Why do I get the feeling that his real reason for not wanting to hire submariners is that he was tired of them telling him he shouldn't do a bunch of the things he was doing?
I think they would cost quite q bit for their expertise, usually the real reason, 80k for rando engineer kid 'hey kid this would look good on ur resume'...'200-300$k' for expert
BBCis reporting the portal window was only rated to 1500 meters, and their target depth was 3500 meters. That blew my mind, I don’t think this CEO respected the depth.
It sounded like he wanted to be the budget underwater Elon Musk (with Musk being bad enough himself), and unfortunately has taken a bunch of other people with him.
What's interesting about the CEO is he really just seemed to believe his own delusions. If he recognized he was cutting corners and taking risks he wouldn't have gone down there himself. People get really arrogant from one success and decide it's just gonna be fine forever, winging it will be fine.
It's always a red flag to hear how you can cut corners on life-preserving safety gear or how "restrictive" safety gear/regulations can be. There's a reason why the saying is: regulations are written in blood. I feel immense sorrow for all those involved, all the families. Tragedy all around.
@@MarlaSingersCancer I see a lot of the Californian tech start-up patterns with this; the personality cult CEO, the 'fake it till you make it' philosophy, being a 'disrupter', etc.
When i listen to Stockton talk, i get the impression that he hired exclusively young engineers specifically because they would be easier to manipulate into doing what he wanted instead of what they should be doing.
The accountant also said that Stockton hired teenagers and paid them minimum wage. So it seems like the whole company was run on the cheap and without safety in mind.
You can halt all your conspiratorial thinking about that because he was going down in the sub, he was down there, he died. What does that tell you? Either he was suicidal, which I doubt, or he had complete faith in those he had taken advice from/hired to put the project together. He cut corners? He took risks? Probably. Almost certainly. But he sure also put his money -- or ass -- where is mouth is, and paid the ultimate price.
Small correction: They did hire a subject matter expert in marine and submarine safety, then fired him for trying to require basic safety mechanisms. He publicized their failure to test their claims, so they sued him.
As an Engineer (EE), the fact that the controller is wireless and not wired tells me the people who designed this had absolutely no concept of risk assessment and mitigation. _edit: added EE_
I was saying the same exact thing, something as simple as forgetting the USB power cord , like we do when we jump in our car sometime and leave the cord in the house, can be catastrophic failure. But when we are in our car, and forget our power cord at the house, we can always pull over to the local gas station and buy a new cord. But being underwater thousands of feet you don't have a gas station you can go to and grab supplies.
Yeah that stood out like a sore thumb to me as soon as I saw it. The entire sub looked like it had gone through about one conceptual/functional design review at most before they built and sailed (sunk) the damn thing.
@@twocyclediesel1280 The one guy who raised safety concerns got fired, that's all we need to know really. This Sub Brief video summed it up perfectly and yes it's sad but it was a fools errands from the get go. I'm not a navy person but I've worked in the oil industry for 25 years and I've seen stuff that made the hairs on my neck stand up and when the industry fires up next year we're going to see a lot of accidents happen again because they will elevate inexperienced people into jobs they have no business being in especially since loads of older people in the industry are retiring and there's not many people of my age (50) in it anymore.
Interesting comment from James Cameron about this... apparently oceangate had a few letters from subject matter experts saying that the submarine was too experimental and should have been certified prior to use. I will never understand why anyone would read a waiver like that and then decide to go on it anyway.
Operating the sub was the easy part. Building a pressure vessel that can stand up to *repeated* pressure cycles and be *verified* prior to every descent that it is still competent to handle the design depth is the hard part. Along with all the other design flaws discussed herein.
Speaking of repeated pressure cycles and aviation history lessons (not) learned, the world's first commercial jet the de Havilland DH.106 Comet had a series of lethal accidents resulting in 426 deaths due to hull failure and these tragic events took place 70 years ago!!!
He wanted younger "inspirational" people probably because they would be much more clueless and less prone to question the overall safety of this whole operation. More easily expendable for his business in case anything bad happen, just blame them on their lack of experience and knowledge, probably much cheaper as well. This CEO guy really rises red flags every time is opening his mouth. Incredible people would trust him.
@u9vata I believe he was just virtue signaling diversity & inclusion. That's why he said no White guys, even though those are the guys that generally are the experts in the field
I was a submariner, got out in 1986 as a chief of the boat. You are spot on regarding everything you said, I was thinking all of the same things you did plus a little bit more. Was there any pre dive procedure or checklist? What about post dive inspection procedure? How about scheduled maintenance? What about an emergency blow system or at least an ability to drop ballast? Did they ever conduct casualty drills or at least write procedures? It is clear that from the CEO on down they did not understand the complexity and dangers associated with diving in a marine environment. There is no rescue vehicle (DSRV), that could be on station before the air runs out, there is no DSRV that can mate with this thing due to the location of the 17 bolt door, and you would probably need some type of mechanical arm to remove the bolts. No such thing exists. As you mentioned, how did they know their air supply was adequate for 96 hours; was hyperventilation due to panic considered in that number? They will not be saved and most likely the submersible will never be recovered. It is ridiculous to believe the Coast Guard will find this thing with their sonar, it is too small a feature to be distinguished from the bottom profile with active sonar and there is not enough machinery noise (if any) to be heard passively above the surface background noise. (I am a sonar systems expert and was an instructor in the tactical training department at the Sub base in Groton, CT) One final thing, the media and just about everyone else are calling this vessel a submarine, it is not a submarine. Submarines are autonomous, this vessel is a submersible and requires a support ship to function. The ocean does not forgive.
not to mention it's made of carbon fiber. Assuming it stayed intact rather than shattering, is there enough reflection off CF to get a decent sonar return?
@@chrismaverick9828 The carbon fiber shattered under pressure. Carbon fiber resists expansion, not compression. It was used for the Boeing Dreamliner just for that reason. It will hold pressure inside, not the other way around. Darwin’s theories of natural selection play-out again.
Rush was really working AGAINST innovation, all the safety standards and the knowledge of experienced submariners IS innovation that you're supposed to add to. It's like designing a car without ABS, seatbelts, air bags, crumple zones, collision prevention systems, etc and claiming your car is more "innovative". No you made a death trap from a century ago, it's a regression in every way!
I have stayed away from this because of the ego's, people who enjoy seeing others die, financial jealousy that RUclips brings out. BUT You're damn right. He built a very early Bathysphere. Bloody hell. Absolutely right. Just a tube with air. Bolted in. with some air?
@@KatieRN51i don't think you can really be that intelligent, and rich, and still insist on so much cost cutting. like seriously. $250k per person and he just HAD to use a $30 logitech controller?? nah. he wasn't intelligent, just rich.
That interview with the CEO screams recklessness. Ignoring safety protocols is not inspiring, it's potentially suicidal. The need for experience (even using consultants as SMEs) is essential. Thank you for a very comprehensive overview of this tragedy. Very educational. Contrary to the late CEO of Ocean Gate's opinion, old 50 year olds have great value when they have operational knowledge and experience.
That's the point, he avoided the experienced people because he didn't want to pay extra to be given a dose of reality. But he fucked around and found out like libertarians eventually do.
This CEO did a fantastic job of providing video and audio clips that will absolutely destroy his company's chances of winning any of the coming litigation against them
I'm not sure anything will really be gained by litigation. Sure there's the company, but how much is it really worth especially now? There's also the issue that the tourists all signed waivers saying they could die and the company isn't liable. The whole operation seems like it's all Rush's show and with him going down with the sub I'm thinking the company will likely go bust, maybe pay out what's left after liquidation to victims families but that won't be much compared to the victims 'worth'. What I do see coming from this will be increased regulations on submersibles though. Although, I suppose you can always just leave port in a country without the regulations and dive in international waters.
@@Damigod67 In most cases a waiver is null and void if negligence is involved. which in this case it was, I believe they will be open to lawsuits. But with pretty much everyone on board being a billionaire I don't think any litigation will happen.
Yeah they probably will find out pretty fast where the submersible is and it probably will be in a thousand pieces. The only bright side is they wouldn't have suffered. Of course another possibility is the battery compartment suffered a fire and the crew died like what happened to the Kursk.
i am convinced that the whole "not hiring 50 year old white guys" thing is just a ploy to avoid highly experienced people that would take one look at this submersible and start raising safety concerns. he wanted people that didn't have the experience or knowledge to call him out, and this was his way of doing so while also looking like the good guy.
whoa whoa whoa candy pants. are you implying minorities and females are dumb, and during pride month? I'm calling my wife's boyfriend's rabbi right now. I'm literally shaking!
James Cameron, completely over engineering the husk in order to be 200% sure the thing holds on the one time only expedition. OceanGate: Inspiring tuna can go brrrrrr!
As a former naval architect working on submersible design, just the fact that the pressure vessel was rated for 4,000m which was within or close to the actual operating envelop is crazy to me. We would design the pressure vessels with a significant factor of safety for it's intended operating envelop. That alone was a huge red flag. Thanks for the comprehensive report. Awful situation all around that could have been avoided.
You think that's scary, you should look at the new "David Lochridge" news coming out in the last few hours. A prior employee of Oceangate in 2018 was a pilot responsible for the safety of the vessel and passengers. He found flaws with the carbon fibre hull might not be detected and wanted more testing and the sub to be certified by an external agency. Critically he also found out that the forward viewport was only rated for a depth of 1.3km by the manufacturer, not the full 4km the submersible was intended to dive to... and that's not even considering a safety margin at all... He got fired and then there was a load of legal proceedings of unfair dismissal vs confidential disclosure, where it was finally settled between themselves...
@@ItsssJustice Oh my God WTF. We designed for approximately 1.5-1.6 as a factor depending on application. They exceeded the rated depth by over 2x??? This is literally the opposite of a factor of safety. Factor of negligence?
Hiring experienced “old guys” is smart. These veterans have years of experience and have survived decades of dealing with deep diving submarines and casualties of systems in submarines. They have experience in spotting trouble spots before things fail. It is sad that this accident has ended with the lose of life.
The real problem is his hiring wasn't diverse enough, we've been invaded oops sorry enriched with millions of highly skilled engineers over the last few years...just sayin'
This was the submersible third trip to the titanic so they have gone down to the depth before. Again though something happened to keep it from rising. The company should be at fault for not having a better emergency action plan. Even having a rov on board to do an immediate check would have been something
With actual customers nevertheless... Idk, waivers are just a fancy way of saying "we're not absolutely confident in our ability/equipment, don't sue us".
I don't know of any ship or submarine that has been put together with apoxy. The fact that a father on FATHER'S DAY would drag his teenage son to board a vessel that was three steps above a model airplane kit is mind-blowing. The three passengers could've been anywhere else in the world having dinner and fun with friends and family, or just chilling on their day; what they got instead was a $750K underwater funeral. I hope St. Peter asks Stockton Rush "Was it worth it? Was it?!"
I'm a CNC machine operator so here my perspective. They have something calculated for 4000m. The Titanic is 3,800m deep. I think ISO (or NCEES or one of those) requires a 150% minimum buffer for engineered loads (meaning for diving 3,800m the sub would have to be engineered for 5,700m to be "save"). They're literally running at 95% at the Titanic. . . At that depth even temperature changes could have changed the water density enough to surpass the haul strength and crush the sub. Update : I'm right, this is exactly what happened. If it's any consolation they died almost instantly. The hull imploded, followed by their skulls, torsos, even their femurs because the center is filled with marrow. . . They basically turned into like a fine mist. Maybe their hands and feet were left but that probably quickly became fish food. The lesson here is to keep accountants out of the engineering room. . . . And also to hire professionals and not inexperienced people out of some sort of misplaced self-entitled wokeism. (That was very stupid.) I'm just an entry-level machine operator and knew this, what's their excuse? A professional would've slammed on the brakes on this during its inception. HIRE "OLD WHITE PEOPLE".
For what it's worth, the Wikipedia entry says it was designed for a 2.25x margin, and they took the 4.5" thickness to 5". Whether that's actually accurate beyond a spreadsheet... Who knows??
I was a mechanical engineer in the auto industry. It took about 10 to 15 years to get good on the component I worked on. The engineering degree was only the start. I am thankful to the mechanics and technicians who taught me so much. They were my instructors even though technically I was their supervisor. I was humbled up right away by these guys with the immense amount of product know how and experience they had accumulated in 30 to 40 years. I learned to always ask them for their input on new designs or issues we were working on.
There's a lot to be said about institutional knowledge that's only known to the old timers with experience. Too bad the CEO of this company was so callous about this fact.
Still a lot of that in railways the world over. You learn so much from the old guys who've been in it for 40+ years. I can't count the number of times I've had an issue and gotten it explained and fixed within minutes talking to these guys. The old guard is always happy to mentor the younger generation if you show an interest in learning
Yep! My experience as an EE is similar. Students graduating college are almost useless. The engineers and technicians start getting better at 6-8 years, but it's the 15+ year veterans who are gold in a design review. They catch things nobody else thinks of.
I had an operation to fix a broken leg 2 years back, when they wheeled me into the operating theatre i was relieved to see that the surgeons working on me were over 50. Nothing and i mean NOTHING compares to someone with experience. They did a damned good job too.
That’s a bit old for a surgeon peak performance is actually quite a bit younger. Older surgeons tend not to keep up with the latest tech and sometimes get complacent. If your surgeon looks like he just graduated high school then you can worry but mid thirties to fifty and you’re fine. That’s not a hard rule but it’s what I’ve seen.
Great video! One mistake: The Titan DID previously make it to the Titanic several times (albeit with a replaced hull at one point) so it wasn't just a blind test using customers. Stockton's luck ran out. Still, he maintains full blame and is a fool for not listening to the experts.
I was under the impression this sub had never been this deep. Just one test run done at 3000M. Where's the reference that this sub had been down there before?
Former Radioman from an LA Class sub. I'm stunned that loss of comms was not grounds for an immediate onboard systems overhaul. A skipper can lose his command for failing to clear the broadcast ONCE, it's a big deal.
There's a difference between a CO that reports to an Admiral, that ultimately answers to congress. Commercial venture where the owner is only responsible to him self or investors. There is no regulation, no insurance etc. It's all at risk. There's a reason why military ships have so many people on a bridge and a super tankers only has 2-3.
I agree! You'd think after that, if they couldn't establish a secure way to maintain connection, they'd have just used some sort of umbilical cable to keep them plugged into the main ship. but maybe thats not safe at those depths either?
I believe the CEO fired someone simply for saying the sub was unsafe. The CEO seems like a man with loads of money and believes anything is possible and was arrogant enough to believe his own BS. If he truely cared he would have been smart enough to know you cannot know everything. Without a willingness to listen he is now dead in his own creation fue to most likely an ego issue. That been said this is a very sad situation.
Apparently, they just found a debris field. So it definitely looks like an implosion at this point. Which, arguably, is a better result than finding them suffocated. They would have died instantly.
Low oxygen will cause one to pass out and die unconsciously, which is way better than a violent death of a collapsing capsule that crushes you to death. I think I will choose passing out and gradually die.
His choice of hiring young fresh grads makes me think of what the videogame industry does. CEOs from a marketing background disrespect the old guard, make unreasonable demands, push stupid ideas. The old guys leave. CEOs hire young and desperate people, tell them its about 'passion', and rely on either the inexperience or desperation to do stuff that's flashy and 'market friendly' but breaks easy.
Let the smart ass kids find out the hard way. I have a friend whose ex husband is extremely wealthy. Their 2 children are superb and not spoiled by it but their friends are totally driven by you tube influencers and making as much money as possible. We have created mini monsters
thats the way the company I work for runs, " don't take advice from us old guys , because it clashes with the "in" croud..... to hell with safty, Do it the new way....
Spot on. He knew experienced engineers would be skeptical of how he was running things so wanted to bring in young guys that are moldable and can be “taught” to do things their way instead of the right way
The story of Stockton Rush is tragic, and poetically ironic. For some, it's completely outrageous and for others it's entirely comedic, but at least it ends with timeless lessons to reflect on. He forewent safety and the wisdom of expertise, knowledge, and caution, all for the sake of a childish dream, to cut corners, and mitigate costs. When one of his own people brought up the idea of valuing life, Mr. Rush allowed OceanGate to fire him. Then they sued the man and forced a settlement. They had previously advertised the Titan as meeting or exceeding the safety standard of DNV certification, despite never receiving, or even intending to receive, such a license. Over three dozen field experts expressed their safety concerns, and they were ignored. In a supposed attempt to foster the next generation of expert submariners and engineers, he blocked off the likes of people who may have learned something from the Kursk disaster. People who may have been taught by those who investigated the Thresher. He ignored an entire generation of people who could realize his own dream because he didn't like hearing how downright negligent and dangerous his approach was. He didn't learn a thing from space and aerospace. These fields are written and forged in the blood of dead men and women, and Mr. Rush chose to ignore the dead and let them go on in vain. I just cannot understand the arrogance and idiocy needed to throw out voice communication just because you don't like checking-in while performing one of the most dangerous activities ever conceived. To have no method of escape if you managed to surface. Thank you, Stockton Rush, for reminding and teaching people that safety and lives have no cost. That the new generation must be guided by the people that have been there and done that. I have no doubt Mr. Rush has succinctly implanted the concept of safety into his team now. You got to live your dream, pilot your little sub, and go down with your ship. As much as the man infuriates me, I respect that he put himself through the same reckless adventure as his passengers. The man had no fear of the deep in his little pillsub. I have no doubt he wholly believed The Titan was the next step in deepsea exploration and was revolutionary. Somehow that's scarier than if he knew how ridiculous The Titan was. Rest In Peace to the 4 people he brought down with him. I unapologetically wish OceanGate never recovers.
