#submarinedisaster

[usa-town-talks]

Titan Sub Disaster: Key Takeaways from US Coast Guard Hearings

The US Coast Guard has held a week-long hearing into the Titan submersible tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of all five aboard during a deep-sea dive to the Titanic wreck. Investigators aim to determine the cause of the implosion and to prevent future similar incidents. Here are the key takeaways from the first week of hearings:

1. Crew's Final Words: "All Good Here" The last message sent by the crew of the Titan submersible was a brief "All good here." The message was relayed roughly an hour into their descent to the Titanic wreck at 3,346 meters, after which communication was lost. Despite patchy communication, no immediate issues were reported before the tragedy.

2. Witness Recalls the Crew’s Final Moments Renata Rojas, a mission specialist on the surface vessel, recalled the last moments with the crew as they smiled and prepared for their dive. She testified about the emotional shock of losing contact with the sub and described the mission as risky but not unsafe.

3. Whistleblower: Tragedy Was "Inevitable" David Lochridge, a former operations director at OceanGate, revealed that he had raised safety concerns in 2018, years before the accident. He testified that OceanGate overlooked critical issues, such as the use of carbon fiber in the sub's construction, which he believed made the disaster inevitable.

4. New Footage of Titan Wreckage Newly released footage from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) shows the Titan submersible wreckage scattered on the ocean floor. The footage includes debris like wires, gauges, and parts of the vessel, providing a visual confirmation of the damage.

5. Leading Sub Manufacturer: Titan "Not Ready for Primetime" Patrick Lahey, CEO of Triton, a leading submersible manufacturer, criticized Titan's design and safety measures. After touring the vessel, he expressed concern over its build quality, calling it "amateur-ish" and said it wasn’t sufficiently developed for such deep-sea missions.

The hearings continue as investigators work to provide recommendations and prevent future tragedies.

[antnich]

ON THIS DAY: REDISCOVERY...

On September 1st, 1985, Robert Ballard made both headlines and history around the world when he discovered the wreck of the Titanic, some two and a half miles under the surface of the North Atlantic.

Ballard was aboard the research vessel Knorr, out of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachussetts. He had actually been working on a covert mission for the American navy. An understanding existed that he was free to search wherever he wanted on completion of that primary mission.

Finding the Titanic had long since been regarded as the 'Holy Grail' of underwater exploration. But the shattered, broken corpse that loomed under the lenses of those underwater cameras bore little relation to the pristine, beautifully primped show pony of April, 1912...

#robertballard #woodsholeoceanographicinstitute #knorr #underwaterexploration #unitedstatesnavy #ussscorpion #ussthresher #Titanic #deepseaexploration #penandswordbooks #mytitanicbook #titanicsuperstarsandscapegoats #wrecks #artoftravel #TWA #travelswithanthony #timetravel #travelphotography #submarine #submarinedisasters #jeanpaulnargeolet

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