The Zong Massacre…
… and the film was probably Belle.
Titanic tourist submarine missing 6-19-2023 (Debris field found, passengers presumed dead. 06-22-23)
Yup, that was it.
.
D’oh! Forgot about Amistad. The Zong also features in Belle, which we saw sometime in the last year, whereas I haven’t seen Amistad since it came out.
FYI:
I think debris is actually good news. This makes it more likely that the vessel imploded and death came swiftly and with little or no pain.
Was there any equipment onboard capable of damaging the central carbon fiber portion of the hull or the the porthole I wonder? The banging sounds that were picked up may have been the crew trying to breach either to put themselves out of their misery.
Well, that’s probably that. At least it was almost certainly quick.
Curious now where the banging sound reported earlier came from, but perhaps just some anomalous natural noise plus a lot of wishful thinking.
From that news story:
That’s oddly specific.
New debris from the sub banging against old debris from the Titanic before everything settled down?
I have no idea whether that’s plausible.
Good question, I just wonder if anything from the Titanic is solid enough to make a sound if it gets struck. Is there enough steel under all that rust to make noise?
Could be.
Also, checking it was a couple of days ago. I suppose it is possible the submersible could have settled to the bottom intact, held up for a day or two, then became compromised later after sitting under all that pressure. But I assume if it had imploded later as opposed to immediately one of the searchers would have heard that.
I was thinking more that if it imploded while still quite a distance above the bottom, it might have taken the pieces some time to land. But if they landed more or less straight under where the submersible was headed, then maybe that doesn’t work; that much delay seems more likely if currents were moving them sideways. But I have no idea how long it takes pieces of a given type to fall a distance in deep ocean.
I never heard of saw confirmation of the banging noises occurring regularly every 30 minutes as reported. Noises like that can be heard all the time in the ocean, it would only be significant if they did occur every 30 minutes like that, or could be identified as emanating from a specific location. It is an established procedure for any maritime craft in trouble, making noise on the hour by the clock and every half hour establishes that it’s not random noise, and leaves time for search craft to make noise while searching without creating confusion. The evidence currently doesn’t point to that happening in this case at all.
I don’t know nuthin’ about deep sea divin’ but back in flight school we were taught to check the steering bits before every take-off, and certainly before the first one of the day. And before that, when I’d go on camping trips into the backwoods for a week or two I was taught to make a thorough checklist and make sure everything that was on that list was in my pack and, where applicable, functional. And when I get major work done on my car or truck I drive cautiously until I’m sure everything has been put back together properly and it working.
So… WTF?
I suspect some of the enthusiasm demonstrated by various governments and private entities to participate in this search and rescue salvage is the technical challenge it poses. Yes, everyone would like there to be a miracle but even if there isn’t being able to locate and recover something that small that deep is technical achievement and worth a few bragging points. Also, working with other parties is good experience in the event of another potential rescue scenario.
In any case, I expect at this point, regardless of what happened, the people aboard Titan are deceased.
Yeah, I’m not aware of anything that deep that partially floods. The water pressure outside is so immense, and the pressure inside might as well, in comparison, be a vacuum. Once water starts getting in I don’t see anything to stop more coming in.
Although as @LSLGuy points out, it might be that a compartment other than the crew cabin floods.
How many survivors does it take to bang in a sub?
Two.
(please forgive me~gallows humor)
No one knows for sure, of course, but someone recently mentioned that “banging sounds” were also reported during the search for MH370, the mysteriously vanished Malaysian Airlines flight. If you’re listening really hard, you’re bound to hear something. Water is an excellent conductor of sound and the oceans are full of activity.
I have to concur that a sudden implosion – if that’s actually what happened – is the best possible outcome under the circumstances where we know that the crew perished.
“Banging noises” reminds me of an oddly appropriate book I once read, On the Beach.
I don’t know about the lawyers, but back when I was still actively in aviation I signed a number of waivers with similar cautions before proceeding. Also flew in a number of aircraft that had a plaque with a similar warning bolted to the vehicle in easy eyeshot of anyone sitting down saying similar things.
It’s upfront, at least - this activity could, potentially, kill you.
A big difference, though, is that with the FAA if you’re allowed to carry passengers you have to pass at least minimal standards, and you’re not allowed to charge anyone for a ride. By doing this experimental submersible thing out in international waters OceanGate gets to bypass all of that, even the most minimal oversight and regulation. I’m guessing that deep ocean rules, like aviation rules, are written in blood for the most part and are there for good reason.
Probably not, but it would make lawsuits a bit harder to win.
Also:
^ This.
A waiver isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card for actual negligence or actual incompetence.
Of course, OceanGate lawyers will counter with the examples of the previous successful dives. So… not total incompetence, but maintenance might have been an issue, which would come under negligence perhaps?