Beautifully written and every word echoed my sentiments on this tragedy. My heart goes out to those left behind....allegedly the young man was terrified and didnt want to go.....the whole thing was so avoidable
why did you write a review on a news story? in amazon products, it helps other buyers make a decision. In books and movies, it gives us a better understanding of the characters and decisions they make. What does doing it here accomplish?
I will not lie about it: this whole Ocean Gate disaster, while tragic, is a little comedic, too. Mr. Rush cast experience and true knowledge aside. Based on that, if cannot predict the outcome, your ignorant
As an engineer, here is what I see wrong at 4:50-4:59 : they are not wearing protective suits, it looks like open air factory, no particulate control of any kind, no masks, no hairnets. Once something is stuck to the adhesive it can provide a path for seawater to creep in, combined with vibrations and settling of the materials, steel and titanium being more prone to shrinkage with dropping temperatures at depth, there is a lot of mismatching of materials. I can see cracks forming due to internal stresses in tension, yes titanium is very strong so is carbon in tension but dust and rust on the adhesive can cause sheering and punctures... just too sloppy for experimental assembly of something that has to be perfectly smooth and free of debris.
Agreed. I believe when dealing with pressures like this stick with one single material, don't mix materials because like you said each one will react differently to pressure, cold, etc. Another thing to note is I'm not a fan of carbon fiber. Metals will bend, especially titanium, carbon fiber fails completely when it goes, just like shattering glass. This is why I don't like carbon fiber used to support airplane wings, no warning, just instant catastrophic failure.
Agreed - I’m not an engineer but the way they’re weaving the carbon fiber and painting on the glue doesn’t seem precise enough for something that needs to be extremely uniform and sound
I was a Chief Officer on merchant navy and proud to be a seaman. As a young cadet at my time, I could not be more amazed and inspired by the old sailors, engineers, ratings and officers (old guard as we called them) that I had the honor to work and after some time, lead. Respect for their stories, experience and seamanship. It really take a different kind of person to go to sea, it is not easy, and when the SHTF you will want that 50+ Bosun to be by your side. It is sad to hear those words from the CEO, and even more that ended like this.
I was a semen once.. a matter of fact it was the last time I moved with purpose.. beat 30,000 other semen. Still tired.. lol. Thank you for your service 👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸
From the OceanGate wiki : *Rush's experience and research led him to believe that submersibles had an unwarranted reputation as dangerous vehicles due to their use in ferrying commercial divers, and that the Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 "needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation"* Anyone not doing their due diligence on the CEO of this inept company learned the price of that in savage fashion.
@maddannafizz I saw that he son gifted it to his dad as a father day gift. I don't know. If I was the father, I would have to be the smart one in the room and say no I'm good.
@@maddannafizz I don't understand, if you're so wealthy, why you wouldn't do an independent assessment by someone like Aaron on the vessel that's taking you TO A DEPTH OF 4000m especially if it looks like that.
Absolutely insane that he deliberately excluded experts in the construction and design . If anyone has ever watched “Boiler Room” they deliberately don’t hire anyone with a certification so they can continue illegal activity but those un-certified people don’t necessarily know what they are doing is illegal. He absolutely didn’t hire subject matter experts because none of them would EVER have put their name and reputation on this cobbled together casualty capsule. So upsetting that if you have enough money you can ignore all the rules and people died.
Choosing not to hire experts in the field for both design and monitoring on dives because they weren’t “inspirational” tells me everything I need know about that CEO. Dude is entirely responsible for those people he killed.
Indeed! It's one thing to prefer to hire "inspirational" youth -- it's another thing to ignore the "cynical" elderly, because "cynicism" is often just the results of seeing a tragedy or two over their lifetime, and learning how to avoid them.
I am not an engineer but the fact alone that this thing was designed to withstand the water pressure for up to 4000 meters and they were planning to dive to a depth of 3800 meters would make me feel unsafe. I would expect a larger safety margin than 5% What I don’t understand is why they would skip on a regular hatch, not really a challenge since the water pressure helps to seal it. Imagine a flight attendant talking about safety procedures and explaining to patiently wait in a case of an emergency until someone from outside opens the door…
@@Abstract.Noir414 The problem is that "designed for" and "able to withstand" are two different things. One is a design and manufacturing plan based on calculations, where errors can enter the picture at various stages, and even if executed right, repeated use introduces wear and reduces the performance over time. And the latter is the actual real world performance - as exhibited in this case, it was not able to withstand it on repeated dives. So that's the problem.
I worked briefly on a research vessel for an internship, and distinctly remember a conversation with various crew about this guy, Stockton Rush and Oceangate. They all said he was going to kill himself and others with his ideas -- this was quite a while ago when he was merely discussing the idea of taking people down to the Titanic, and hadn't actually built anything yet. I'm no expert myself, but seeing this now and the information coming out, it seems as though they were spot on. The fact that he once answered that his submersible was "too high tech" to warrant basic safety evaluations that most manned craft must go through, for example, was a big red flag -- and he said that about a year ago I believe. Having nice cameras or a custom-built cabin doesn't make your vessel particularly innovative, but especially when it comes to basic safety -- most of which was learned through decades of various catastrophes, as you pointed out here. There's a reason why captains and engineers are so stern about safety -- it can become a life or death matter within a split second. There are always risks involved, even just on a ship, but safety is not really something you want to dismiss entirely for the sake of innovation.
There's always a certain amount of dark humor doing something so alien (your first dive, I imagine going to space, etc...) where humans are not meant to be. But It comes knowing all the gear is inspected, all of the people trained, contingencies in place as much as they can be. As horrible as this is, I find it far more troubling that no one stopped him. I guess that's why you would only want kids on your crew: an old fart might have known he needed to be dealt with before he killed a bunch of the kids that didn't know what they had been hoodwinked into doing.
l didn't know until yesterday that Stockton actually flew to meet the people he was hoping would be his experimental father son team and marketed the experience and blew off any concerns they had. They decided against it because his attitude. So he took a second father son team. So sad😢
They decided against it because the father realized he flew his experimental plane into Vegas. If his own plane was an experiment the father decided he didn't want to be part of his test runs. Clearly Rush had a very high tolerance for risk.
As a former US Navy submarine sailor, I appreciate the risk. We used the thumb rule of approximately 46 psi for every 100 feet of depth. At 13,100 feet, that would be greater than 5000 psi acting on that submersible. Fortunately, a breach with that much differential pressure would make for a quick dismissal. I only hope that they are not stuck down there and they run out of oxygen.
As a South African Navy sailor with subs in our navy as well, I have to wonder why they did not have an externaly mounted EPIRB in case of emergencies. Al vessels that sail more than 100 miles from the coat must have one, even our subs have them. That was recless, plus I cannot imagine that, that sub could sustain 5 people for 96 hours at that depth, I hope that your assesment was correct and that their end would of came quickly and relatively painlessly. May they RIP
@@nickbreen287 They make them but i don't know if there any that are made for commercial subs. In any case commercial sub's have had a much simpler system available for decades called an "acoustic beacon". Which is exact what it sounds like, It basically just gives out a constant sonar ping so rescue vessels can hone in on it. Of course at that depth the range would be extremely limited. I'm sure that wasn't "hip" and "inspirational" enough for the CEO though.
I think I believe this theory, the reason is because like you said it's cheaply made, it was an experimental and uncertified sub, all it takes is one decompression and the entire thing just crushes like a soda can. I hate to admit it, but this theory is very likely.
I wonder how many unmanned test voyages they did with it, and to what depths. What the hell kind of justification is there for not wanting voice comms. "It was annoying" should be negligence.
My husband was a lead NASA mechanical engineer. He wants you to know the Apollo astronauts were not “bolted” in. The hatch was installed from inside the capsule. Pressure build up inside the capsule made it impossible to remove the hatch. Redesign made an externally installed hatch that could be removed by engineers from outside the capsule. My husband was intimately involved on Gemini and Apollo spacecrafts before going to Shuttle Program.
My understanding is that in addition to an all-oxygen environment, Apollo 1 was also undergoing a high pressure test of the capsule at the time of the accident; thus making a blowtorch of the fire.
Check out the lawsuit from David Lochridge, former director of maritime operations for OceanGate who was fired for reporting safety issues. This sub wasn't just a deathtrap. It was practically intentionally designed to violently implode at those depths. The lawsuit (alleged) that the viewport was rated for a depth of 1,300 meters, while the sub planned to go down to 4,000 meters. That would definitely cause an implosion. He cites several other safety concerns in the lawsuit, like the inability to inspect carbon fiber for fatigue stress, which could have been the other likely cause of the implosion. The sub was a death trap.
The thing was that Stockton's company was not insured and could never be insured. Every person who went on his sub assumed a risk that if something happens, your family will have no recourse. They knew this and went anyway. They had to sign a waiver of liability. So the fact that David Lochridge had concerns really didn't matter because Stockton classified his passengers as mission specialists. Lochridge actually voiced his concerns to OSHA in 2019 and they did nothing. So long story short. There was really nothing anyone could do.
Additionally, carbon fiber is great for aircraft pressurization hulls because the fiber is in tension (higher inside pressure than outside). The biggest problem with the Titan design is the fiber is in compression which is its worst strength direction thus the epoxy is providing most of the resistance, and from what I understand it was not autoclaved to eliminate voids between CF layers and was wound over top of itself. The choice of using a tube also means the greatest deformation occurs in the center of the longitudinal axis which adds a pulling strain vector from the titanium ends where it is glued toward the center of the tube. Probably Stockton thought the pressure on the titanium ends would compress enough to counteract the pulling, however the area of the tube is much greater than the end 'caps' area so the force is not balanced out, resulting in a 'tearing' vector at the titanium 'socket' / glue interface over time.
The thing that gets me is that the CEO touted aerospace industry inspiration, and was himself a flight test engineer on F-15s. F-15s have triple redundancy on critical systems. When asked about the apparent "MacGuyver-ish" look, he said everything can break as long as the pressure hull is intact and you're safe. As a former F-15 maintainer, that sounds like an idiot saying "the plane is fine as long as the wings are still attached"
I think it's more comparable to an A-10 engineer saying "It doesn't matter what fails as long as the titanium tub surrounding the cockpit remains intact". Then he has some smart people with no practical experience replace the titanium with aluminum for cost savings.
This entire story is an example of deadly arrogance. I'm not an engineer, but any intelligent person would see the lack of failsafes needed to make this a safe vessel. May they rest in peace.
After watching all of the videos, reading the articles, and reading the comments, I feel at peace knowing that this tragic event is at least funnier than a Brendan schaub comedy special.
The more I read about this, the more I feel that this is basically deep sea Theranos. Look at the parallels: -both have a charismatic CEO who considers themselves an innovator but doesn’t have expertise in the field that they are trying to revolutionize (medical science and deep sea diving) -both are a start-up company with a ramshackle, “move fast and break things” atmosphere, even while working in a field that is complicated, dangerous, and where mistakes can actually jeopardize people’s lives -both ignored warnings from veterans in their field, claiming they were just threatened by newcomers and stifling innovation -both hired mostly younger engineers who were recent college grads, while firing employees who had concerns or wanted to take a more conservative approach -both threatened whistleblowers with legal action, claiming that they were sharing proprietary information about their new technology (when in reality they did not HAVE any new technology) -both claimed that they weren’t certified by regulators because their technology was too new and innovative so the usual testing methods were irrelevant for their machines -both used partnerships with legit companies to give validity to their technology, when in reality these claims were either entirely made up or very misleading (Pfiezer and St. John’s Hospital for Theranos, Boeing, NASA and University of Washington for Oceangate) -both overpromised on their tech and underestimated the time and expense it would take to actually make it workable, leading to delays, funding running out, and cutting corners (my opinion based on the fact that the original price for this trip was $80,000, and the couple who tried to sue for a refund after their 2018 trip was delayed 3 years in a row because the sub wasn’t ready, and how hard Stockton tried to get that Las Vegas financier and his son to go on the trip, right down to the last minute and even offered them a $100,000 discount) -both had a CEO who genuinely believed in their product and was capable of convincing others of their idealistic vision, but both were also so confident, over-ambitious and ego-driven that they wouldn’t hear opinions that conflicted with that vision Even their website reminded me of Theranos’s: flashy, full of marketing jargon and grand claims, but vague on details and no citations or scientific references to back up their supposedly groundbreaking technological advances. Elizabeth Holmes might not think so, but she was extremely lucky that she got busted before their shoddy blood tests actually killed someone. Unfortunately, Stockton Rush wasn’t, and instead he paid the ultimate price and took four others with him.
Hearing that CEO gives me chills. Hiring all young students because you want to be inspired instead of experienced sub engineers is a terrible policy. Then going down so close to the sub’s operating range on a dive is crazy
@@dennyb6768He wanted young people as opposed to older people. He said nothing about diversity or hiring people of color. You conservatives love to invent your facts.
An additional point that I may add, Oceangate did in fact have a subject matter expert working for them, David Lochridge. However he was terminated by Rush for failing to approve the sub's safety standards.
30 hours before the oxygen was due to run out, I finally heard a deep sea explorer state what I had suspected: "There is no equipment for rescue missions at this depth".
I think that time for how long they have oxygen should have been taken with a grain of salt. CEO was cutting corners everywhere and I wouldnt be surprised if we found later that time was only 1-2 days or less.
@@lordfarquaad4174 Not to mention, retrieving a wreck is easier since you have a long period of time to find it. We still only have a rough idea where Titan is currently located.
They had a subject matter expert, and when he raised safety concerns, they fired, sued, and counter-sued him. The 96 hours was a calculation for 5 adults, normal activity. They never actually tested it. Apparently they had re-breather masks for CO2 scrubbing. At least the CEO had the decency to die with them.
Just hearing that the CEO had them remove direct comms, because he got frustrated with situation reports interrupting his good time, tells me everything I need to know about this operation and why it was doomed to fail. I guess he didnt want any old salts in the organization, for the same reason.... They'd be a bummer on his good time, with their disagreement on choices made in this sub design and testing. Direct comms should've been left in, failure in deep waters of the passive comms used, shouldve been dealt with before guests were taken down. The sub should've been pushed to 4000 in test dives before guests were taken down to the Titanic's depth. Controls shouldve been hard wired and not off the shelf. Emergency O2 and mask should've been in place for the driver at least, so he could remain effwctive and save all the crew in an emergency. So many failures, and most of them easily avoided with patience, more testing, and use of input from more experienced personnel.
What's weird to me is that they chose to go 3000m when testing instead of 4000m which they obviously knew that they will have to reach. Which makes you question why they did it if they bothered testing at all. It's like they deliberately chose to cover up and lie about testing at 4000m
Wow im surprised a lot of news channels aren't discussing this....this makes so much more sense....his stupidity doomed them all....i wonder if the remaining people inflict a physical damage to the ceo as he did this to all of them
What I really don't like about the design: - I assume the carbon fibre pressure hull was fabricated by winding monofilament around a cylindrical core (seen in the video), then it gets wrapped in a vacuum bag and then put in an autoclave. It's a good technique, but you still can have micro cracks and channels as a result that can be a starting point to fatigue cracking. - Combination of carbon fibre and titanium: You have a huge mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion of a factor 5 to 6 (cfk 50-60 x 10^-6/K vs 10 x 10^-6/K for Titanium) So when that thing cools down, the titanium will shrink much more than the carbon fibre hull putting allot of strain on the glued join. Thermal cycling -> fatigue cracking - There is a mismatch in elastic modulus of carbon fibre and titanium which will lead to a mismatch in elastic deformation when exposed to high pressure (only 1 atm in planes, 450 atm at Titanic level) --> again fatigue issues at the joints One can mitigate some of that by proper engineering, but combinations of fibre reinforced plastic and metal are tricky especially when cycled through pressure and temperature gradients.
Yes. I've spent hours reading this thread and there are many SMEs contributing here including CF, titanium, and sub building experts. This guy hired wildly unqualified engineers out of college and fired the expert who criticized the designs. I'm definitely checking out your musik!
Very good points. I remember when Grumman tried to upgrade the A-6 intruder with a composite wing. They had trouble with composite wing mating with the metal fuselage , gave them unexpected stress and fatigue problems.
Good points on the coefficient of expansion of various materials and accompanying fatigue failure - basic elements of engineering design for components subject to these conditions. The glue too becomes a big piece of this puzzle as it is part of the seal keeping the pressure out. Typically, dried glue tends to be more on the brittle scale with little plastic deformation upon failure. It appears that the joint design encapsulated the Titanium over the carbon fiber hull on both sides. This would put tremendous pressure upon decent on the Titanium joint squeezing the carbon it is glued too. The thermal and pressure stresses would be additive too as both would tend to squeeze the Titanium upon descent and move outward during ascents. This is a perfect storm forcumulative
Asked my former submarine commander dad his opinion before we found out what happened. He had guessed an unsurvivable event like implosion, and said he would have never gotten in the sub.
