reply to: yuppa

That only applies to hard hat divers. The sub has no hose to the surface to let the air out.

The air in a hard hat divers suit is at the same pressure as the outside water the diver is at, that is what keeps the water out. If the hose is parted at the surface, all the air goes up the hose. This is why when that happens, the whole diver can be pushed up into his helmet.

A submarine is at regular surface pressure. There is no hose to the surface. The pressure hull of the sub keeps the water out. When it springs a leak, it fills up with water. How fast and how much pressure depends on how deep the sub is. At those depths, a pinhole leak will cut anything soft.

15000 feet at 14.5 psi every 33 feet is 6590 psi. The pressure hull will probably fracture like an egg and you will not even know you are wet before you are gone.

a reply to: Cymru

You couldn't comp my trip to get me into this sub. This isn't going to end well.

An experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death.

That's like getting on a plane and the attendant saying, "The hull of this aircraft had not been certified to protect against explosive decompression. But that, like, never happens."

a reply to: Degradation33

Technically, commercial aircraft cannot experience unsurvivable explosive decompression. They don't fly high enough. You would survive for at least a minute in the full vacuum of space if rescued and returned to pressure. A man survived several seconds in a vacuum test chamber when his spacesuit failed.

There has only been one true explosive decompression accident that caused death directly. history.howstuffworks.com...

a reply to: Cymru

Seems like this is the definition of tempting fate. Pictures from deep under the sea or up in space are plenty good for me; don't need to go myself.

It could've well been that the rocket ship with billionaires and celebrities onboard might've ended up similarly.

Experimental craft are for test pilots, and in this day and age, they aren't even necessarily needed.

NATO have said their rescue sub can't reach the depth of the submersible so even if it's accessible rescue seems unlikely.

Even if the sub returns to the surface automatically. they still cant get out and the 96 hours of oxygen still applies, the sub can only be opened from the outside.

originally posted by: Degradation33
a reply to: Cymru

You couldn't comp my trip to get me into this sub. This isn't going to end well.

An experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death.

That's like getting on a plane and the attendant saying, "The hull of this aircraft had not been certified to protect against explosive decompression. But that, like, never happens."

It's even worse than that she'd have to add "this plane is serviced by four unqualified mechanics and we're flying with no transponder or ATC comunicationsover an area where no rescue crew can reach us if anything goes wrong".

Hopefully somehow they can be rescued but it seems this was guaranteed to happen sooner or later - I'm terrified by open water and being deep underwater so couldn't step foot on a properly maintained and certified one (i.e millitary subs).

If they are dead, at least it would have been so quick they wouldn't have felt anything and unlikely to be aware anything as wrong.

I keep seeing reports of them using a playstation controller to control this deathtrap. They aren't. It's not even that advanced. They are using a cheap 3rd part XBOX 360 controller from more than a decade ago. SMH. I found it.

www.conrad.nl...

This was on Sky News.

Missing sub sent out 'distress signal'
A distress signal has been sent out from the Titan submersible, according to an oceanologist - but the timing of the communication is yet unknown.
Dr Simon Boxall, of the University of Southampton, said he had "second-hand knowledge" that a "signal" has been received from the missing vessel.
"You can't use radios underwater. You rely totally on 'pings'. What they have is really limited communication," he said.
"Apparently they have had, and I don't know when... they have had an emergency ping saying the vessel is in distress. I don't know if that is automatically generated or generated by people on board."
Dr Boxall said the sub may already be lost "or it could be automatic".
He does not know when the message was sent out.

This ship is also there now.

www.marine-marchande.net...

Every chance at this depth the sub's been nabbed by USO's. Remembering reading about similar thieving by them of torpedoes maybe missiles or similar from the Russian navy back in the day. The further we go down the more we intrude into their territory

a reply to: beyondknowledge2

I was thinking along the lines of one of the first pressurized passenger aircraft, DeHavilland Comet. They lost a few to violent depressurization, which is the word I meant to use. This seems like a DeHavilland Comet of jerry-rigged subs.

a reply to: Degradation33

I can see your comparison. The DeHavilland Comet had a design flaw that was not known about when it was built. The only way it was found was from experience. You can't put square cornered windows in a jet airliner.

This sub might very well have been lost due to some unknown design or construction flaw as well.

a reply to: beyondknowledge2

Wasn't the problem with the Comet metal fatigue?

a reply to: RMFX1

Considering the lack of many systems used in most submarines, any buttons will do for the controller.

They don't seem to have designed in any backup systems or manual systems at all.