A Canadian plane part of the huge search mission to find the missing Titanic tourists heard “popping noises” every 30 minutes in the area where the submarine disappeared.
Specialized sonobuoys on board the plane detected the noise near the “emergency position,” according to an email from the US Department of Homeland Security seen by Rolling Stone Tuesday night.
Richard Garriot de Cayeux, President of the Explorers Club, confirmed last night that “there is reason for hope”.
In a statement posted to Twitter, he said: “We are much more confident that 1) there is reason for hope based on data from the field – we believe signs of life have likely been detected at the site.”
The DHS memo said, “RCC Halifax launched a P8, Poseidon, which has aerial underwater detection capabilities,” the DHS memo said, “reported a contact at a position near the emergency position.”
A Canadian plane heard “popping noises” every 30 minutes in the area where the submarine disappeared, according to a leaked memo
Last Known Sighting: The Titan was photographed just prior to her dive into the Atlantic to view the Titanic shipwreck
“The P8 would hear popping noises in the area every 30 minutes. “Four hours later, additional sonar was deployed and cracking was still heard.”
The memo doesn’t reveal the timing — or the cause — of the banging.
The announcement also said that “the Joint Rescue Coordination Center is working to locate a remotely operated underwater vehicle through partner organizations to potentially assist.”
Noise was also reported in an email from the president of the travel and research group Explorers Society, seen by Rolling Stone on Tuesday afternoon.
“It is reported that as of 2 a.m. local time on-site sonar detected potential ‘knocking noises’ at the site, indicating the crew may be alive and giving a signal,” it said.
An extensive search operation continues to find the missing OceanGate submersible Titan after it lost contact with the mothership while descending to the shipwreck on Sunday morning.
Rear Admiral John Mauger, who is helping coordinate the search, said it could get stuck.
“We don’t have any equipment on site that could do a ground survey,” Mauger said Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of debris, so locating it will be difficult.” Right now, our focus is on locating it.’
Likening the bottom of the Atlantic to “being in space,” Royal Navy Rear Admiral Chris Parry said, “It’s totally dark down there, and there’s also a lot of mud and other stuff that’s being kicked up.” With searchlights, all you can do is about 20 feet in front of you. There are very strong ocean currents that propel you forward.”
The missing OceanGate submersible Titan lost contact with the mother ship Sunday morning while descending to the shipwreck
At 9:45 a.m. – one hour and 45 minutes after the start of the dive – it lost contact with its mother ship, the Polar Prince. But it wasn’t until 5:40 p.m. eight hours later that the US Coast Guard reported it missing. The Canadian Coast Guard was only alerted later, on Sunday evening at 9:13 p.m.
The 21-foot submersible has up to 96 hours of oxygen on board, but it’s believed the crew of five has just 40 hours of breathable air left
The Coast Guard is coordinating the extensive search for the missing OceanGate submarine
Among the expedition’s participants is billionaire Hamish Harding (pictured), CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai. He excitedly posted on social media that he was there on Sunday
The search location is approximately 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland. It’s difficult to get there without finding the missing submarine under the sea surface
With the mini-sub running out of power and without working propellers, lights, or heating, its five passengers will find themselves in total darkness with temperatures hovering around 3°C (37°F) as the doomed ship cruises through the seabed rolls.
Oceanographer and Titanic expert David Gallo said, “Where is it?” Is it on the bottom, is it floating, is it in mid-water? That’s not decided yet.
“The water is very deep – more than two miles.” It’s like visiting another planet. It’s a sunless, cold environment and high pressure.”
The basic problem is that the Titan submersible is no longer transmitting signals, making it almost impossible to locate it. It’s supposed to send a sonar ping (radar and GPS don’t work underwater) to the mother ship Polar Prince every 15 minutes, but the last was at 9.45am on Sunday – an hour and 45 minutes into the dive, as it was hovering right over the titanic
For some reason, it took OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operates the tours on Titanic, eight hours on Sunday to call the Coast Guard. The US Coast Guard was notified of the incident at 5:40 p.m. and the Canadian Coast Guard was alerted even later at 9:13 p.m.
The expedition’s participants include billionaire Hamish Harding, CEO of Action Aviation in Dubai, and Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19.