Anyone who took 10 minutes to look into all the safety issues would never step foot in the titan. Apparently the 19year old was terrified and didn't want to go but only went because it was fathers day and his dad was obsessed with the titanic
Maybe that's why the CEO had all those kind things to say about "50 year old white guys"... The 50 year old white guys all told him he's crazy and walked away.
I’m a naval engineer. There is NO WAY I get into this piece of barely tested “equipment “. Carbon fiber is a great material for race cars and maybe boats that float. But just one flaw in the carbon fiber or bonding material and death ensues
Current Navy Submariner here. This is a thorough and comprehensive explanation. I also agree with most of the top comments here, if he would have hired actual professional submariners he wouldn’t have made it this far. What a great idea with terrible execution. RIP
Carbon fibre is great, until the moment it cracks. It also 'ages' a lot with every load cycle. Titanium is known for 'rot'. The window was not rated for the depht at all. The controller is from Logitech. Logitech had a long standing problem with their wireless unified receivers: after 30 connection events, the receiver died. And they did not thoroughly check the submersible after each dive. No x-raying for example. Just some 'knock&listen' tests. Some time ago a huge patch of the carbon fibre hull delaminated. You can't get out, without outside help. This thing is a death trap. but it gets worse: in previous tours they touched down on Titanic's decks and moved around between superstructure elements. In a carbon fibre hull under lots of stress. So... what happens if the deck gives away? What happens if some sharp edge is bumped? They used a death trap AND did idiotic stuff. The loss is no surprise. That it took them several tours to fail is the surprise.
everything you point out is valid. Except logitech receivers are pretty reliable in my experience over the years. BUT why on earth would anyone USE wireless tech to control a submersible like this. Logitech is good stuff around the house for gaming or wireless mice, etc...but not mission critical sutff. Wiresless anything is dumb in situations like this
I just find it so hard to believe they had NO recovery plan for this 20k lb vessel, knowing it would require massive effort and slow ascent due to the depth. I mean just wow 🤦♂️
If there was ever a recovery plan I’m sure the CEO would have made it which salvaging the vessel to reuse it for more tours rather than to save any passengers lives. He didn’t care what could happen to passengers only about profit.
The vessel was supposed to automatically drop all ballast and start to resurface after 14 hours. I’m not sure about the specifics of this though. This was so that if the crew was incapacitated, they could still be saved. An emergency beacon would have then been activated so that they could be safely found. However, as I and many others expected, it was lost due to an implosion. There are no extra safety and rescue measures that can be taken for such a catastrophic event. The only thing that could have been done was to reinforce the structural integrity of the vessel, especially its pressure chamber. My guess is that either the vessel was not sealed properly or that after numerous dives and hours at the intense pressure at such low depths, the structural integrity slowly deteriorated. Once it was damaged enough and it went below an acceptable depth, it imploded. Allegedly, Rush fired an employee after he publicly claimed that the sub should only have been rated at 1800 meters and that the window was a structural weak point so take from that what you will
An employee at OceanGate was fired back in 2018 for raising concerns about the hull of the submersible being unsuited for the targeted depths. ALL of the warning signs were there. But Stockton actively seemed to disregard every single one of them. It's a tragedy that these souls had to perish this way. It was avoidable.
...IT HAS N0T SH0WN THAT ANY0NE PERISHED...THERE IS THAT P0SSIBILITY 0F C0URSE, BUT UNTIL THEN @ISAACFAITH, HAVE S0ME 'FAITH' AND A LITTLE H0PE - AND PRAYERS .
@@jconearth6686 I would like to have faith in times like these. We can only hope for the best and leave the rest to the experts. But I am also a man of reason, and my current reasoning is that the Titan got folded into the size of a grape fruit by the sea.
@@isaacfaith9369 I get a sense the CEO fancies himself the Elon Musk of submarines. Am I close in that evaluation? Btw, Elon isn’t the genius, the people that work for him are.
James Cameron says Titan had dropped ballast and was in ascent when it imploded so they knew they were in trouble. He also says when water starts to force the fibers apart they would’ve *heard it and he thinks that they did for the last few moments. “A horrifying prospect”
We really don't know. They're not releasing any comm and the ballast could have been dropped when it imploded. The other thing was that there wasn't any voice comm I mean how stupid was that?
If this is the case, it is very likely they heard creaking or light cracking and attempted to surface. That’s horrifying. I heard that the sound “consistent with implosion” occurred a few seconds after comms were lost
According to the transcripts that someone released ( unofficial), the Titan went down about 50% faster than it should have. When they got close, they heard noises in the tail. 19 minutes, they tried to diagnose, dropped the weights and tried to surface -- but they weren't going up much at all. (Maybe Water in the tail weighing them down?) Then, ... it was suddenly over.
Stockton - "I don't hire old sub pilots." Me (old guy who's seen some things go real sideways) - "You mean you have to hire young people who are ignorant to the danger, are inexperienced, and don't know any better because older or more experienced pilots would call you out on your poor practices and safety standards." Never EVER trust someone who doesn't want to hire someone with a lot of experience. They are either cheap or dangerous or both...
I've learned that if you're the smartest person working for the company, it's generally time to look for a new company. I've been very fortunate to work with people that have 30-40 years if experience in my field. It makes my job much easier and safer knowing the right way to do things, and to get a heads-up on things that can go wrong that aren't obvious to someone with just a few years of experience
One thing that I've learned in only a few years of studying aviation is to be "overkill" with safety, and to have redundant systems for everything! It makes the aviation community look bad when he says he learned safety from aviation while ignoring critical lessons that are taught through it. This is such a tragedy, and it seems it was totally preventable from what we know so far which really makes it heartbreaking...
Tbh, when he said they took lessons from the aviation industry I thought it was the context of development and design. Like in the 50s and 60s when they played fast and loose to stay ahead of the Soviets, and test-pilots would fearlessly fly jet-powered dumpsters to the edge of space.
The aviation community didn't need this disaster to look bad, jus a few years ago boeing was responsible for killing hundreds of people because they decided to cut corners on their MCAS flight control systems.
They claimed it was 'rated' (how?) to 4000m..... But then taking a crew to that depth? Sounds like rock climbing with a rope rated to 100kg - no safety margin at all. I'd want to see that thing tested to twice that pressure if it were me....
@@Kurosakiichigo2010 what are you even talking about?? If you're referring to the African airliner that crashed... That was squarely to blame on the pilots that didn't understand how to properly switch over to manual controls. 🤦
I used to build military Subs with crazy high tolerance standards. You had to test and re-test every single weld, screw, bolt, wire, pipe, literally everything. They had whole teams testing everything that could possibly go wrong during the manufacturing process. Anything less could mean death for the crew. Even with all that redundant testing, I always thought those guys going down in those things were nuts. There's no way I would have went down in that shoddy looking thing, especially to the untested depth that they went. With a Sub like that there's no excuse not to do some remote unmanned descents. Even some tethered drops could have saved these folks lives. The ocean is no joke, you don't respect her for a single second and she'll take you for everything you're worth.
I worked at GD in SD, CA on the Cruise Missile program. The testing, retesting, DCAS Governmental steps for testing and safety and always questioning did get a little old but then our bozo supervisor kicked the ground wire off the cruise missile in full fuel testing mode. He could have flattened the entire building! He was acting carelessly and not paying attention. KABOOM! I wouldn't be alive. This CEO is paying for his shortcuts and with the lives of others and the families and friends of all those who've been lost.😪😭☹😢😧😲😱
My go-to list of subject matter experts: 1. Aviation - Blancolirio 2. Naval - Sub Brief 3. Naval history - Drachinifel 4. Commercial shipping - What's Going On With Shipping 5. Tanks - The Chieftain 6. Structure collapse - Building Integrity 7. Railroads - still looking Several others for specific subjects, like USS New Jersey.
As an engineer and having been involved in sub design I am appalled at the design of this 'submarine." There is so much wrong it's hard to make a list. This accident was no surprise!
Please tell me or us, how technically the weights are dropped from the titan. Do you have information on this one? Iam still looking for it. Normally it would be failsafe designed like electromagnetic clutches that hold die weights and when the power cuts off the weighrs drop
@@robertlifea6405There are alternatives to electromagnetic ballast retention, such as fusible connectors that will dissolve after a set amount of time exposed to sea water. My question is whether the sub itself had such, or only its platform.
My old boss used to say that every safety rule is written in blood. Disclosures on a piece of paper is no excuse to allow this type of operation to happen without a 3rd party inspection and safety approval of some kind. I'm sure this will change commercial expeditions forever.
I just came from a video by _What's Going on With Shipping?_ that explained the Safety of Lives at Sea (SoLaS) regulations, ironically implemented in the aftermath of Titanic. Apparently they don't apply to submarines and submersibles, only to surface vessels, and the regulations that do exist, created by the insurance companies, were considered by Rush to "get in the way of innovation".
Disclosures are to keep your liability insurance costs as low as possible. Without them they would be able to afford the insurance. There aren't any IOC standards for a submersible like this and they're in international waters.
Anyone even tangentially involved with submarines is shaking their head at this. Lawsuits filed by a fired official in the company who was a safety whistleblower says there were defects in the carbon fiber, possible issues with the pressure rating on the porthole, and a lack of non destructive testing on the hull itself for microcracks. Also apparently most people who rode on it report the thing losing contact at multiple occasions or getting lost. The reporter from cbs who rode on it even claims they didnt have any sort of pinger and were only considering it after losing contact while he was in the control room during a voyage.
Commenting to hopefully get attention to your comment as the lawsuit is going to become very important i feel. The lawsuit also says the porthole wasnt up to the depth as the company wouldnt buy one that was. Or along those lines
@@poppymason-smith1051 Yes it was rated for a fraction of the depth the vehicle would go to and the company did not want to pay for actual testing as ratings are physically tested vs just calculations.
When I was a teen, my godfather was a white 50 year old electrical engineer. He was one of the most inspirational people I've ever met. The age/race thing was a bluff. The last thing these clowns wanted was smart, experienced submariners who would call the sub's design into question.
@@imageisn0thing Please enlighten us on the intentions he had. Do you have access to any financial evidence to support that? Do you have access to his bank accounts? company accounts? Are you part of an investigation into his business? “He clearly was trying to save money.” Oh? Is that why you think he built a subpar deep-diving sub he knew was dangerous and going to kill passengers? To save money? Really? This is one of the most popular and ridiculous arguments that everybody uses. In sociology it’s called the amoral calculator model, and rarely has it ever been demonstrated to exist. I think it borders on being modern folklore. We talk about it, tell stories about it and judge others using it-but it’s not really logical on its own terms at all. If you were worried about saving money, why would you want to make things _less_ safe? Surely, the death of your clients and destruction of your sub would have the most catastrophic financial repercussions imaginable. The idea that all that mattered to him was saving money, then, _makes no sense whatsoever._ But it’s a popular, widespread expectation. Read Diane Vaughan. I mean, you know, if-can you read?
After hearing your explanation of his hiring practices, I now see why the internals were two screens, one button, and a gaming controller. Wow. RIP to all aboard.
in 1898, Morgan Robertson wrote a book called "Futility" about a large British ocean liner that struck an iceberg while crossing the Atlantic. It sunk with huge loss of life because there were not enough lifeboats. That ships name was the "Titan". 14 years later, that exact disaster happened to a real ship called "Titanic". Now, this crew attempts to visit the Titanic while in a little sub called "Titan". They should've known that name was cursed.
This seems to be quite an ironic twist of fate that a submarine, touted to be the best of it's kind, went missing while carrying ultra wealthy passengers, to visit the wreckage of a ship that was billed as unsinkable and carried ultra wealthy passengers.
As I understand it, the Apollo 1 hatch was openable from the inside. The problem was that the hatch had to move inward before opening outward. The fire caused a massive overpressure which the astronauts could never hope to overcome. I believe the mission always included a spacewalk by the pilot to retrieve equipment from the service module, so the crew was never intended to be locked into the ship.
The capsule was pressurized to 14.7 psi on the ground to simulate the pressures in space. That alone would have made it impossible to open the hatch inward without first depressurizing the capsule.
@@zchen27 In a pressure envelope like a space capsule or aircraft, you want the door to act like a plug when it's closed, using the structure of the aircraft and door, not the latching hardware, bear all the hardware. This was the problem with early iterations of the DC-10 and the outward opening rear cargo door. On a sub, you want the hatches to open outward so the water pressure presses the hatch into the frame and seal, effectively locking it in place.
Just a couple of pounds per sq. inch pressure differential will ensure no man could open that door. And yes, you are correct that the Apollo astronauts carried out a spacewalk to bring equipment from the service module into the command module before re-entry.
As an engineer that's worked on the Boeing 787, my first thought about the carbon fiber at the temperatures at that depth was: "dear god that's going to be brittle". I wouldn't be surprised at all if it shattered/crushed like a macaroni noodle when you step on it under that pressure.
I can't imagine a resin strong - and flexible enough for these forces. If anything they should've had a very thick aluminum lining beneath the carbon. At least that might have allowed for a strong enough hull that's still lightweight. Imagine, the inside of the tube is a balmy 60 degrees while the outside is freezing cold.
I did my masters thesis on 3d printed composites. Not even close to your expertise obviously, but even my first thought was that the sub has probably suffered catastrophic implosion (hope I'm wrong) I read an article where one of their ex engineers asked for non destructive testing for delaminations, inclusions and voids but the CEO said "the tech doesn't exist to do that" (absolute lie of course I did some those tests myself) Also, the way they woven that carbon (at least according to this vid) seems like there would be a weakness when dealing with longitudinal stress. Imo: that damn thing probably had some brittle stress failure, possibly something that developed overtime due to fatigue
I absolutely think you're correct. It had already had issues and had been damaged from a previous launch so, yeah, it makes so much sense... and it's so sad because this was entirely preventable.
@@Therizinosaurus I think this is the most likely possibility. Its imploded. It only takes the tiniest weakness in the body somewhere at those depths and boom. Its all over.
As an engineer with some practice in joining technologies, glueing titanium to carbon fibre is wild. Not in the actual sense but for an experimental boat that was supposed to go down 4000m it absolutely is.
Ludicrous….. and trying to Add fasteners to carbon fibre is inherently dangerous as well ….. they was no keying just a smooth tube and smooth cap held by epoxy ?!?
They were probably betting on the parts being squished together rather than torn apart. Which is a totally viable engineering concept, wild, but viable. The Blackbird relies on heat and friction to dilate parts of its fuselage, so weird has worked before. But the money saving by not testing this extensively but rather doing live testing is totally criminal. Time and repetition will show a lot of failure points, and here there were just a few successful trips.
I wouldn't be surprised if the resin bonded cf just sheared straight off the titanium ring as the cf got crushed and the titanium remained intact. There are so many potential problems with the design and manufacturing process, plus the potential cyclic failure mode. As Sub Brief says, it shouldn't have left the production line let alone be sent down 4km.
Hearing the CEO's interview felt like being in one of those coach/motivational speaker's talks. I just couldn't take it seriously. Thank you for sharing those details and expert insights. What a tragic and seemingly avoidable loss of life.
Its the father and son down there that really haunts me. If they didnt die instantly from water getting in then the emotional pain from knowing youve consigned your son to death is unimaginable.
@@notjimmy6822 I hate to say it, but that’s just cope. The media is tempering the public’s expectations. The noises they heard are just ocean sounds. This submersible was not equipped with enough communication protocols. Sadly.
Yes that was a very risky idea for the father . I have a feeling it was instant death . Carbon fibre shrinks faster than titanium. Titanium will sheer off the carbon fibre like a bottle opening
@@MockManor I dont see how thats cope, id rather hear that they died instantly in an implosion than be stuck in a tomb suffocating to death. The noises heard every 30 minutes from what could be the sub, which is evidence that they might have suffocated, the worst case scenario and the opposite of cope. But im not apart of the search team, and didnt hear the sounds. There will be an investigation to determine what caused their deaths, and whether or not the noises came from the sub.
My father in law was a career submariner going back to just after the Nautilus. He used to cringe at the recreational sub business. While the USN makes it look easy, the safety regs were written in 'fish food'.
That's an understatement. Having earned my "fish" and served thousands of hours underwater, aboard several US Navy submarines... the ocean is very unforgiving under perfect conditions.
My step-dad was always shaking his head at the recreational sub business model. He was a Navy man and was an subs frequently during his 20 year career. The ocean is extremely dangerous under perfect conditions. Unfortunately, these 5 men aren't coming home. In all likelihood it was a hull breach.
I've met a few guys who make mucho grande in the private sector consulting for O&G who were sub guys and it's all to try and immulate subsafe within the constraints of the private sector on their ships and oil platforms (that's at least what they told me, I believed them, we were at a bar and they were indeed 40 y/o white dudes so that part checks out)
I worked for a large engineering firm in show control and entertainment design. There was always the client who wanted to do everything half-ass and as cheap as possible. The half-assers are killing this world.
@erroneous6947 "Why are you complaining?! Your top upper torso wound up on Mars and your legs rematerialized somewhere in the Crab Nebula; that's two transports for the price of one!"
