Oceangate-gate....

The only thing I could think of here is that these subs spend >99% of their time on dry land, the deck of a ship (think crane rating) or being air-freighted.

They may have been trying to save money on logistics with an otherwise-illogical materials choice.

 

Which gets more marine rescue assistance and news media attention: a few billionaire tourists stretching the bounds of personal safety beyond the breaking point for bragging rights in getting to a deep ocean tourist site in a risky submersible, or 750 impoverished migrants desperately trying to cross a narrow sea on a risky fishing trawler to get to a place with much better life opportunity?

One (likely) killed 5 rich people while many resources from multiple governments sped to the scene. The other foundered and killed about 650 poor people while a government coast guard vessel, already on scene before the sinking, stood by and watched, then called a nearby yacht with just 4 crew members to come in and do most of the rescue work, while no news media were on scene. And this was just one of many such boatloads of poor people getting into trouble making the same journey.

Shades of Missing white woman syndrome?

A superyacht gave a lifeline to 100 migrants thrown into the sea

 

debris field spotted:

titanic-tourist-submarine-goes-missing-180331885.html

 

yes, they haven't identified anything yet, nor the banging sound the surveillance planes heard in different areas.
it is amazing that the ship had seven different methods of surfacing, but none of them worked, unless they are floating and have not been spotted.
unfortunately, there is no egress from inside

 

A lot of folks don't realize that at those depths, even the smallest leak becomes a knife that can disassemble the contents almost instantly. This is one case where a "deadman's switch" to surface the vehicle makes sense.

Now there are two debris fields next to each other ... to attract more tourists.

Bob Wilson

 

I see I'm just barely keeping up. If I hadn't stumbled on this article just earlier today, I wouldn't even have been able to guess what you were going on about.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-missing-titanic-sub-is-already-a-culture-war-battlefield

 

huh, i hadn't seen any of that in the articles i've read. sounds like social media stuff, not news.

 

heavens gate company believes all lives to be lost:

Missing Titanic submersible live updates: All passengers believed to be lost

 

Good work everyone, see you all back in the AM radio or gas stove threads!

 

Here's another reason why I do not consider a carbon fiber composite a good long term service material. I'd also be concerned about the composites used on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

‘Wings like cracked eggshells’: Richard Branson faces turbulence over safety of space flights | Virgin Galactic | The Guardian

‘Wings like cracked eggshells’: Richard Branson faces turbulence over safety of space flights

 

There are trade offs with any material. Hydrogen cars wouldn't be possible without composite tanks.

 

Composite tanks will have a finite number of fill and emptying cycles. Steel will have ab almost infinite number of cycles, if not subject to overpressure, corrosion or physical damage. Even aluminum has a limited cycle life, because it does not need to be stressed to close to its yield pressure to develop stress fatigue cracks. That was discovered in the De Havilland Comet in the 1950's.

The only reason that the Douglas DC-3 is still flying today is that it does not have a pressurized cabin.

 

This has been my primary thought every time I've heard reports on this story. I'm really appalled at the contrast in reporting and rescue efforts in these two cases.

 

No Darwin.

The CEO previously reproduced, his genes live on with two children. Thus, he is DQed from this 'award', at least by the original usenet rules I still adhere to.

 

why i didn't go:

This Man Was Supposed To Be On The Missing Titanic Sub, And Here's Why He Didn't Go

 

That would always be a weird feeling. I have a friend who was hungover and late for a conference in Windows On The World on 9/11. He and another friend who had to go to Chicago to mollify an angry client were the only people from their unit of the company who survived. They both really struggled with the entirely-unmerited but totally understandable guilt for years afterwards.