mGrowOld

June 20th, 2023 at 1:51 PM ^

Not to thread-jack this happy topic but man, if you asked me what's the most horrible way to die; getting stuck at the bottom of the ocean in a sealed submersible coffin with five other people (one of which is my son) while i slowly either freeze or suffocate (or both) over four terrifying days cut off from all communication wouldnt be far from the top of the list.

You couldnt pay me 250K to put myself in that situation much less ask me to pay it.   Lord have mercy on them - I cannot fathom (no pun intended) the level of horror they must be dealing with right now.

Godspeed all trapped down there.

NittanyFan

June 20th, 2023 at 2:04 PM ^

The media is calling this a "search and rescue" mission ---- but even if they do find them (a longshot in its own regard), is a rescue even logistically possible???

I read a book once about the men who went down on the Trieste submersible in the 1950s, the first vessel that made it to the very bottom of the Marianna Trench.  It was a mutli-hour descent.  They're ~ 30,000 feet down, about 80% of the way there, and one of the outer window-panes cracks, the entire vessel starts shaking!  Must have been terrifying, but as the guys said afterwards --- "well, what could we do?  If the vessel doesn't hold, we're screwed, but at least the implosion would be instantaneous.  Keep going down, then back up, hope for the best."

goblu330

June 20th, 2023 at 2:18 PM ^

If the vessel can literally be towed it may be possible, but I agree this does not sound likely.

Never say never though.  An eight month old girl was trapped in an 8 inch well 25 feet below ground for 50 hours with one leg down and one leg stretched entirely above her head and they fricking rescued her so there is still a shot here.

NittanyFan

June 20th, 2023 at 2:30 PM ^

Jessica McClure, Midland, Texas, 1987 (one year before Friday Night Lights chronociled the Permian Panthers in the town next door - could have been another chapter in that great book).  Her rescue was incredible.

This came up at work a few months ago, none of my colleagues that were under 40 knew the name.  Another sign I'm getting old ........

alum96

June 20th, 2023 at 3:29 PM ^

If it's not floating on the surface somewhere in that vastness of ocean there is no chance.  There is also a great chance they never find this submersible or the people.  It's the size of a SUV.  The Titanic was huge in comparison and it took them 70 years or whatever it was to find it.

mlGOBLUE

June 20th, 2023 at 2:50 PM ^

I saw a news reporter this morning, who had previously taken the same submarine down, say that the way that things cut off so suddenly made it more likely that there was a sudden depressurization. Horrible either way - I guess we'll find out before long. 

1VaBlue1

June 20th, 2023 at 2:50 PM ^

I haven't followed the story - are they sure, for some reason, the vessel is still intact?  If they don't know whether it is, or not, my guess is that it's not.  The pressure is too much - anything goes wrong with a seal, window, hull fitting, anything inside the people tank open to sea pressure, and it's all over.  And when it breaches, it happens too fast for the brain to identify that anything is happening.  I really hope they're still alive, but I seriously doubt it.  I would also be suprised if any wreckage is found - that's a small vessel in a large and deep ocean.

NittanyFan

June 20th, 2023 at 5:46 PM ^

No joke --- this vessel is piloted (left, right, up, down) by using a modified Playstation controller.

Also --- and some of this is admittedly "he said, she said" that is hitting the press today --- there are stories as to OceanGate firing their Director of Marine Operations: that ex-Director said he was fired because he was concerned about quality control and OceanGate not being interested in "testing to prove (the vessels') integrity." 

Net net, though: this may be a bit of a fly-by-night operation.  Incredible, given what they were trying to do.

Sopwith

June 20th, 2023 at 6:13 PM ^

Concerns about the safety of this sub were evidently widespread before this happened.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/06/20/us/titanic-missing-submarine

In 2018, more than three dozen people, including oceanographers, submersible company executives and deep-sea explorers, warned that they had “unanimous concern” about the craft’s design, and worried that the Titan had not followed standard certification procedures. In a 2019 blog post, the company said that “bringing an outside entity up to speed on every innovation before it is put into real-world testing is anathema to rapid innovation.”