My dad and I are USN retired submarine service veterans and we followed this tragedy immensely. One thing that I would like to point out was why didn't they have a SIB (submarine id beacon)? Because this could possibly have saved their lives. There are so many reasons of why that this incident happened, but the failure was all due to CEO for not getting system experts involved. I feel sorry for not only the loved ones but also everyone involved. They will deal with trauma for years. Be safe and be 😎
@@daveluttinen2547 i agree with both, but then again, there is a small detail.... They probably got squashed really suddenly.... My money would be on the carbon fiber, that I really don't like much... Very hard to check for weak points or irregularities in the work.... And it fails really bad when it does, and suddenly, like glass.
I'm not familiar with an SIB but James Cameron said they had a "transponder" which was integral to itself (own battery) which went offline at the same time as comms were lost. A pretty sure signal of a rupture.
@@seandelaney1700 I describe the SIB in ( ). Basically, it is a device that lets the Navy know that there is an emergency with a submarine. It is like a "black box" for aircraft.
As an Electrical Engineer., P.E. with more than 40 years of professional experience, I can appreciate hiring young inexperienced engineers and technicians. We were all “young and inexperienced” at one time. But it’s important to couple them with experienced professionals who can mentor them as I was, especially in designing and building a mission-critical submersible with no margins for errors. The USN don’t give young ensigns or Lieutenant JG command of a submarine. Sure, they’re college graduates but lack the training and experience for such a role. Stockton may have paid for his arrogance with his life and the lives of his passengers. OceanGate just closed the “gates” on any furture expeditions. And you're right "they're deceased"
17:30 As a materials engineer, the red flag here isnt the usage of a carbon fiber composite for the hull but rather the mating together of carbon fiber composite with a titanium ring/dome. Concerns include: galvanic corrosion(especially since its being used in one of the most corrosive environments on this planet), thermal expansion coefficient difference, material modulus difference, adhesive compatibility between two very dissimilar materials, and finally fatigue performance differences. So many risks point all centered around a bond line between the hull and dome. My bet is that repeated usages led to the adhesive bond line beginning to crack/degrade, coupling that with corrosion propogation and boom...your top pops off
Metal compresses as it gets colder, and with pressure right? But carbon fibre is stiffer/more brittle. So wouldn’t it be better for the material that would shrink more to be on the outside, like a bottle cap? So all the forces are in compression and aiding the seal. Rather than an insert, where surely the shrinking would add a tension force to the seal? Or am I mistaken? Apologies for my clumsy language, I am not an engineer!
@@mehashi I'm not a designer or mechanical engineer so there may be some aspects I'm missing but from my perspective, the key point is the difference in the rate of expansion/contraction between the two materials as well as the stiffness difference. Titanium will expand/contract faster and deflect more than a typical carbon fiber composite. This difference in material behavior will apply stresses across the bonding line of the adhesive. They could have recognized this and taken it into account during the design phase but based on what I've seen from this company, I'm not so confident they went through a vigorous design shake-down. Additionally, because of that stress on the bond line, the performance of the adhesive becomes critical. And another huge part of adhesive performance is compatibility to the bonding surface. You could have a great adhesive but if it doesn't stick well, it doesn't mean anything.
This is exactly my feeling, the bond seat is not full wall thickness. The carbon layup was done In a huge industrial plant, no humidity control, temperature variation, there were defects when it was manufactured. Even CF has fatigue limits
I’m not an engineer, but a 30 year USN submarine Sonar Technician, and I appreciate your detailed professional analysis. I’m in agreement that the greatest concern is the mating of carbon fiber to titanium/steel. The different compression characteristics of both materials had to put an incredible stress on the relatively thin bond between the materials. To my knowledge, this is the only 4000m submersible that used such construction. All USN subs use the same alloy steel in all pressure hull materials and hull penetrations. It’s a shame that we have to have these conversations after such a tragedy, hindsight being 20-20.
I would contend that the use of carbon fiber for the hull is a direct cause of any and all such mating and adhesion issues, and since its use also comes with additional disadvantages, it's not at all incorrect to say that the use of carbon fiber for the hull is the entire cause of the failure. You know the only reasons CF was chosen was because it's cheaper than titanium and sounds cooler and is lighter than steel. That CEO almost certainly said, "We'll use carbon fiber. Now figure out how to make that work." For future reference in engineering fields, though, your details do matter. And this will surely be used for years to come as an example of what not to do.
Marine Veteran, I appreciate your take on this video. I found it to be very straightforward, informative and educational about the entire situation. I miss talking with gentlemen like yourself about these kinds of things. I hope you do a very detailed followup to this video now that we know the tragic conclusion. I am very interested to hear your thoughts and your explanations on how this played out, in your opinion.
@@keenanmoore264 most waviers like those "any injury is my fault" often fall through in court and don't actually make it the person who signed fault. its more of a deterant to sue than anything
As a marine engineer I have a few serious red flags regarding the diving vessel. First, yes you are correct. There may be communication problems between the controller and the control module especially if there are any power fluctuations. At those depths would be no place or time to fix any electrical problems. The controller should be hardwired on a flexible cable and the monitors should also be mounted along with some main control panel. That way , nobody moving about inside could accidentally pull something out. Now the vessel. The carbon fiber machine used to make build the hull looks like it was scaled up from similar machinery used to build SCBA air tanks and similar piping. The is a difference between air tanks of compressed air and external forces pushing in. The angle of the weave should be different. Next , materials expand and contract differently and at different rates. Having the hull carbon fiber and the end’s titanium means that individuality they will expand and contract to a different size. Having the titanium end glued on just one dive would compromise the bond due to different sizes they attain at different depths. I believe the carbon fiber is in pieces and floated away hundreds of miles while the titanium ends and other metal pieces would sink (not directly) and bury themselves in the silt at the bottom. We may never recover any part of the vessel. I hope some changes are made to the agencies that would oversee these kind adventures. We should not give up on space or ocean tourism however, this is one area that needs regulatory oversight.
@@taylorlangley900his submersible already broke a lot of safety regulations the CEO said that no expert should look at it because it "slows them down" also there was a worker that said that the ship isnt safe enough to travel down 4000m but he got fired for saying that
This beats any news reporting on this tragedy, which tends to be sensational or superficial. I come away from this analysis with focus on specifications, possible validation loopholes and understanding more of the origin of the story. Really appreciate expertise and experience, and how to sniff out slopp on engineering jobs
@@Sergeant-Mustache I don't even think they are gonna find the submarine in this vast ocean...I hope they do though, but the people there...the odds are all against them, only a miracle now for them to be alive.
My immediate question is why would you use fiber components like this? Carbon fiber does really well in tension, which is why it is used for airplanes and pressure vessels. It does terrible in compression. This is not a design decision a trained engineer would make.
What do you think would be a better material? edit: the guy and near 10 others have already answered. No need for people to keep saying the same thing over and over.
As an Engineer, the more details I hear about this vessel, the more uncomfortable I get. I feel sorry for the families who deal with the loss of their loved ones as a result of this engineering disaster.
@@WhiteWolfeHU money isn’t going to bring back their loved ones. I’ve lost friends and family; I’d turn down millions of dollars if it meant they could come back.
The people on board obviously had little regard for their own safety. They had the resources to do their own research to verify the safety standards just as we're all doing now. They put their own lives at risk just to have a cool story to tell other people. They are not simply innocent victims in this situation, and I'm sure their love owns know that.
As an engineer as well, this whole situation disturbs me. I can only assume the lack of experience amongst the engineering team lead them to produce and continue production on this... turd... even after their senior engineer dipped out. I presume he CEO was overstepping his role and injecting himself into engineering decisions where his experience and education is blantantly not. In doing so, he was taking advantage of his authority and inexperience of the engineering team to drive poor decisions for the sake of cost cutting and "progress".
When I first heard about the incident and the price tag of $250 000 a seat, I thought the sub was going to be something like the Mir-1 or a commercial version of it, but seeing that it was actually hand assembled with bolts in some shed, piloted by a PS2 controller, and had none of the usual safety features makes me wonder how the heck did this not raise red flags.
Hey now give them some credit, it was in a workshop, with a PS3 controller! /s Seriously the fact that this was allowed to dive any deeper than a shallow lake is a tragedy in and of itself. Any decent craftsman will tell you that built to spec is underbuilt, and i highly doubt it was actually built to spec to begin with
Yes exactly me too. Mir (and Alvin) to me are what I would expect to see Titanic. First time I saw the boat I was confused. Didn't quite register for a moment it was the sub. I thought it was maybe a camera to film the main sub....
It's not the hand-assembly that worries me, it's the scarcity of testing. I would never want to go anywhere in a submersible that it hadn't tested at! Or that didn't have a tether and hardwired comms to the surface!
@@Dr.LongMonkey Not really a test if it was a real expedition. Considering the material used wasn't even safe for those depths, there was a limited number of times they would be lucky and come back alive . Had they actually done tests and listened to the advice of experts it would show that the sub wouldn't be able to handle multiple repeated trips.
Even if they tested it 100 times to that depth, a flawed design is a flawed design and this is why engineers have to check their work with other engineers and companies. It could have been the carbon fiber tube finally had enough of the repeated loading and broke because it is brittle. I heard that they used portholes that were only rated for a third of the depth. That porthole could have been stronger than listed but still too weak and just finally gave out. It could be the batteries on their 1998 off brand ps1 controller died. Maybe the paper with sharpie drawn arrows that they used to label the valves fell off and they dove instead of rising lmao. Such a bad design and it’s a miracle it worked that long from an engineers point of view.
Same here. Getting younger people in for the cool factor instead of old white men is the modern schizophrenic disease negating adult capable reality for Peter Pan fantasy types. They cannot differentiate real from fantasy, it is crazy… worse than disinformation, it is a blurrinformation. It is nuts in America these days - this kind of hatred for reality and doing adult work with mentalities of Call of Duty basement dwelling retard. This CEO was power hungry, trying to incite schizos and wash himself of responsibility!!
@roderickthered4981We will hear it if adults in charge start making this a lesson for the “young punkism” in America favoring teen mentality wizard idiots above adults. It is fine to make video games in the silicon valley and build a google database. It is not for serious stuff.
@@peterdambierindeed, the thread of carbon works well in airframe pressurized tension from the inside, not for crushing pression from the outside! Fibers work well in tension , not in compression. In compression, first, you need an egg shape arch hull, not a straight tube. If any fiber are to be used like spokes on bicycle wheels or sustentation cables on a bridge, they have to be on the outside above pulling the bridge up, not below it pushing it up. An outside frame mesh would have held it, not on the hull directly.
The fact that they were bolted in from the outside with no other means of egress just adds one more layer of psychological terror to this story... What goes through the mind in situations like that? It's almost enough to take you to the edge of insanity just pondering it.
Whilst it is fucked there's no hatch, opening the hatch and going for a lil swimmy poo at 13'000 feet isn't really an option so I wouldn't be stressing too much, at least not until I was made aware of the possibility of burning to death trapped. But I doubt that thought entered these dummies' mind.
@@retpok718 Yea it's not ideal but like, if you surface and there's no one around to help you open the hatch, being able to open the hatch won't fix the issue of there still not being anyone around to take you home. But it's a moot point anyway cuz there fuckin should be an openable hatch in case the stupid thing catches fire. I do concede though that if you're running out of air and the surface vessel is relocating to come pick you up, crucial seconds will be wasted.
Sir, I really appreciate the calm, clean speech, professional way in which you made this video! You and many other older, experienced men in my life have inspired me! Don't ever think that you are to old to inspire young people...I am one! Thank you again! Please do a follow up video!
Imagine having a minor issue (only communications down, for example) so you return to the surface - only to suffocate bobbing in the sunshine because you can't get out and they don't see you.
I dont know if itd be worse to suffocate bobbing on the surface with the hot sun beating down on the thing or at the bottom of the ocean in pitch blackness.
Why the hell wasn't it fitted with an EPIRB, or similar device activated when surfaced ??????? Never even seen one in R/L or been maritime trained. Read about it while reading "The Perfect Storm" which is what this has transformed into !!!
The pilot is 71 year old French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet. He has more experience diving to these depths than everyone in the comment section. You should educate yourself on the matter my friend.
@@GregoryCunningham Too bad he wasnt smart enough to see what a total pos that submersible was. If he were to live, he should be put in prison for ignoring the glaring safety issues.
@@GregoryCunningham Probably not, judging from what I see about him online. He has some experience in deep sea submersibles, but it would appear primarily as a passenger. It's not at all clear he qualifies as an SME on submersible construction, operation or certification. Any qualification in that regard is, to be generous, open to question.
Hiring young people is definitely code for hiring cheap labour. At a previous workplace, a senior resigned because he wasn't getting payrises to match his experience, he felt. The bosses only hired a fresh out of university guy, and shifted the senior's work on to others. When I tried for senior they said I wasn't ready, after 9 years experience. So I left for a 35% increase at another place. Ultimately, they just didn't want to spend the money
Yeah, I teach Japanese language and in out language school there are only young teachers. The pay is so so, I've seen one senior teacher come for an interview and she did not want to work with us because the pay is not sufficient. It's a common tactic.
@@commandervile394 How dumb has this world become lol. Not wanting to hire people who actually know what they're doing because they "look boring." Truly a low IQ move for the ages, but very popular these days.
I'm not an expert, but studied mechanical engineering, and I've found this a lot with non-engineers who have ideas for stuff they want to build: they get frustrated when they get told that it's not as simple as they think or that the reason the "pros" do things the way they do (which are more complicated and expensive) is because most of the rules and best practices are written in decades of human blood. One thing I've heard mentioned, but I didn't hear covered is that the sub supposedly had failsafes that would return the sub to the surface after 24hrs or two days or something. I don't know when the clock started ticking on that, but if they aren't up by now, I don't know how they could be located or even retrieved if they were. I know it'd have added dramatically to the cost, but some kind of retrieval tether or even just a datalink that could get up through the thermoclines or something. Going blind down there for so long just seems like a bad plan. Also, I think the craft had gone down many times before. Was it ever NDT inspected? Did they ever cut it apart to see how all of those joints were working?
SV Seeker on RUclips is a great example of this. Doing it yourself and skirting every rule and regulation and building everything with a contrarian attitude. 1 year later and every single system has failed and been patched, sometimes rigging a rig etc. Not quite as life threatening as a sub at 3800 meters though.
swiss cheese model of failure comes to mind. I bet small shortcuts and seemingly trivial cuts here and there in attention, maintenance, what have you, leads to catastrophic systems failure :(
Everyone wants to "move fast and break stuff" like their CEO idols. They seem to forget that the systems we use now evolved over decades or more of stuff breaking (and people suffering for it).
I have had a handful of run ins with this as a crazy inventor. The hard part is 3/4 if the time it's perfectly possible and safe to do I just couldn't communicate exactly what I was wanting to do to the engineer. To the point I made one out of cardboard and hot glue and the engineer said 'oh you want that easy as'
This is what happens when you hire amateurs and hope to inspire them to success. If a CEO, who also apparently is an amateur, is willing to risk the lives of his customers and employees with shoddy work in the name of creativity, he's the problem. Certainly has civil liability and I'd argue criminal also.
By far the very best analysis I've seen since Titan was reported missing. Reliably informed, thankfully concise, necessarily & justifiably critical, and most importantly calm, measured and considerate for the familes and loved ones of those who perished. Thank you for the thought and time that you put into this presentation.
Why do I get the feeling that his real reason for not wanting to hire submariners is that he was tired of them telling him he shouldn't do a bunch of the things he was doing?
You're absolutely correct. Someone was fired for being a whistleblower
BINGO BINGO BINGO!
I think they would cost quite q bit for their expertise, usually the real reason, 80k for rando engineer kid 'hey kid this would look good on ur resume'...'200-300$k' for expert
BBCis reporting the portal window was only rated to 1500 meters, and their target depth was 3500 meters. That blew my mind, I don’t think this CEO respected the depth.
And the costs associated with hiring something so silly as experts. If there was EVER need to want experts on your team, it's this one.
The CEO's dismissive attitude towards SME's should have been a red flag to anyone looking to get involved with Oceangate.
Most disturbing thing I've ever heard.
It sounded like he wanted to be the budget underwater Elon Musk (with Musk being bad enough himself), and unfortunately has taken a bunch of other people with him.
If you live long enough, you will develop a healthy apprehension for any product, place, or service that includes the word "Gate".
He's a woke fool apparently.
@@hairychris444 teslas at very least have physical controls for every essential control.
Whenever someone starts talking about a cheaper way to go to extreme depths, you know there's going to be a disaster.
What's interesting about the CEO is he really just seemed to believe his own delusions. If he recognized he was cutting corners and taking risks he wouldn't have gone down there himself. People get really arrogant from one success and decide it's just gonna be fine forever, winging it will be fine.
It's always a red flag to hear how you can cut corners on life-preserving safety gear or how "restrictive" safety gear/regulations can be.
There's a reason why the saying is: regulations are written in blood. I feel immense sorrow for all those involved, all the families. Tragedy all around.
@@MarlaSingersCancer Arrogance is the word. The sea is very unforgiving, you must respect it or it will kill you.
@@MarlaSingersCancer I see a lot of the Californian tech start-up patterns with this; the personality cult CEO, the 'fake it till you make it' philosophy, being a 'disrupter', etc.
@@MarlaSingersCancerMallory and Scott are frozen corpses that were once "men with visions". A vision is no replacement for proper precautions.
When i listen to Stockton talk, i get the impression that he hired exclusively young engineers specifically because they would be easier to manipulate into doing what he wanted instead of what they should be doing.