The submarine’s oxygen supply was estimated at 96 hours, giving rescue teams until Thursday morning to locate the vessel.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: The Titan lost contact with the surface, causing panic. All times are in BST, five hours ahead of EST.
French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) is believed to be taking part in the expedition along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of OceanGate Expedition
“Passengers must sign a waiver mentioning DEATH three times”
A former Titan passenger has revealed that before boarding the submarine, adventurers must sign a waiver warning of deadly risks.
Mike Reiss, a New York-based author who traveled to the Titanic wreck last year on Titan, said communications blackouts were common.
He told the BBC: “I’ve done three different dives with this company, one on the Titanic and two others and communication has almost always cut off.” He added: “No one was under any illusions.” They sign one Waiver before you even board. Page one mentions death and three different ways of dying.
“If the worst-case scenario is that they are at the bottom of the ocean, I can’t imagine how anyone could get to them, let alone save them.”
As families desperately await news, OceanGate, which began diving to the Titanic in 2021, is facing questions after it was revealed the Titan had suffered electrical damage and had to be rebuilt after being unable to withstand the ocean before its disappearance.
The tourism company responsible for the missing submersible also took eight hours to report it to the Coast Guard after losing contact an hour and 45 minutes after the dive on Sunday, said yesterday.
As of yesterday, a fleet of American and Canadian rescue ships and planes were at the scene, along with a growing number of private vessels.
U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick, speaking at Search Headquarters in Boston, announced, “These search efforts have yielded no results.”
But last night some of the merchant ships with special underwater drones crashed them. Mr. Frederick offered his “heartfelt thoughts and prayers” to the lost crew and their families and promised they would do “everything possible”. However, he admitted that the final hours were ahead for the rescuers.
When asked, “If you found the submersible right now, even if you still have that much time, would you have enough time to rescue the five people on board?” He replied, “I know the answer to not this question.’ All I know is that we will do everything in our power to bring about a rescue.’
The wreck of the Titanic lies at 12,500 feet and Titan was one of the few ships in the world to reach it. Even nuclear submarines cannot safely penetrate that deep. Deep sea diving specialists are assisting the Coast Guard in the “unique and challenging” operation, Mr Frederick said.
Standing at the port, he told reporters, “Delivering the salvage equipment on site is a top priority.” It’s very heavy equipment, it’s very complex, but the best experts are on the ground. If the submarine is located, the experts will consider the best course of action to recover the submarine.”
The equipment includes a decompression chamber for the five passengers in case they should be brought to the surface.
It’s emerged that an adventure seeker who was set to join billionaire Hamish Harding on the missing Titanic submarine dropped out of the dive because he felt OceanGate was “cutting the corners too much”.
Chris Brown, 61, had paid the deposit for the doomed voyage but says he changed his mind after concerns about the quality of the technology and materials used on the ship, The Sun reported Tuesday night.
His concerns included OceanGate’s use of “old scaffolding poles” for ballast and the fact that the controls were “based on computer game-style controllers”.
He told the newspaper that although he was “one of the first people to sign up for this trip”, he ultimately concluded that “the risks were too great”.
Mr Brown added that he was “really upset with Hamish” who is among the five passengers on the submersible named “Titan” who are currently missing.
Mr Brown and Mr Harding signed up for the then £80,000 trip after having ‘a few beers’ while on holiday on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island.
The couple paid the 10 percent deposit for the trip, which has since more than doubled in price while the Titan is still in development, he claimed.
But Mr Brown claimed that in subsequent years he learned that OceanGate had “missed important targets” in depth tests of the submersible.
The multi-millionaire digital marketing tycoon found it concerning that the ship was being piloted by a modified Playstation controller.
It is also understood that he was concerned about the technical issues and delays during the development process.
He told The Sun: “I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub’s ballast.”
“If you’re trying to build your own submarine, you could probably use old scaffolding poles.” But that was a commercial ship.’
Mr Brown, who says he is “taking no risk”, eventually emailed OceanGate demanding a refund.
He’s worried about his friend but says Mr Harding isn’t the type to panic. He believes the billionaire is likely to remain “extremely calm” and “process plans, schemes and ideas with his giant brain.”
Mr Brown says Mr Harding will “give hope” to other passengers.