In other words, "there are 3 ways to do this: the right way, the wrong way, or the Homer Simpson way." 

"Isn't that the same as the wrong way?"

"Yes, but faster."

Savoy88

June 20th, 2023 at 8:45 PM ^

True. There are huge numbers of amazing survivals. 

Some of my favorites are Roy Cleveland Sullivan (forest ranger who reportedly survived 7 lightning strikes), Willie (survived being stranded along with others on Giligan's Island), Vesna Vulovic (survived 33,330 fall from an airplane by air surfing in a fuselage (extreme sports eat your hearts out)) and Jada Pinkett Smith (has survived as Will Smith's wife).

 

1VaBlue1

June 20th, 2023 at 8:32 PM ^

Probably not, a beacon (sound emitter under water) wouldn't last very long and wouldn't have a big range.  It takes a lot of power to run a beacon loud enough to be easily recognizable.  And I doubt there's any regulatory safety agency setting requirements for these things.  Even if it pinged, locating it and getting an asset that can recover it in the area within 96 hours would be a tough act.  The Navy's recovery assets won't work with that vessel, and would be the last resort so probably wouldn't get there in time.

1VaBlue1

June 20th, 2023 at 8:37 PM ^

As small as it was, a leak would have resulted in an explosion really quick.  As water came in, the air pressure would have increased, eventually resulting in an explosion.  In either case (implosion from outside pressure or explosion from inside pressure), it would have been torn apart.  Sad situation all around...

alum96

June 20th, 2023 at 3:28 PM ^

Same conversations today.  I hope to be ended quickly.  This has to be the among the worst ways - at least with a shark attack you are probably lost of senses within a few minutes of thrashing.   Hope there was a breach or something and it was instantaneous.  Cannot imagine them sitting there losing oxygen by the hour. 

SalvatoreQuattro

June 20th, 2023 at 5:03 PM ^

This reminds me of a story in WWII where an US submarine was forced to the surface by the Japanese. After letting his crew off the sub the commander John P. Cromwell deliberately sunk it so as to prevent himself and the knowledge he had of US operations from ending up in Japanese hands.

I can’t imagine what they had been thinking as they drifted down to their end.

NittanyFan

June 20th, 2023 at 5:57 PM ^

Awesome story and an underknown one.  A great "F*** you" message to the enemy.

FWIW, everyone else who went down with the sub couldn't get off the sub --- they were too injured (or dead).  So Cromwell did a great job in 2 respects: the ambulatory portion of his crew got off the sub entirely, then he alone refused to leave after that.  A well-deserved Medal of Honor.

LSAClassOf2000

June 20th, 2023 at 3:26 PM ^

Ah yes, I remember how a few OSU fans kept telling us that this was the end when Knowles was hired and we would be unable to make a Knowles defense even flinch. I remember that. I still chuckle about it, and as he is still there, I hope to continue chuckling. 

El Demonio

June 20th, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^

Noted - good point.

I went back in the YouTube time machine, because what else am I going to do, and I have the following to report:

- Manningham catch, he had about a 10 yard cushion, but it was the 1st quarter so less at stake.

- Gallon (ND UTL), at least a 10yd cushion, likely more - and it got Brent Musburger worked up in a way I thought only young ladies in the stands could.

TeslaRedVictorBlue

June 20th, 2023 at 2:06 PM ^

Tommy Two Thumbs needs another thumb.

One thing that passes through my mind... is the hilarity of watching Zach Harrison, charmin soft DE who had a chance to come here, chasing Donovan Edwards on his 2nd TD run, while the rest of the OSU defense is NOWHERE to be found. Talk about mentally checking out. I wonder as he was running if he thought that 0-2 was his destiny. I wonder right now, if he's at home, reading this, thinking.. 0-3 isn't THAT bad, is it?