Probably a lot cheaper to boot
The accountant also said that Stockton hired teenagers and paid them minimum wage. So it seems like the whole company was run on the cheap and without safety in mind.
You can halt all your conspiratorial thinking about that because he was going down in the sub, he was down there, he died. What does that tell you?
Either he was suicidal, which I doubt, or he had complete faith in those he had taken advice from/hired to put the project together. He cut corners? He took risks? Probably. Almost certainly. But he sure also put his money -- or ass -- where is mouth is, and paid the ultimate price.
Small correction: They did hire a subject matter expert in marine and submarine safety, then fired him for trying to require basic safety mechanisms. He publicized their failure to test their claims, so they sued him.
Wow.
Was it David Lochridge?
Oh this company can f**k right off.
Source?
Stockton Rush is a buffoon virtue signal ER and deserves everything that comes their way at this point, unless he already met his fate down there
As an Engineer (EE), the fact that the controller is wireless and not wired tells me the people who designed this had absolutely no concept of risk assessment and mitigation.
_edit: added EE_
I was saying the same exact thing, something as simple as forgetting the USB power cord , like we do when we jump in our car sometime and leave the cord in the house, can be catastrophic failure. But when we are in our car, and forget our power cord at the house, we can always pull over to the local gas station and buy a new cord. But being underwater thousands of feet you don't have a gas station you can go to and grab supplies.
Yeah that stood out like a sore thumb to me as soon as I saw it. The entire sub looked like it had gone through about one conceptual/functional design review at most before they built and sailed (sunk) the damn thing.
manual backup systems should of been installed aswell for piece of mind
As another engineer, I agree.
As an engineer, I have overestimated my intelligence.
I believe the reason he didn’t want ex-Navy submariners is because they would never dive in an uncertified submersible.
I have no doubt at all about that
No doubt. I spent many years working with Navy Divers and they wouldn’t get anywhere near this thing, I’m sure submariners are the same way.
@@twocyclediesel1280 The one guy who raised safety concerns got fired, that's all we need to know really. This Sub Brief video summed it up perfectly and yes it's sad but it was a fools errands from the get go. I'm not a navy person but I've worked in the oil industry for 25 years and I've seen stuff that made the hairs on my neck stand up and when the industry fires up next year we're going to see a lot of accidents happen again because they will elevate inexperienced people into jobs they have no business being in especially since loads of older people in the industry are retiring and there's not many people of my age (50) in it anymore.
I know absolutely nothing about submarines and just looking at this thing you know it's dangerous as f!
Interesting comment from James Cameron about this... apparently oceangate had a few letters from subject matter experts saying that the submarine was too experimental and should have been certified prior to use. I will never understand why anyone would read a waiver like that and then decide to go on it anyway.
Operating the sub was the easy part. Building a pressure vessel that can stand up to *repeated* pressure cycles and be *verified* prior to every descent that it is still competent to handle the design depth is the hard part. Along with all the other design flaws discussed herein.
Speaking of repeated pressure cycles and aviation history lessons (not) learned, the world's first commercial jet the de Havilland DH.106 Comet had a series of lethal accidents resulting in 426 deaths due to hull failure and these tragic events took place 70 years ago!!!
Those people simply did not have enough money, but still insisted to play at the big boys' table.
He wanted younger "inspirational" people probably because they would be much more clueless and less prone to question the overall safety of this whole operation. More easily expendable for his business in case anything bad happen, just blame them on their lack of experience and knowledge, probably much cheaper as well. This CEO guy really rises red flags every time is opening his mouth. Incredible people would trust him.
And likely cheaper, oh sorry cost efficient
Well, he must have believed the nonsense he was saying because he died for it. I mean, he did get in the sub after all…
@u9vata I believe he was just virtue signaling diversity & inclusion. That's why he said no White guys, even though those are the guys that generally are the experts in the field
For the same reason people trust Elon Musk. People will fall for anything because our society has convinced the masses that wealthier = better.
Won't have experts who disagree with you when you taught and trained those "experts" yourself!
I was a submariner, got out in 1986 as a chief of the boat. You are spot on regarding everything you said, I was thinking all of the same things you did plus a little bit more. Was there any pre dive procedure or checklist? What about post dive inspection procedure? How about scheduled maintenance? What about an emergency blow system or at least an ability to drop ballast? Did they ever conduct casualty drills or at least write procedures? It is clear that from the CEO on down they did not understand the complexity and dangers associated with diving in a marine environment. There is no rescue vehicle (DSRV), that could be on station before the air runs out, there is no DSRV that can mate with this thing due to the location of the 17 bolt door, and you would probably need some type of mechanical arm to remove the bolts. No such thing exists. As you mentioned, how did they know their air supply was adequate for 96 hours; was hyperventilation due to panic considered in that number? They will not be saved and most likely the submersible will never be recovered. It is ridiculous to believe the Coast Guard will find this thing with their sonar, it is too small a feature to be distinguished from the bottom profile with active sonar and there is not enough machinery noise (if any) to be heard passively above the surface background noise. (I am a sonar systems expert and was an instructor in the tactical training department at the Sub base in Groton, CT) One final thing, the media and just about everyone else are calling this vessel a submarine, it is not a submarine. Submarines are autonomous, this vessel is a submersible and requires a support ship to function. The ocean does not forgive.
not to mention it's made of carbon fiber. Assuming it stayed intact rather than shattering, is there enough reflection off CF to get a decent sonar return?
@@chrismaverick9828 The carbon fiber shattered under pressure. Carbon fiber resists expansion, not compression. It was used for the Boeing Dreamliner just for that reason. It will hold pressure inside, not the other way around. Darwin’s theories of natural selection play-out again.
I wish I was smart about something as you are. Great comment.
Of course they didn't do that. The owner had a game controller in his hand to drive the death machine.
Were I stuck on this and alive, I would be banging on the titanium dome with a hammer every 15 minutes hoping someone had hydrophones in the water.
Rush was really working AGAINST innovation, all the safety standards and the knowledge of experienced submariners IS innovation that you're supposed to add to. It's like designing a car without ABS, seatbelts, air bags, crumple zones, collision prevention systems, etc and claiming your car is more "innovative". No you made a death trap from a century ago, it's a regression in every way!
I have stayed away from this because of the ego's, people who enjoy seeing others die, financial jealousy that RUclips brings out. BUT You're damn right. He built a very early Bathysphere. Bloody hell. Absolutely right. Just a tube with air. Bolted in. with some air?
This is an excellent point…he wasn’t innovating, he was cost-cutting. He was obviously intelligent but arrogance clouded his judgment.
From this story, everything about the guy seems like he was the type of person who didn't like the rules simply because it wasn't his idea.
@@wolfbones666 a narcissist (like most of western political class)
@@KatieRN51i don't think you can really be that intelligent, and rich, and still insist on so much cost cutting. like seriously. $250k per person and he just HAD to use a $30 logitech controller?? nah. he wasn't intelligent, just rich.
That interview with the CEO screams recklessness. Ignoring safety protocols is not inspiring, it's potentially suicidal. The need for experience (even using consultants as SMEs) is essential. Thank you for a very comprehensive overview of this tragedy. Very educational. Contrary to the late CEO of Ocean Gate's opinion, old 50 year olds have great value when they have operational knowledge and experience.
That's the point, he avoided the experienced people because he didn't want to pay extra to be given a dose of reality. But he fucked around and found out like libertarians eventually do.
@@sanjeev.rao3791 No argument from me. He (and the 4 others) has escaped reality for good.
Absolutely.. there is NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE!
More like murder-suicide.
Huh would you look at that:
✅ Yet _another_ industry where the motto "move fast and break things" is not applicable.
This CEO did a fantastic job of providing video and audio clips that will absolutely destroy his company's chances of winning any of the coming litigation against them
I'm not sure anything will really be gained by litigation. Sure there's the company, but how much is it really worth especially now? There's also the issue that the tourists all signed waivers saying they could die and the company isn't liable.
The whole operation seems like it's all Rush's show and with him going down with the sub I'm thinking the company will likely go bust, maybe pay out what's left after liquidation to victims families but that won't be much compared to the victims 'worth'.
What I do see coming from this will be increased regulations on submersibles though. Although, I suppose you can always just leave port in a country without the regulations and dive in international waters.
Didnt the passengers sign a contract with the clauses we see at the start of the video? If so, then theres probably no angle for legal action
Nope everyone already signed their death certificate
The Titan was not insured no one would touch it without certification.
@@Damigod67 In most cases a waiver is null and void if negligence is involved. which in this case it was, I believe they will be open to lawsuits. But with pretty much everyone on board being a billionaire I don't think any litigation will happen.
Let’s be honest, it’s very unlikely this ends well.
Unfortunately.
Yeah they probably will find out pretty fast where the submersible is and it probably will be in a thousand pieces. The only bright side is they wouldn't have suffered. Of course another possibility is the battery compartment suffered a fire and the crew died like what happened to the Kursk.
Yeah.... If that ends up being the case i at least hope it was over quickly.
Theres a faint chance they were abducted by aliens, but otherwise that carbon fiber tp roll probably shattered like a clay pot at 1k ft
If finding them all dead is well then yes, I would say it ends exceptionally well.
i am convinced that the whole "not hiring 50 year old white guys" thing is just a ploy to avoid highly experienced people that would take one look at this submersible and start raising safety concerns. he wanted people that didn't have the experience or knowledge to call him out, and this was his way of doing so while also looking like the good guy.
Bingo. He didn’t want any challenge to his way of doing things.
Also - cost. New graduates are cheap. These rich guys don't stay rich by paying people properly.
He was grooming them essentially
whoa whoa whoa candy pants. are you implying minorities and females are dumb, and during pride month? I'm calling my wife's boyfriend's rabbi right now. I'm literally shaking!
Stockton Rush was from San Francisco. Is that surprising?
James Cameron, completely over engineering the husk in order to be 200% sure the thing holds on the one time only expedition. OceanGate: Inspiring tuna can go brrrrrr!
As a former naval architect working on submersible design, just the fact that the pressure vessel was rated for 4,000m which was within or close to the actual operating envelop is crazy to me. We would design the pressure vessels with a significant factor of safety for it's intended operating envelop. That alone was a huge red flag.
Thanks for the comprehensive report. Awful situation all around that could have been avoided.
You think that's scary, you should look at the new "David Lochridge" news coming out in the last few hours. A prior employee of Oceangate in 2018 was a pilot responsible for the safety of the vessel and passengers.
He found flaws with the carbon fibre hull might not be detected and wanted more testing and the sub to be certified by an external agency. Critically he also found out that the forward viewport was only rated for a depth of 1.3km by the manufacturer, not the full 4km the submersible was intended to dive to... and that's not even considering a safety margin at all...
He got fired and then there was a load of legal proceedings of unfair dismissal vs confidential disclosure, where it was finally settled between themselves...
@@ItsssJustice Oh my God WTF. We designed for approximately 1.5-1.6 as a factor depending on application. They exceeded the rated depth by over 2x???
This is literally the opposite of a factor of safety. Factor of negligence?
@@ItsssJustice Hopefully a post incident investigation will highlight all of the errors.
Is carbon fiber a common material on this genre/class of subs?
@@gabriel7664 It's not, typically titanium is used exclusively for the crew compartment. I have no idea why they would use carbon fibre.
Hiring experienced “old guys” is smart. These veterans have years of experience and have survived decades of dealing with deep diving submarines and casualties of systems in submarines. They have experience in spotting trouble spots before things fail. It is sad that this accident has ended with the lose of life.
The reason why he didn't hire old guys is because if he did, none of them would have built this death trap.
You don't get it, had he not hired Pedro and Shaniqua to do the job he wouldn't be able to brag about it on the internet
Specifically white guys too.. he doesn’t want them white and old apparently.. now he’s reaping the cost.
The real problem is his hiring wasn't diverse enough, we've been invaded oops sorry enriched with millions of highly skilled engineers over the last few years...just sayin'
This CEO's social warrior score may have just cost him 5 lives
The fact they've gone deeper than they've ever tested seems absolutely insane to me...
💯
This was the submersible third trip to the titanic so they have gone down to the depth before. Again though something happened to keep it from rising. The company should be at fault for not having a better emergency action plan. Even having a rov on board to do an immediate check would have been something
With actual customers nevertheless...
Idk, waivers are just a fancy way of saying "we're not absolutely confident in our ability/equipment, don't sue us".
@@LegionOfEclaires what surprises me is that the CEO was confident enough to be on board
@@delfinenteddyson9865 Confident? Dunno. Arrogant, delusional? Certainly.
I don't know of any ship or submarine that has been put together with apoxy. The fact that a father on FATHER'S DAY would drag his teenage son to board a vessel that was three steps above a model airplane kit is mind-blowing. The three passengers could've been anywhere else in the world having dinner and fun with friends and family, or just chilling on their day; what they got instead was a $750K underwater funeral. I hope St. Peter asks Stockton Rush "Was it worth it? Was it?!"
I'm a CNC machine operator so here my perspective. They have something calculated for 4000m. The Titanic is 3,800m deep. I think ISO (or NCEES or one of those) requires a 150% minimum buffer for engineered loads (meaning for diving 3,800m the sub would have to be engineered for 5,700m to be "save"). They're literally running at 95% at the Titanic. . . At that depth even temperature changes could have changed the water density enough to surpass the haul strength and crush the sub.
Update : I'm right, this is exactly what happened. If it's any consolation they died almost instantly. The hull imploded, followed by their skulls, torsos, even their femurs because the center is filled with marrow. . . They basically turned into like a fine mist. Maybe their hands and feet were left but that probably quickly became fish food. The lesson here is to keep accountants out of the engineering room. . . . And also to hire professionals and not inexperienced people out of some sort of misplaced self-entitled wokeism. (That was very stupid.) I'm just an entry-level machine operator and knew this, what's their excuse? A professional would've slammed on the brakes on this during its inception. HIRE "OLD WHITE PEOPLE".
Exactly. Operating on a pittance of theoretical margin with a host of unknowns is suicide. Absolute hubris.
Total agreement. They used human beings as test dummies.
You are absolutely right the fiberglass hull Shattered and they were all gone instantly
For what it's worth, the Wikipedia entry says it was designed for a 2.25x margin, and they took the 4.5" thickness to 5".
Whether that's actually accurate beyond a spreadsheet... Who knows??
Isn’t the thing only certified for 1500 meters?
I was a mechanical engineer in the auto industry. It took about 10 to 15 years to get good on the component I worked on. The engineering degree was only the start. I am thankful to the mechanics and technicians who taught me so much. They were my instructors even though technically I was their supervisor. I was humbled up right away by these guys with the immense amount of product know how and experience they had accumulated in 30 to 40 years. I learned to always ask them for their input on new designs or issues we were working on.
Bosses who don’t want to listen to their employees don’t do well.
I'm sure tool makers helped with the journey.
Cheers to the tool makers, cheers!
There's a lot to be said about institutional knowledge that's only known to the old timers with experience. Too bad the CEO of this company was so callous about this fact.
Still a lot of that in railways the world over. You learn so much from the old guys who've been in it for 40+ years. I can't count the number of times I've had an issue and gotten it explained and fixed within minutes talking to these guys. The old guard is always happy to mentor the younger generation if you show an interest in learning
Yep! My experience as an EE is similar. Students graduating college are almost useless. The engineers and technicians start getting better at 6-8 years, but it's the 15+ year veterans who are gold in a design review. They catch things nobody else thinks of.
I had an operation to fix a broken leg 2 years back, when they wheeled me into the operating theatre i was relieved to see that the surgeons working on me were over 50. Nothing and i mean NOTHING compares to someone with experience. They did a damned good job too.
i appreciate your comment. true bro
That’s a bit old for a surgeon peak performance is actually quite a bit younger. Older surgeons tend not to keep up with the latest tech and sometimes get complacent. If your surgeon looks like he just graduated high school then you can worry but mid thirties to fifty and you’re fine. That’s not a hard rule but it’s what I’ve seen.
And depending on how bad your leg was mangled fixing legs are easy. Hard to screw up a resident could have done it.
They used young folks, because it's cheaper to pay inexperienced young folks.
What age did those surgeons qualify? Your comment only qualifies you as a moron.
Great video! One mistake: The Titan DID previously make it to the Titanic several times (albeit with a replaced hull at one point) so it wasn't just a blind test using customers. Stockton's luck ran out. Still, he maintains full blame and is a fool for not listening to the experts.
The people that got on it were the fools! I really think he thought it was safe or he wouldn't have gone down again.
Oh I didn't hear they needed to replace the hull? That's a totally new sub then. Can you provide a reference?
I was under the impression this sub had never been this deep. Just one test run done at 3000M. Where's the reference that this sub had been down there before?
@@mdblack98 I know he had a failed prototype, I believe this one had done multiple dives and that was how it failed, "cyclic failure".
@@mdblack98 You see it for yourself from the point of view of a passenger. Titanic and all. Watch "Bajé a los restos del Titanic 4K | Parte 4/4"
Former Radioman from an LA Class sub. I'm stunned that loss of comms was not grounds for an immediate onboard systems overhaul. A skipper can lose his command for failing to clear the broadcast ONCE, it's a big deal.
