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21 hours ago, death tribble said:

Tourist sub looking at Titanic goes missing, search underway

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65953872

 

I hope, hope, HOPE they're found.  The air supply is the problem;  it'll only last a few days.

 

This really sends chills down my spine...because it's my personal nightmare way to die.  Long, slow, lingering, and inevitable with not a bloody darn thing you can do to stop it.  It's also bringing back memories of Payne Stewart's death;  the cabin failed to pressurize, everyone passed out from hypoxia...and the plane just continued on its way on autopilot.  STILL makes me shiver.

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1 hour ago, unclevlad said:

 

I hope, hope, HOPE they're found.  The air supply is the problem;  it'll only last a few days.

 

This really sends chills down my spine...because it's my personal nightmare way to die.  Long, slow, lingering, and inevitable with not a bloody darn thing you can do to stop it.  It's also bringing back memories of Payne Stewart's death;  the cabin failed to pressurize, everyone passed out from hypoxia...and the plane just continued on its way on autopilot.  STILL makes me shiver.

 

The lack of emergency beacon signal and the apparent failure to jettison ballast means the sudden implosion scenario is much more likely.

 

If that's not enough to make you feel better, I have some Amontillado in the basement, I'm sure a couple glasses of that will cheer you right up...

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29 minutes ago, Old Man said:

 

The lack of emergency beacon signal and the apparent failure to jettison ballast means the sudden implosion scenario is much more likely.

 

If that's not enough to make you feel better, I have some Amontillado in the basement, I'm sure a couple glasses of that will cheer you right up...

 

Well, it puts it into the Stewart scenario, but...no, it doesn't help.  I have too easy of a time imagining it the other way.

 

Is that a raven on your porch?

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7 hours ago, Old Man said:

 

The lack of emergency beacon signal and the apparent failure to jettison ballast means the sudden implosion scenario is much more likely.

 

If that's not enough to make you feel better, I have some Amontillado in the basement, I'm sure a couple glasses of that will cheer you right up...

 

Also found this from NYT:

 

Quote

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.”

 

Still got that Amontillado?  

 

Never mind, I've got a decent amount of Maker's left......

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Today, I am sad...and angry beyond belief.

 

Sad, because it seems a foregone conclusion that the innocent people aboard the Titan will not be found alive.  Even the best case was running out of air...early this morning, Eastern time.  It's a good 6 hours later, and it hasn't been located.  

 

And so, so, so angry that the passengers paid for the gross, criminal, greedy incompetence of the people who run the company.  From NYT, echoed several other places:

 

Quote

In January 2018, the company’s engineering team was about to hand over the craft — named Titan — to a new crew who would be responsible for ensuring the safety of its future passengers. But experts inside and outside the company were beginning to raise concerns.

 

OceanGate’s director of marine operations, David Lochridge, started working on a report around that time, according to court documents, ultimately producing a scathing document in which he said the craft needed more testing and stressed “the potential dangers to passengers of the Titan as the submersible reached extreme depths.”

 

Two months later, OceanGate faced similarly dire calls from more than three dozen people — industry leaders, deep-sea explorers and oceanographers — who warned in a letter to its chief executive, Stockton Rush, that the company’s “experimental” approach and its decision to forgo a traditional assessment could lead to potentially “catastrophic” problems with the Titanic mission.

 

 

CBS also is reporting this:
 

Quote

Lochridge wrote that he learned the viewport on the sub was only built to a certified pressure of 1,300 meters, even though the Titan intended to go down to 4,000 meters in depth. He also urged OceanGate to use an agency such as the American Bureau of Shipping to inspect and certify the Titan.

 

"OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the required depth of 4,000 meters," Lochridge's filing alleges. 

 

He claims that rather than address his concerns or use "a standard classification agency to inspect the Titan," OceanGate immediately fired him. 

 

OceanGate's lawsuit against Lochridge stresses that he wasn't an engineer, and that he refused to accept its lead engineer's "veracity of information," leading to his firing. In his legal response, Lochridge admitted he wasn't an engineer, but noted that "he was hired to ensure the safety of all crew and clients during submersible and surface operations."

 

So there's issues of fact when the lawsuits start flying...the passengers waived liability, including death, in case of an accident, but I'm pretty sure those clauses aren't enforceable in the event of gross negligence.  OceanGate as a company is done, no matter what;  the only question is how thoroughly they'll be incinerated.  If the Titan is found, and if any of the allegations asserted in the past hold?  That seems prima facie reckless disregard/gross negligence;  goodbye waiver, and the fire's a nuclear furnace.  And several people are going to jail for a long time.

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https://news.sky.com/story/titanic-submarine-missing-live-updates-submersible-cannot-be-opened-from-inside-time-running-out-on-oxygen-supply-waiver-mentions-death-three-times-12905748

 

Sky News
The US Coast Guard has issued a major update, reporting that a debris field was discovered in the search area near the Titanic. Experts are said to be "evaluating the information", and an update will be given at 8pm UK time.
 
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USCG is now holding a press conference, and saying debris analysis reflects a catastrophic failure of the pressure chamber.  Everyone is now officially presumed dead.

 

More detail, from NYT reporters at the scene:

Quote

The authorities found “five major pieces of debris” that indicated they were from the Titan, including a nose cone, the front end of the pressure hull and the back end of the pressure hull, said Paul Hankins, a salvage expert for the U.S. Navy. He said that finding these pieces of debris indicated there was a “catastrophic event.”

 

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As hopes fade, the online discussion is turning to the legal aftermath.  Waivers generally don't apply in cases of gross negligence (which the window issue absolutely is).  On the other hand what's going to happen is that the company will declare bankruptcy and the principals will otherwise not be penalized.  The wild card is jurisdiction for an American (I think) company launching out of Canada having an incident in international waters.

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https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/paula-bolyard/2023/06/22/breaking-devastating-news-for-families-of-the-titanic-submarine-crew-n1705529

 

U.S. Coast Guard summary.  

 

With their CEO Dead, I expect the company to disolve.  There really is no point to a law suit because f this. Dead is dead.

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I fully expect the company to declare bankruptcy soon too.  But, there should be assets...if nothing else, there's some IP that should have value.  

 

And the wrongful death lawsuits are *guaranteed.*  One of the passengers was a *billionaire*...and his 19 year old son was another.  Oh my lordy, yes, that family is going to sue, and they may well not care if they actually get anything as a settlement.  They're not gonna settle for a mere pound of flesh.

 

Also, there is a serious question of criminal liability.  Yeah, the CEO is dead, but anyone who signed off on the engineering is probably even more directly guilty of criminal/gross negligence resulting in death.

 

I actually would not be surprised if significant legal action starts VERY quickly.  Specifically:  freeze all the assets of the company, to ensure no one can try to cut and run with whatever they can get.    

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