From one of the comments:
That being said, I own one of those Logitech gamepads and it’s prone to button stick
What a lovely controller to use in a setting that is very dangerous.
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I was wrong. I really thought it was Mad Catz.
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tl:dw: There are ballast release systems that are supposed to trigger automatically, including an “air bag”. They have CO₂ scrubbers and backup scrubbers and a fire extinguisher. The 96-hour time limit has never been tested. Communications simply stopped 2/3 of the way down, both sources including the “safety ping”.
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If they had two buttons, maybe they could have included a manual release. Just an idea.
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“We only have one button. That’s it. It should be like an elevator. You know. It shouldn’t take a lot of skill”
No! A submarine pilot should have a lot of skill and training, and the ability to directly control vital systems in case anything goes wrong!
Exactly. This statement isn’t even true for piloting a hot air balloon, something that basically has just one “button”.
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Hmm, Occam’s razor suggests catastrophic compression.
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If they were listening for safety pings on the boat I wonder if they were also listening for (or would recognize) the sound of a hull implosion.
Short of a catastrophic structural failure, maybe they didn’t have redundant power systems for the two communication sources and both issues stemmed from a single power loss. But there aren’t really any obvious “good” scenarios that could explain this.
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A rephrase of an old joke about lawyers suggests itself.
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A tour of a navy attack sub Indiana.
Xbox controller shown at 8:50, but it’s used to operate the periscopes, not drive the ship.
I’m not by impressed the one logitech game controller I own (haven’t thrown it out).
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I’m sure that they’re both crunchy if sat on by accident.
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Death by cheap gamepad isn’t just for games anymore…
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I’m sure that they have the right cable to charge the batteries…
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I watched the Coast Guard press conference, they said this is their number one priority for that sector. Really? There are no other missing boaters in that sector so they won’t be needing all their assets?
I’m sure the United States and Canadian Coast Guard are perfectly able to handle multiple emergency situations but all the equipment for 5 rich people who got into a questionable “submarine” with no rescue plans or plan B if something should fail gets me a little worked up.
I have mixed feelings about the CG being used to rescue private businesses that do not appear to have taken some basic precautions.
I get mad in my neck of the woods when the Coast Guard has to put up the helicopter to rescue ice fishermen who ignore unsafe ice warnings especially when the people being rescued get the attitude that it’s the CG’s job to rescue people and they like using the equipment.
A few years ago the Coast Guard addressed that and said every time a rescue operation goes up there is a risk to the people on board and gave examples of training missions and rescue missions that went bad.
And float plans, file a darn float plan whenever you go out, make the rescue easier.
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The press conference an hour or so ago was pretty telling in terms of the rescue effort’s expectations of success.
“The search efforts have not yielded any results,” said Capt. Jamie Frederick, the Coast Guard’s response coordinator in the search for the deep-sea submersible, called the Titan. He added that U.S. and Canadian crews are working around-the-clock to support this complex search effort.
It is unclear what the Unified Command’s plan is when and if the submersible is found.
“If the sub is located, then it’s up to the experts to tell us the next steps for salvaging and recovery,” Frederick said. “Right now, our effort is on searching.”
This is diplomatic speak for “In the unlikely event the crew is still alive we have very little expectation of finding them before their oxygen runs out. Even if we do find them we almost certainly won’t be able to do anything to help them.”
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I don’t. Everyone has a right to rescue at sea. That’s how the system works. If they are found, the courts can work out any culpability, but if friends or family or I myself were in danger at sea (or on land for that matter) I would want everything to be done to resolve the situation, regardless of how stupidly it started.
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Oh jeez. This tweet from earlier this month…
I suppose this probably isn’t Elon’s fault but it sure does seem like everything he touches ends up having fatal engineering flaws.
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ETA: and another.
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Three words: Davy M*therf@cking Jones!
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I have less respect for people who flout maritime law and violate a gravesite at sea in the name of tourism (but masking in the name of “research vessels.”) This vehicle is a tourist toy that’s flagged and licensed as a “research vessel.” The tourists are “researchers” who usually end up filling out some kind of homework or test as proof that they were “doing research.” These parasites are all over various graves around the world, doing it for the photo ops and the status and not doing research in the slightest. I wish this loophole would be closed.
Yes, they have rights to rescue. Then I hope they are fined a few hundred million for the invasion of the gravesite and then another few hundred million in costs for the recovery.
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