There's a difference between a CO that reports to an Admiral, that ultimately answers to congress. Commercial venture where the owner is only responsible to him self or investors. There is no regulation, no insurance etc. It's all at risk. There's a reason why military ships have so many people on a bridge and a super tankers only has 2-3.
I agree! You'd think after that, if they couldn't establish a secure way to maintain connection, they'd have just used some sort of umbilical cable to keep them plugged into the main ship. but maybe thats not safe at those depths either?
I believe the CEO fired someone simply for saying the sub was unsafe. The CEO seems like a man with loads of money and believes anything is possible and was arrogant enough to believe his own BS. If he truely cared he would have been smart enough to know you cannot know everything. Without a willingness to listen he is now dead in his own creation fue to most likely an ego issue. That been said this is a very sad situation.
@@BattleBladeWarriorimagine the price (not to mention the weight!) of a 4000m umbilical.
And then not reporting it for another 8-9 hrs after losing communication. This company is way out of line.
Apparently, they just found a debris field. So it definitely looks like an implosion at this point. Which, arguably, is a better result than finding them suffocated. They would have died instantly.
Low oxygen will cause one to pass out and die unconsciously, which is way better than a violent death of a collapsing capsule that crushes you to death. I think I will choose passing out and gradually die.
Can't help but feel you a spot on here
I don't think they have confirmed if the debris is from the Titan yet (or at least told us)
@@WhiteWolf-lm7gj Obviously is the Titan
Oh, actually it looks like it has now been confirmed to be the Titan.
His choice of hiring young fresh grads makes me think of what the videogame industry does. CEOs from a marketing background disrespect the old guard, make unreasonable demands, push stupid ideas. The old guys leave. CEOs hire young and desperate people, tell them its about 'passion', and rely on either the inexperience or desperation to do stuff that's flashy and 'market friendly' but breaks easy.
Bro… that’s a seriously good analogy
Diversity hires. You know the rest.
Let the smart ass kids find out the hard way. I have a friend whose ex husband is extremely wealthy. Their 2 children are superb and not spoiled by it but their friends are totally driven by you tube influencers and making as much money as possible. We have created mini monsters
thats the way the company I work for runs, " don't take advice from us old guys , because it clashes with the "in" croud..... to hell with safty, Do it the new way....
Spot on. He knew experienced engineers would be skeptical of how he was running things so wanted to bring in young guys that are moldable and can be “taught” to do things their way instead of the right way
The story of Stockton Rush is tragic, and poetically ironic. For some, it's completely outrageous and for others it's entirely comedic, but at least it ends with timeless lessons to reflect on.
He forewent safety and the wisdom of expertise, knowledge, and caution, all for the sake of a childish dream, to cut corners, and mitigate costs. When one of his own people brought up the idea of valuing life, Mr. Rush allowed OceanGate to fire him. Then they sued the man and forced a settlement. They had previously advertised the Titan as meeting or exceeding the safety standard of DNV certification, despite never receiving, or even intending to receive, such a license. Over three dozen field experts expressed their safety concerns, and they were ignored.
In a supposed attempt to foster the next generation of expert submariners and engineers, he blocked off the likes of people who may have learned something from the Kursk disaster. People who may have been taught by those who investigated the Thresher. He ignored an entire generation of people who could realize his own dream because he didn't like hearing how downright negligent and dangerous his approach was.
He didn't learn a thing from space and aerospace. These fields are written and forged in the blood of dead men and women, and Mr. Rush chose to ignore the dead and let them go on in vain.
I just cannot understand the arrogance and idiocy needed to throw out voice communication just because you don't like checking-in while performing one of the most dangerous activities ever conceived. To have no method of escape if you managed to surface.
Thank you, Stockton Rush, for reminding and teaching people that safety and lives have no cost. That the new generation must be guided by the people that have been there and done that. I have no doubt Mr. Rush has succinctly implanted the concept of safety into his team now.
You got to live your dream, pilot your little sub, and go down with your ship. As much as the man infuriates me, I respect that he put himself through the same reckless adventure as his passengers. The man had no fear of the deep in his little pillsub. I have no doubt he wholly believed The Titan was the next step in deepsea exploration and was revolutionary. Somehow that's scarier than if he knew how ridiculous The Titan was. Rest In Peace to the 4 people he brought down with him. I unapologetically wish OceanGate never recovers.
Beautifully written and every word echoed my sentiments on this tragedy. My heart goes out to those left behind....allegedly the young man was terrified and didnt want to go.....the whole thing was so avoidable
why did you write a review on a news story? in amazon products, it helps other buyers make a decision. In books and movies, it gives us a better understanding of the characters and decisions they make. What does doing it here accomplish?
I will not lie about it: this whole Ocean Gate disaster, while tragic, is a little comedic, too. Mr. Rush cast experience and true knowledge aside. Based on that, if cannot predict the outcome, your ignorant
I believe it's fair to say Mr. Rush earned himself a Darwin Award.
@@dozeofaudio drunk
As an engineer, here is what I see wrong at 4:50-4:59 : they are not wearing protective suits, it looks like open air factory, no particulate control of any kind, no masks, no hairnets. Once something is stuck to the adhesive it can provide a path for seawater to creep in, combined with vibrations and settling of the materials, steel and titanium being more prone to shrinkage with dropping temperatures at depth, there is a lot of mismatching of materials. I can see cracks forming due to internal stresses in tension, yes titanium is very strong so is carbon in tension but dust and rust on the adhesive can cause sheering and punctures... just too sloppy for experimental assembly of something that has to be perfectly smooth and free of debris.
Yep, it should have been assembled in conditions replicating an operating theatre.
Math is racist. Just because things don’t fit perfectly doesn’t make them any worse.
Agreed. I believe when dealing with pressures like this stick with one single material, don't mix materials because like you said each one will react differently to pressure, cold, etc. Another thing to note is I'm not a fan of carbon fiber. Metals will bend, especially titanium, carbon fiber fails completely when it goes, just like shattering glass. This is why I don't like carbon fiber used to support airplane wings, no warning, just instant catastrophic failure.
Haha so cringe when people present themselves as engineers. LMAO 🤣🤣
Agreed - I’m not an engineer but the way they’re weaving the carbon fiber and painting on the glue doesn’t seem precise enough for something that needs to be extremely uniform and sound
I was a Chief Officer on merchant navy and proud to be a seaman. As a young cadet at my time, I could not be more amazed and inspired by the old sailors, engineers, ratings and officers (old guard as we called them) that I had the honor to work and after some time, lead. Respect for their stories, experience and seamanship. It really take a different kind of person to go to sea, it is not easy, and when the SHTF you will want that 50+ Bosun to be by your side. It is sad to hear those words from the CEO, and even more that ended like this.
Absolutely. “inspirational” and “space technology” were marketing gimmicks used in Hollywood movies.
Right on...me as well ! Marine Corp vet and I was in awe of my staff NCOs! Different times I guess
I was a semen once.. a matter of fact it was the last time I moved with purpose.. beat 30,000 other semen. Still tired.. lol. Thank you for your service 👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸
@@saax3816 so you'd want to go down 4000m without redundant life support systems? You okay in the head bud?
I sure was always glad to have my senior special ops buddies with me on patrol in the Pakistani highlands. Hoooah! Ex Delta here...
From the OceanGate wiki : *Rush's experience and research led him to believe that submersibles had an unwarranted reputation as dangerous vehicles due to their use in ferrying commercial divers, and that the Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 "needlessly prioritized passenger safety over commercial innovation"*
Anyone not doing their due diligence on the CEO of this inept company learned the price of that in savage fashion.
Jesus. The guy was a psychopath.
@whiterabbit4606 aptly said. The man was soiopathic.. I don't understand how a father would take their child on something so untested and unchecked.
Was he the CEO? You have to be picked by a Board of Directors to become a CEO. I HIGHLY doubt this dudes "company" had a Board of Directors.
@maddannafizz I saw that he son gifted it to his dad as a father day gift. I don't know. If I was the father, I would have to be the smart one in the room and say no I'm good.
@@maddannafizz I don't understand, if you're so wealthy, why you wouldn't do an independent assessment by someone like Aaron on the vessel that's taking you TO A DEPTH OF 4000m especially if it looks like that.
Absolutely insane that he deliberately excluded experts in the construction and design . If anyone has ever watched “Boiler Room” they deliberately don’t hire anyone with a certification so they can continue illegal activity but those un-certified people don’t necessarily know what they are doing is illegal. He absolutely didn’t hire subject matter experts because none of them would EVER have put their name and reputation on this cobbled together casualty capsule. So upsetting that if you have enough money you can ignore all the rules and people died.
Great movie. "Know your ABC's!"
The Titan Titanium Titanic submarine was made from China 😮
Choosing not to hire experts in the field for both design and monitoring on dives because they weren’t “inspirational” tells me everything I need know about that CEO.
Dude is entirely responsible for those people he killed.
Maybe he had a second to realize they were right.
Indeed! It's one thing to prefer to hire "inspirational" youth -- it's another thing to ignore the "cynical" elderly, because "cynicism" is often just the results of seeing a tragedy or two over their lifetime, and learning how to avoid them.
It wasn't about inspiration. It was about not having people around that would call him out on his bad ideas. It's an ego trip.
I can’t think of the last time I was inspired by someone younger. It’s always the old guy who knows things and is willing to share.
"Crush depth is systemically racist" -or something idk.
I am not an engineer but the fact alone that this thing was designed to withstand the water pressure for up to 4000 meters and they were planning to dive to a depth of 3800 meters would make me feel unsafe. I would expect a larger safety margin than 5%
What I don’t understand is why they would skip on a regular hatch, not really a challenge since the water pressure helps to seal it. Imagine a flight attendant talking about safety procedures and explaining to patiently wait in a case of an emergency until someone from outside opens the door…
Definitely, Thats like buying car tires with a speeding rating of 150mph and driving them at 145mph😂
yep 5% is ridiculous
I don't think we can claim it was designed to withstand 4000 meters. If parts of it were explicitly rated to less than that, then it wasn't really.
The porthole window was rated to 1400m. The guy that brought that fact up in a meeting was immediately fired.
@@Abstract.Noir414 The problem is that "designed for" and "able to withstand" are two different things. One is a design and manufacturing plan based on calculations, where errors can enter the picture at various stages, and even if executed right, repeated use introduces wear and reduces the performance over time. And the latter is the actual real world performance - as exhibited in this case, it was not able to withstand it on repeated dives. So that's the problem.
I worked briefly on a research vessel for an internship, and distinctly remember a conversation with various crew about this guy, Stockton Rush and Oceangate. They all said he was going to kill himself and others with his ideas -- this was quite a while ago when he was merely discussing the idea of taking people down to the Titanic, and hadn't actually built anything yet. I'm no expert myself, but seeing this now and the information coming out, it seems as though they were spot on. The fact that he once answered that his submersible was "too high tech" to warrant basic safety evaluations that most manned craft must go through, for example, was a big red flag -- and he said that about a year ago I believe. Having nice cameras or a custom-built cabin doesn't make your vessel particularly innovative, but especially when it comes to basic safety -- most of which was learned through decades of various catastrophes, as you pointed out here. There's a reason why captains and engineers are so stern about safety -- it can become a life or death matter within a split second. There are always risks involved, even just on a ship, but safety is not really something you want to dismiss entirely for the sake of innovation.
Sounds like the guy had a death wish and couldn't afford to go to space.
@@TheDrewjustforyou arrogance is universal
That is absolutely bonkers. Guy was a total maniac.
There's always a certain amount of dark humor doing something so alien (your first dive, I imagine going to space, etc...) where humans are not meant to be. But It comes knowing all the gear is inspected, all of the people trained, contingencies in place as much as they can be. As horrible as this is, I find it far more troubling that no one stopped him. I guess that's why you would only want kids on your crew: an old fart might have known he needed to be dealt with before he killed a bunch of the kids that didn't know what they had been hoodwinked into doing.
Safety first...Unless you're an arrogant mill/billionaire.
l didn't know until yesterday that Stockton actually flew to meet the people he was hoping would be his experimental father son team and marketed the experience and blew off any concerns they had. They decided against it because his attitude. So he took a second father son team. So sad😢
So sad! He was looking for “suckers” He was able to find the 2nd father/ son duo!
They decided against it because the father realized he flew his experimental plane into Vegas. If his own plane was an experiment the father decided he didn't want to be part of his test runs. Clearly Rush had a very high tolerance for risk.
Wtf
He was a high pressure salesman, that’s for sure.
Not sad at all.
Just two more well deserved Darwin Awards.
Good riddance to them, one and all.
As a former US Navy submarine sailor, I appreciate the risk. We used the thumb rule of approximately 46 psi for every 100 feet of depth. At 13,100 feet, that would be greater than 5000 psi acting on that submersible. Fortunately, a breach with that much differential pressure would make for a quick dismissal. I only hope that they are not stuck down there and they run out of oxygen.
As a South African Navy sailor with subs in our navy as well, I have to wonder why they did not have an externaly mounted EPIRB in case of emergencies. Al vessels that sail more than 100 miles from the coat must have one, even our subs have them. That was recless, plus I cannot imagine that, that sub could sustain 5 people for 96 hours at that depth, I hope that your assesment was correct and that their end would of came quickly and relatively painlessly. May they RIP
For all we know they surfaced and have yet to be found. What a SNAFU
@@tertiuscilliers6412 You would need a very special EPIRB that can withstand 400 Bar cycling!
@@nickbreen287 They make them but i don't know if there any that are made for commercial subs.
In any case commercial sub's have had a much simpler system available for decades called an "acoustic beacon". Which is exact what it sounds like, It basically just gives out a constant sonar ping so rescue vessels can hone in on it. Of course at that depth the range would be extremely limited.
I'm sure that wasn't "hip" and "inspirational" enough for the CEO though.
ffs, please do use non-retarded means to measure.
To be blunt, they are dead.
Odds are the cheaply built submersible imploded on its third trip to Titanic.
I think I believe this theory, the reason is because like you said it's cheaply made, it was an experimental and uncertified sub, all it takes is one decompression and the entire thing just crushes like a soda can.
I hate to admit it, but this theory is very likely.
Third? I've seen more than 3 videos of it diving?
@@Chiberia Ive seen 100 vids of JFK being shot but im sure it only happened once.
I wonder how many unmanned test voyages they did with it, and to what depths.
What the hell kind of justification is there for not wanting voice comms. "It was annoying" should be negligence.
@@PSC4.1 Well, if there's a decompression, then it won't implode.
My husband was a lead NASA mechanical engineer. He wants you to know the Apollo astronauts were not “bolted” in. The hatch was installed from inside the capsule. Pressure build up inside the capsule made it impossible to remove the hatch. Redesign made an externally installed hatch that could be removed by engineers from outside the capsule. My husband was intimately involved on Gemini and Apollo spacecrafts before going to Shuttle Program.
Thank you for clarifying that. It makes sense because the pressure is from the inside. It is the opposite on a submarine
This should be up near the top. Super interesting!
Lol
My understanding is that in addition to an all-oxygen environment, Apollo 1 was also undergoing a high pressure test of the capsule at the time of the accident; thus making a blowtorch of the fire.
@@steves8236 correct. It was an insane test that had been done many times without a problem, so no one thought about what they were doing.
Check out the lawsuit from David Lochridge, former director of maritime operations for OceanGate who was fired for reporting safety issues. This sub wasn't just a deathtrap. It was practically intentionally designed to violently implode at those depths. The lawsuit (alleged) that the viewport was rated for a depth of 1,300 meters, while the sub planned to go down to 4,000 meters. That would definitely cause an implosion. He cites several other safety concerns in the lawsuit, like the inability to inspect carbon fiber for fatigue stress, which could have been the other likely cause of the implosion. The sub was a death trap.
The thing was that Stockton's company was not insured and could never be insured. Every person who went on his sub assumed a risk that if something happens, your family will have no recourse. They knew this and went anyway. They had to sign a waiver of liability. So the fact that David Lochridge had concerns really didn't matter because Stockton classified his passengers as mission specialists. Lochridge actually voiced his concerns to OSHA in 2019 and they did nothing. So long story short. There was really nothing anyone could do.
Additionally, carbon fiber is great for aircraft pressurization hulls because the fiber is in tension (higher inside pressure than outside). The biggest problem with the Titan design is the fiber is in compression which is its worst strength direction thus the epoxy is providing most of the resistance, and from what I understand it was not autoclaved to eliminate voids between CF layers and was wound over top of itself. The choice of using a tube also means the greatest deformation occurs in the center of the longitudinal axis which adds a pulling strain vector from the titanium ends where it is glued toward the center of the tube. Probably Stockton thought the pressure on the titanium ends would compress enough to counteract the pulling, however the area of the tube is much greater than the end 'caps' area so the force is not balanced out, resulting in a 'tearing' vector at the titanium 'socket' / glue interface over time.
The thing that gets me is that the CEO touted aerospace industry inspiration, and was himself a flight test engineer on F-15s. F-15s have triple redundancy on critical systems. When asked about the apparent "MacGuyver-ish" look, he said everything can break as long as the pressure hull is intact and you're safe. As a former F-15 maintainer, that sounds like an idiot saying "the plane is fine as long as the wings are still attached"
He probably over-gd the targeting pod and airframe too.
I think it's more comparable to an A-10 engineer saying "It doesn't matter what fails as long as the titanium tub surrounding the cockpit remains intact".
Then he has some smart people with no practical experience replace the titanium with aluminum for cost savings.
Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. If the aircraft can be used again, then it is an outstanding landing.
Pain while since I've had a television but I seem to remember something about macgruber
There's the right way the wrong way the Army way and then the PlayStation way?
This entire story is an example of deadly arrogance. I'm not an engineer, but any intelligent person would see the lack of failsafes needed to make this a safe vessel. May they rest in peace.
Sort of like the
TITANIC
It's also a story of fairy tale woke garbage.
@@johnjohnson1997 Five people die in a submarine due to gross neglect and safety oversight, and your first thought is politics. How disgusting of you.
@@johnjohnson1997 how is it woke? a ship full of rich white people seems like the opposite of whatever woke means in your head
@@johnjohnson1997 yeah, nothing about this was woke not even in the bastardized way people like you use the word 😅
As a retired gutter cleaner I knew this was not going to go well when I heard "off the shelf" and "wireless".
As a gamer I cant count how many times controllers have lost connection, ran out of batteries or one of the joysticks decides to die…
@@grigorioschristodoulou5229It’s so insane. I just can’t even begin to comprehend…
As i retired plumber i agree
After watching all of the videos, reading the articles, and reading the comments, I feel at peace knowing that this tragic event is at least funnier than a Brendan schaub comedy special.
In under one second they suddenly all had wings underwater.
The more I read about this, the more I feel that this is basically deep sea Theranos. Look at the parallels:
-both have a charismatic CEO who considers themselves an innovator but doesn’t have expertise in the field that they are trying to revolutionize (medical science and deep sea diving)
-both are a start-up company with a ramshackle, “move fast and break things” atmosphere, even while working in a field that is complicated, dangerous, and where mistakes can actually jeopardize people’s lives
-both ignored warnings from veterans in their field, claiming they were just threatened by newcomers and stifling innovation
-both hired mostly younger engineers who were recent college grads, while firing employees who had concerns or wanted to take a more conservative approach
-both threatened whistleblowers with legal action, claiming that they were sharing proprietary information about their new technology (when in reality they did not HAVE any new technology)
-both claimed that they weren’t certified by regulators because their technology was too new and innovative so the usual testing methods were irrelevant for their machines
-both used partnerships with legit companies to give validity to their technology, when in reality these claims were either entirely made up or very misleading (Pfiezer and St. John’s Hospital for Theranos, Boeing, NASA and University of Washington for Oceangate)
-both overpromised on their tech and underestimated the time and expense it would take to actually make it workable, leading to delays, funding running out, and cutting corners (my opinion based on the fact that the original price for this trip was $80,000, and the couple who tried to sue for a refund after their 2018 trip was delayed 3 years in a row because the sub wasn’t ready, and how hard Stockton tried to get that Las Vegas financier and his son to go on the trip, right down to the last minute and even offered them a $100,000 discount)
-both had a CEO who genuinely believed in their product and was capable of convincing others of their idealistic vision, but both were also so confident, over-ambitious and ego-driven that they wouldn’t hear opinions that conflicted with that vision
Even their website reminded me of Theranos’s: flashy, full of marketing jargon and grand claims, but vague on details and no citations or scientific references to back up their supposedly groundbreaking technological advances. Elizabeth Holmes might not think so, but she was extremely lucky that she got busted before their shoddy blood tests actually killed someone. Unfortunately, Stockton Rush wasn’t, and instead he paid the ultimate price and took four others with him.
Well said
Hearing that CEO gives me chills. Hiring all young students because you want to be inspired instead of experienced sub engineers is a terrible policy. Then going down so close to the sub’s operating range on a dive is crazy
Something tells me we haven't seen the last tragedy at the alter of diversity.
@@scotty9462 Making assumptions. Diversity had nothing to do with him hiring inexperienced designers.
it really is a Sign of the Times
@@kederaji "didn't want old white men" means diversity hires
@@dennyb6768He wanted young people as opposed to older people. He said nothing about diversity or hiring people of color. You conservatives love to invent your facts.
An additional point that I may add, Oceangate did in fact have a subject matter expert working for them, David Lochridge. However he was terminated by Rush for failing to approve the sub's safety standards.
I guess that means a CEO wins a Darwin reward
Let me guess, he was 50+ and white.
I feel I have heard this story... lots of times before.
ouch!
@@LordInquisitor701 Getting other people killed disqualifies one from Darwin awards.
30 hours before the oxygen was due to run out, I finally heard a deep sea explorer state what I had suspected: "There is no equipment for rescue missions at this depth".
I think that time for how long they have oxygen should have been taken with a grain of salt. CEO was cutting corners everywhere and I wouldnt be surprised if we found later that time was only 1-2 days or less.
the US has retrieved a helicopter wreck from over 19,000 ft depth, this is only 12,000……
@@lordfarquaad4174 That was a wreck with no life needed to be saved. It's a totally different scenario.
@@lordfarquaad4174 Not to mention, retrieving a wreck is easier since you have a long period of time to find it. We still only have a rough idea where Titan is currently located.
Do you really not see the difference between retrieving a WRECK and retrieving 5 SOULS from that depth?
That’s a massive difference.
They had a subject matter expert, and when he raised safety concerns, they fired, sued, and counter-sued him.
The 96 hours was a calculation for 5 adults, normal activity. They never actually tested it. Apparently they had re-breather masks for CO2 scrubbing.
At least the CEO had the decency to die with them.
Just hearing that the CEO had them remove direct comms, because he got frustrated with situation reports interrupting his good time, tells me everything I need to know about this operation and why it was doomed to fail. I guess he didnt want any old salts in the organization, for the same reason.... They'd be a bummer on his good time, with their disagreement on choices made in this sub design and testing. Direct comms should've been left in, failure in deep waters of the passive comms used, shouldve been dealt with before guests were taken down. The sub should've been pushed to 4000 in test dives before guests were taken down to the Titanic's depth. Controls shouldve been hard wired and not off the shelf. Emergency O2 and mask should've been in place for the driver at least, so he could remain effwctive and save all the crew in an emergency. So many failures, and most of them easily avoided with patience, more testing, and use of input from more experienced personnel.
What's weird to me is that they chose to go 3000m when testing instead of 4000m which they obviously knew that they will have to reach. Which makes you question why they did it if they bothered testing at all. It's like they deliberately chose to cover up and lie about testing at 4000m
Wow im surprised a lot of news channels aren't discussing this....this makes so much more sense....his stupidity doomed them all....i wonder if the remaining people inflict a physical damage to the ceo as he did this to all of them
Yep sounds like the guy cared more about his own ego than the lives of people entering the sub.
That's also sounds a bit like Apollo 1. Of course Gus Grissom famously complained about bad com (during that very test) but they did not cut it.
should just bought a existing design sub that's proven safe. but its sure all this was to save cost and maximize profits.
What I really don't like about the design:
- I assume the carbon fibre pressure hull was fabricated by winding monofilament around a cylindrical core (seen in the video), then it gets wrapped in a vacuum bag and then put in an autoclave. It's a good technique, but you still can have micro cracks and channels as a result that can be a starting point to fatigue cracking.
- Combination of carbon fibre and titanium: You have a huge mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion of a factor 5 to 6 (cfk 50-60 x 10^-6/K vs 10 x 10^-6/K for Titanium) So when that thing cools down, the titanium will shrink much more than the carbon fibre hull putting allot of strain on the glued join. Thermal cycling -> fatigue cracking
- There is a mismatch in elastic modulus of carbon fibre and titanium which will lead to a mismatch in elastic deformation when exposed to high pressure (only 1 atm in planes, 450 atm at Titanic level) --> again fatigue issues at the joints
One can mitigate some of that by proper engineering, but combinations of fibre reinforced plastic and metal are tricky especially when cycled through pressure and temperature gradients.
Yes. I've spent hours reading this thread and there are many SMEs contributing here including CF, titanium, and sub building experts. This guy hired wildly unqualified engineers out of college and fired the expert who criticized the designs. I'm definitely checking out your musik!
And there’s are no reinforcement frame.
Even the joints is ok, the CF tube would deformed easily after cycles, just like you said fatigue.
Very good points. I remember when Grumman tried to upgrade the A-6 intruder with a composite wing. They had trouble with composite wing mating with the metal fuselage , gave them unexpected stress and fatigue problems.
Good points on the coefficient of expansion of various materials and accompanying fatigue failure - basic elements of engineering design for components subject to these conditions. The glue too becomes a big piece of this puzzle as it is part of the seal keeping the pressure out. Typically, dried glue tends to be more on the brittle scale with little plastic deformation upon failure. It appears that the joint design encapsulated the Titanium over the carbon fiber hull on both sides. This would put tremendous pressure upon decent on the Titanium joint squeezing the carbon it is glued too. The thermal and pressure stresses would be additive too as both would tend to squeeze the Titanium upon descent and move outward during ascents. This is a perfect storm forcumulative
Exactly. I have a feeling the vehicle imploded. If it did, at least they died instantly.
Asked my former submarine commander dad his opinion before we found out what happened. He had guessed an unsurvivable event like implosion, and said he would have never gotten in the sub.
Madness .
However if Money is no problem......
So Sad.
Anyone who took 10 minutes to look into all the safety issues would never step foot in the titan. Apparently the 19year old was terrified and didn't want to go but only went because it was fathers day and his dad was obsessed with the titanic
Maybe that's why the CEO had all those kind things to say about "50 year old white guys"... The 50 year old white guys all told him he's crazy and walked away.
@@CristiNeagu bingo
I’m a naval engineer. There is NO WAY I get into this piece of barely tested “equipment “. Carbon fiber is a great material for race cars and maybe boats that float. But just one flaw in the carbon fiber or bonding material and death ensues
Current Navy Submariner here. This is a thorough and comprehensive explanation. I also agree with most of the top comments here, if he would have hired actual professional submariners he wouldn’t have made it this far. What a great idea with terrible execution. RIP
Carbon fibre is great, until the moment it cracks. It also 'ages' a lot with every load cycle.
Titanium is known for 'rot'.
The window was not rated for the depht at all.
The controller is from Logitech. Logitech had a long standing problem with their wireless unified receivers: after 30 connection events, the receiver died.
And they did not thoroughly check the submersible after each dive. No x-raying for example. Just some 'knock&listen' tests.
Some time ago a huge patch of the carbon fibre hull delaminated.
You can't get out, without outside help.
This thing is a death trap.
but it gets worse:
in previous tours they touched down on Titanic's decks and moved around between superstructure elements. In a carbon fibre hull under lots of stress.
So... what happens if the deck gives away? What happens if some sharp edge is bumped?
They used a death trap AND did idiotic stuff. The loss is no surprise. That it took them several tours to fail is the surprise.
So the sub had gone to the Titanic before? Just w the CEO? I thought u
In the vid he said it had only been tested to 3000 m.
everything you point out is valid. Except logitech receivers are pretty reliable in my experience over the years. BUT why on earth would anyone USE wireless tech to control a submersible like this. Logitech is good stuff around the house for gaming or wireless mice, etc...but not mission critical sutff. Wiresless anything is dumb in situations like this
I just find it so hard to believe they had NO recovery plan for this 20k lb vessel, knowing it would require massive effort and slow ascent due to the depth. I mean just wow 🤦♂️
If there was ever a recovery plan I’m sure the CEO would have made it which salvaging the vessel to reuse it for more tours rather than to save any passengers lives. He didn’t care what could happen to passengers only about profit.
The vessel was supposed to automatically drop all ballast and start to resurface after 14 hours. I’m not sure about the specifics of this though. This was so that if the crew was incapacitated, they could still be saved. An emergency beacon would have then been activated so that they could be safely found. However, as I and many others expected, it was lost due to an implosion. There are no extra safety and rescue measures that can be taken for such a catastrophic event. The only thing that could have been done was to reinforce the structural integrity of the vessel, especially its pressure chamber. My guess is that either the vessel was not sealed properly or that after numerous dives and hours at the intense pressure at such low depths, the structural integrity slowly deteriorated. Once it was damaged enough and it went below an acceptable depth, it imploded. Allegedly, Rush fired an employee after he publicly claimed that the sub should only have been rated at 1800 meters and that the window was a structural weak point so take from that what you will
He's a rich kid, he knows tax payers will ultimately wind up footing the bill for his misadventures
@@BigSuzpekt Well, that’s a ridiculous statement.
@@MBRMrblueroads I could defo believe it 🤣
An employee at OceanGate was fired back in 2018 for raising concerns about the hull of the submersible being unsuited for the targeted depths. ALL of the warning signs were there. But Stockton actively seemed to disregard every single one of them. It's a tragedy that these souls had to perish this way. It was avoidable.
...IT HAS N0T SH0WN THAT ANY0NE PERISHED...THERE IS THAT P0SSIBILITY 0F C0URSE, BUT UNTIL THEN @ISAACFAITH, HAVE S0ME 'FAITH' AND A LITTLE H0PE - AND PRAYERS .
You know what, he should hire a narco sub builder instead of you😂
@@jconearth6686 I would like to have faith in times like these. We can only hope for the best and leave the rest to the experts. But I am also a man of reason, and my current reasoning is that the Titan got folded into the size of a grape fruit by the sea.
@@jconearth6686 I can agree to a point, I think they are gone, but I hope I am totally wrong.
@@isaacfaith9369 I get a sense the CEO fancies himself the Elon Musk of submarines. Am I close in that evaluation? Btw, Elon isn’t the genius, the people that work for him are.
James Cameron says Titan had dropped ballast and was in ascent when it imploded so they knew they were in trouble. He also says when water starts to force the fibers apart they would’ve *heard it and he thinks that they did for the last few moments. “A horrifying prospect”
We really don't know. They're not releasing any comm and the ballast could have been dropped when it imploded. The other thing was that there wasn't any voice comm I mean how stupid was that?
@@leecowell8165 I read they’ll be able to tell by the position of the ballast on the sea floor if it was dropped or blown off.
If this is the case, it is very likely they heard creaking or light cracking and attempted to surface. That’s horrifying. I heard that the sound “consistent with implosion” occurred a few seconds after comms were lost
That seems more like the dome cracked.. that might have given them a little warning. However the implosion might have knocked them loose
According to the transcripts that someone released ( unofficial), the Titan went down about 50% faster than it should have.
When they got close, they heard noises in the tail. 19 minutes, they tried to diagnose, dropped the weights and tried to surface -- but they weren't going up much at all. (Maybe Water in the tail weighing them down?) Then, ... it was suddenly over.
Stockton - "I don't hire old sub pilots."
Me (old guy who's seen some things go real sideways) - "You mean you have to hire young people who are ignorant to the danger, are inexperienced, and don't know any better because older or more experienced pilots would call you out on your poor practices and safety standards."
Never EVER trust someone who doesn't want to hire someone with a lot of experience. They are either cheap or dangerous or both...
Not only old sub pilots, old WHITE sub pilots. Color is important nowadays...
I've learned that if you're the smartest person working for the company, it's generally time to look for a new company. I've been very fortunate to work with people that have 30-40 years if experience in my field. It makes my job much easier and safer knowing the right way to do things, and to get a heads-up on things that can go wrong that aren't obvious to someone with just a few years of experience
Amen to that!
From an old soldier
Benefit of "young people who are ignorant" is that they don't know what's not possible. Only good for IT or business: the worst is bankruptcy.
@@ballsoutbob559 I heard they majored in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
One thing that I've learned in only a few years of studying aviation is to be "overkill" with safety, and to have redundant systems for everything! It makes the aviation community look bad when he says he learned safety from aviation while ignoring critical lessons that are taught through it. This is such a tragedy, and it seems it was totally preventable from what we know so far which really makes it heartbreaking...
Tbh, when he said they took lessons from the aviation industry I thought it was the context of development and design. Like in the 50s and 60s when they played fast and loose to stay ahead of the Soviets, and test-pilots would fearlessly fly jet-powered dumpsters to the edge of space.
The aviation community didn't need this disaster to look bad, jus a few years ago boeing was responsible for killing hundreds of people because they decided to cut corners on their MCAS flight control systems.
@@Kurosakiichigo2010 aviation community is perhaps one of the best in safety, regulations, and lessons learned.
They claimed it was 'rated' (how?) to 4000m..... But then taking a crew to that depth? Sounds like rock climbing with a rope rated to 100kg - no safety margin at all. I'd want to see that thing tested to twice that pressure if it were me....
@@Kurosakiichigo2010 what are you even talking about??
If you're referring to the African airliner that crashed... That was squarely to blame on the pilots that didn't understand how to properly switch over to manual controls. 🤦
I used to build military Subs with crazy high tolerance standards. You had to test and re-test every single weld, screw, bolt, wire, pipe, literally everything. They had whole teams testing everything that could possibly go wrong during the manufacturing process. Anything less could mean death for the crew. Even with all that redundant testing, I always thought those guys going down in those things were nuts. There's no way I would have went down in that shoddy looking thing, especially to the untested depth that they went. With a Sub like that there's no excuse not to do some remote unmanned descents. Even some tethered drops could have saved these folks lives. The ocean is no joke, you don't respect her for a single second and she'll take you for everything you're worth.
damn straight, its not called "the cruel sea" for nothing, it dont care in the slightest.
The North Atlantic at that. 😢 no joke at all.
I'll take you for everything you have. ❤
I worked at GD in SD, CA on the Cruise Missile program. The testing, retesting, DCAS Governmental steps for testing and safety and always questioning did get a little old but then our bozo supervisor kicked the ground wire off the cruise missile in full fuel testing mode. He could have flattened the entire building! He was acting carelessly and not paying attention. KABOOM! I wouldn't be alive. This CEO is paying for his shortcuts and with the lives of others and the families and friends of all those who've been lost.😪😭☹😢😧😲😱
Sure you did lol
My go-to list of subject matter experts:
1. Aviation - Blancolirio
2. Naval - Sub Brief
3. Naval history - Drachinifel
4. Commercial shipping - What's Going On With Shipping
5. Tanks - The Chieftain
6. Structure collapse - Building Integrity
7. Railroads - still looking
Several others for specific subjects, like USS New Jersey.
jago hazzard for railroads, would also recommend redeffect for tanks
Goes to show what you know
Civil Engineering - Practical Enginering
Electrical Engineering - EEVblog
Machinery - AvE
As an engineer and having been involved in sub design I am appalled at the design of this 'submarine." There is so much wrong it's hard to make a list. This accident was no surprise!
Please tell me or us, how technically the weights are dropped from the titan. Do you have information on this one? Iam still looking for it. Normally it would be failsafe designed like electromagnetic clutches that hold die weights and when the power cuts off the weighrs drop
@@robertlifea6405There are alternatives to electromagnetic ballast retention, such as fusible connectors that will dissolve after a set amount of time exposed to sea water. My question is whether the sub itself had such, or only its platform.
One thing I am still unsure about after watching this video: was this the first dive to 4000 meters depth?
Could you make a video explaining that too us thanks
@@polbeccaI read the sub was equipped with these
My old boss used to say that every safety rule is written in blood. Disclosures on a piece of paper is no excuse to allow this type of operation to happen without a 3rd party inspection and safety approval of some kind. I'm sure this will change commercial expeditions forever.
Your boss was absolutely right.
I just came from a video by _What's Going on With Shipping?_ that explained the Safety of Lives at Sea (SoLaS) regulations, ironically implemented in the aftermath of Titanic.
Apparently they don't apply to submarines and submersibles, only to surface vessels, and the regulations that do exist, created by the insurance companies, were considered by Rush to "get in the way of innovation".
So true
No one wanted to argue with a billionaire,hey enjoy your news story
Disclosures are to keep your liability insurance costs as low as possible. Without them they would be able to afford the insurance. There aren't any IOC standards for a submersible like this and they're in international waters.
Anyone even tangentially involved with submarines is shaking their head at this. Lawsuits filed by a fired official in the company who was a safety whistleblower says there were defects in the carbon fiber, possible issues with the pressure rating on the porthole, and a lack of non destructive testing on the hull itself for microcracks. Also apparently most people who rode on it report the thing losing contact at multiple occasions or getting lost. The reporter from cbs who rode on it even claims they didnt have any sort of pinger and were only considering it after losing contact while he was in the control room during a voyage.
Commenting to hopefully get attention to your comment as the lawsuit is going to become very important i feel. The lawsuit also says the porthole wasnt up to the depth as the company wouldnt buy one that was. Or along those lines
@@poppymason-smith1051 Yes it was rated for a fraction of the depth the vehicle would go to and the company did not want to pay for actual testing as ratings are physically tested vs just calculations.
one reporter said bits came off on his dive in it.
Jesus...
Incredibly reckless....
When I was a teen, my godfather was a white 50 year old electrical engineer. He was one of the most inspirational people I've ever met. The age/race thing was a bluff. The last thing these clowns wanted was smart, experienced submariners who would call the sub's design into question.
The kind of inspiration he's looking for is the kind of inspiration snake oil salesmen and multi-level marketers try to sell to their marks.
What the heck does your white godfather have to do with anything....
I'm sure cutting cost was a factor too. He clearly was trying to save money.
He didn’t mention race, did he?
@@imageisn0thing Please enlighten us on the intentions he had. Do you have access to any financial evidence to support that? Do you have access to his bank accounts? company accounts? Are you part of an investigation into his business? “He clearly was trying to save money.” Oh? Is that why you think he built a subpar deep-diving sub he knew was dangerous and going to kill passengers? To save money? Really? This is one of the most popular and ridiculous arguments that everybody uses. In sociology it’s called the amoral calculator model, and rarely has it ever been demonstrated to exist. I think it borders on being modern folklore. We talk about it, tell stories about it and judge others using it-but it’s not really logical on its own terms at all. If you were worried about saving money, why would you want to make things _less_ safe? Surely, the death of your clients and destruction of your sub would have the most catastrophic financial repercussions imaginable. The idea that all that mattered to him was saving money, then, _makes no sense whatsoever._ But it’s a popular, widespread expectation. Read Diane Vaughan. I mean, you know, if-can you read?
After hearing your explanation of his hiring practices, I now see why the internals were two screens, one button, and a gaming controller. Wow. RIP to all aboard.
All it would take is for the lithium battery in that controller to become unstable and vent, nevermind all the other issues with this clown show.
They had a viewport that was only rated for 1.5km depths....
sad situation. But yea using ling time experienced people to build anything highly technical would be a best idea in my opinion.
in 1898, Morgan Robertson wrote a book called "Futility" about a large British ocean liner that struck an iceberg while crossing the Atlantic. It sunk with huge loss of life because there were not enough lifeboats. That ships name was the "Titan". 14 years later, that exact disaster happened to a real ship called "Titanic". Now, this crew attempts to visit the Titanic while in a little sub called "Titan".
They should've known that name was cursed.
I was literally just thinking about this these past couple of days of this happening so far…
Because the Titanic was an inside job
Were these guys against establishing the federal reserve, too?
@@lordcarve It was not an inside job that has been debunked so many times
Yes! That’s what I’ve been saying!
This seems to be quite an ironic twist of fate that a submarine, touted to be the best of it's kind, went missing while carrying ultra wealthy passengers, to visit the wreckage of a ship that was billed as unsinkable and carried ultra wealthy passengers.
Yep
I wonder how long it is till a third one joins them and it becomes a curse
@@sebastiannelson6355 If the current pattern holds: 111 years. Perhaps the next sub will be called the "Futility" or the "Olympia" for more irony.
those ultra wealthy people are everywhere!
i beleive this is what's meant by "history doesn't repeat but it rhymes"
As I understand it, the Apollo 1 hatch was openable from the inside. The problem was that the hatch had to move inward before opening outward. The fire caused a massive overpressure which the astronauts could never hope to overcome. I believe the mission always included a spacewalk by the pilot to retrieve equipment from the service module, so the crew was never intended to be locked into the ship.
I did not know that...
The capsule was pressurized to 14.7 psi on the ground to simulate the pressures in space. That alone would have made it impossible to open the hatch inward without first depressurizing the capsule.
So it's kinda the rough equivalent of not making exit doors swing outwards.
@@zchen27 In a pressure envelope like a space capsule or aircraft, you want the door to act like a plug when it's closed, using the structure of the aircraft and door, not the latching hardware, bear all the hardware. This was the problem with early iterations of the DC-10 and the outward opening rear cargo door.
On a sub, you want the hatches to open outward so the water pressure presses the hatch into the frame and seal, effectively locking it in place.
Just a couple of pounds per sq. inch pressure differential will ensure no man could open that door. And yes, you are correct that the Apollo astronauts carried out a spacewalk to bring equipment from the service module into the command module before re-entry.
As an engineer that's worked on the Boeing 787, my first thought about the carbon fiber at the temperatures at that depth was: "dear god that's going to be brittle". I wouldn't be surprised at all if it shattered/crushed like a macaroni noodle when you step on it under that pressure.
I can't imagine a resin strong - and flexible enough for these forces. If anything they should've had a very thick aluminum lining beneath the carbon. At least that might have allowed for a strong enough hull that's still lightweight. Imagine, the inside of the tube is a balmy 60 degrees while the outside is freezing cold.
I did my masters thesis on 3d printed composites. Not even close to your expertise obviously, but even my first thought was that the sub has probably suffered catastrophic implosion (hope I'm wrong)
I read an article where one of their ex engineers asked for non destructive testing for delaminations, inclusions and voids but the CEO said "the tech doesn't exist to do that" (absolute lie of course I did some those tests myself)
Also, the way they woven that carbon (at least according to this vid) seems like there would be a weakness when dealing with longitudinal stress.
Imo: that damn thing probably had some brittle stress failure, possibly something that developed overtime due to fatigue
I absolutely think you're correct. It had already had issues and had been damaged from a previous launch so, yeah, it makes so much sense... and it's so sad because this was entirely preventable.
Wait, so another possibility is that the "submarine" was crushed deep under the sea?
@@Therizinosaurus I think this is the most likely possibility. Its imploded. It only takes the tiniest weakness in the body somewhere at those depths and boom. Its all over.
As an engineer with some practice in joining technologies, glueing titanium to carbon fibre is wild. Not in the actual sense but for an experimental boat that was supposed to go down 4000m it absolutely is.
Ludicrous….. and trying to
Add fasteners to carbon fibre is inherently dangerous as well ….. they was no keying just a smooth tube and smooth cap held by epoxy ?!?
They were probably betting on the parts being squished together rather than torn apart. Which is a totally viable engineering concept, wild, but viable. The Blackbird relies on heat and friction to dilate parts of its fuselage, so weird has worked before. But the money saving by not testing this extensively but rather doing live testing is totally criminal. Time and repetition will show a lot of failure points, and here there were just a few successful trips.
I wouldn't be surprised if the resin bonded cf just sheared straight off the titanium ring as the cf got crushed and the titanium remained intact.
There are so many potential problems with the design and manufacturing process, plus the potential cyclic failure mode. As Sub Brief says, it shouldn't have left the production line let alone be sent down 4km.
As an idiot, could someone explain why?
Have you ever quickly squeezed an empty Pringles can with the top on? The top pops off right?
Hearing the CEO's interview felt like being in one of those coach/motivational speaker's talks. I just couldn't take it seriously. Thank you for sharing those details and expert insights. What a tragic and seemingly avoidable loss of life.
Tony Robbins !
Absolutely agree.
Feel so bad for the kid, he didn't even wanna go and I don't blame him. Also, somethings you just don't go cheap on.
Its the father and son down there that really haunts me. If they didnt die instantly from water getting in then the emotional pain from knowing youve consigned your son to death is unimaginable.
Man, exactly! That’s the real tragedy is the father and son. Why did the father bring his son?! Ohh man. 😞
They heard banging from what might be the sub, unfortunately it looks like the second scenario happened.
@@notjimmy6822 I hate to say it, but that’s just cope. The media is tempering the public’s expectations. The noises they heard are just ocean sounds. This submersible was not equipped with enough communication protocols. Sadly.
Yes that was a very risky idea for the father . I have a feeling it was instant death . Carbon fibre shrinks faster than titanium. Titanium will sheer off the carbon fibre like a bottle opening
@@MockManor I dont see how thats cope, id rather hear that they died instantly in an implosion than be stuck in a tomb suffocating to death. The noises heard every 30 minutes from what could be the sub, which is evidence that they might have suffocated, the worst case scenario and the opposite of cope. But im not apart of the search team, and didnt hear the sounds. There will be an investigation to determine what caused their deaths, and whether or not the noises came from the sub.
My father in law was a career submariner going back to just after the Nautilus. He used to cringe at the recreational sub business. While the USN makes it look easy, the safety regs were written in 'fish food'.
That's an understatement. Having earned my "fish" and served thousands of hours underwater, aboard several US Navy submarines... the ocean is very unforgiving under perfect conditions.
My step-dad was always shaking his head at the recreational sub business model. He was a Navy man and was an subs frequently during his 20 year career. The ocean is extremely dangerous under perfect conditions. Unfortunately, these 5 men aren't coming home. In all likelihood it was a hull breach.
I've met a few guys who make mucho grande in the private sector consulting for O&G who were sub guys and it's all to try and immulate subsafe within the constraints of the private sector on their ships and oil platforms (that's at least what they told me, I believed them, we were at a bar and they were indeed 40 y/o white dudes so that part checks out)
Anytime the phrase “cost effective submarine” is used, it’s not hard to figure out how things will go.
Cost-effective submarine is a fancy way of saying exorbitantly expensive casket
I worked for a large engineering firm in show control and entertainment design. There was always the client who wanted to do everything half-ass and as cheap as possible. The half-assers are killing this world.
Sort of similar to "home-made parachute". There are just certain words that don't belong together.
I have the same problem with my budget teleportation rings.
@erroneous6947 "Why are you complaining?! Your top upper torso wound up on Mars and your legs rematerialized somewhere in the Crab Nebula; that's two transports for the price of one!"
My dad and I are USN retired submarine service veterans and we followed this tragedy immensely. One thing that I would like to point out was why didn't they have a SIB (submarine id beacon)? Because this could possibly have saved their lives. There are so many reasons of why that this incident happened, but the failure was all due to CEO for not getting system experts involved. I feel sorry for not only the loved ones but also everyone involved. They will deal with trauma for years.
Be safe and be 😎
You'd have thought that at least they could have had a launchable emergency buoy.
@@daveluttinen2547 i agree with both, but then again, there is a small detail.... They probably got squashed really suddenly.... My money would be on the carbon fiber, that I really don't like much... Very hard to check for weak points or irregularities in the work.... And it fails really bad when it does, and suddenly, like glass.
I'm not familiar with an SIB but James Cameron said they had a "transponder" which was integral to itself (own battery) which went offline at the same time as comms were lost. A pretty sure signal of a rupture.
@@seandelaney1700
I describe the SIB in ( ). Basically, it is a device that lets the Navy know that there is an emergency with a submarine. It is like a "black box" for aircraft.
As an Electrical Engineer., P.E. with more than 40 years of professional experience, I can appreciate hiring young inexperienced engineers and technicians. We were all “young and inexperienced” at one time. But it’s important to couple them with experienced professionals who can mentor them as I was, especially in designing and building a mission-critical submersible with no margins for errors. The USN don’t give young ensigns or Lieutenant JG command of a submarine. Sure, they’re college graduates but lack the training and experience for such a role. Stockton may have paid for his arrogance with his life and the lives of his passengers. OceanGate just closed the “gates” on any furture expeditions. And you're right "they're deceased"
17:30 As a materials engineer, the red flag here isnt the usage of a carbon fiber composite for the hull but rather the mating together of carbon fiber composite with a titanium ring/dome. Concerns include: galvanic corrosion(especially since its being used in one of the most corrosive environments on this planet), thermal expansion coefficient difference, material modulus difference, adhesive compatibility between two very dissimilar materials, and finally fatigue performance differences. So many risks point all centered around a bond line between the hull and dome. My bet is that repeated usages led to the adhesive bond line beginning to crack/degrade, coupling that with corrosion propogation and boom...your top pops off
Metal compresses as it gets colder, and with pressure right? But carbon fibre is stiffer/more brittle. So wouldn’t it be better for the material that would shrink more to be on the outside, like a bottle cap? So all the forces are in compression and aiding the seal. Rather than an insert, where surely the shrinking would add a tension force to the seal? Or am I mistaken? Apologies for my clumsy language, I am not an engineer!
@@mehashi I'm not a designer or mechanical engineer so there may be some aspects I'm missing but from my perspective, the key point is the difference in the rate of expansion/contraction between the two materials as well as the stiffness difference. Titanium will expand/contract faster and deflect more than a typical carbon fiber composite. This difference in material behavior will apply stresses across the bonding line of the adhesive. They could have recognized this and taken it into account during the design phase but based on what I've seen from this company, I'm not so confident they went through a vigorous design shake-down. Additionally, because of that stress on the bond line, the performance of the adhesive becomes critical. And another huge part of adhesive performance is compatibility to the bonding surface. You could have a great adhesive but if it doesn't stick well, it doesn't mean anything.
This is exactly my feeling, the bond seat is not full wall thickness. The carbon layup was done In a huge industrial plant, no humidity control, temperature variation, there were defects when it was manufactured.
Even CF has fatigue limits
I’m not an engineer, but a 30 year USN submarine Sonar Technician, and I appreciate your detailed professional analysis. I’m in agreement that the greatest concern is the mating of carbon fiber to titanium/steel. The different compression characteristics of both materials had to put an incredible stress on the relatively thin bond between the materials. To my knowledge, this is the only 4000m submersible that used such construction. All USN subs use the same alloy steel in all pressure hull materials and hull penetrations. It’s a shame that we have to have these conversations after such a tragedy, hindsight being 20-20.
I would contend that the use of carbon fiber for the hull is a direct cause of any and all such mating and adhesion issues, and since its use also comes with additional disadvantages, it's not at all incorrect to say that the use of carbon fiber for the hull is the entire cause of the failure.
You know the only reasons CF was chosen was because it's cheaper than titanium and sounds cooler and is lighter than steel. That CEO almost certainly said, "We'll use carbon fiber. Now figure out how to make that work."
For future reference in engineering fields, though, your details do matter. And this will surely be used for years to come as an example of what not to do.
Marine Veteran, I appreciate your take on this video. I found it to be very straightforward, informative and educational about the entire situation. I miss talking with gentlemen like yourself about these kinds of things. I hope you do a very detailed followup to this video now that we know the tragic conclusion. I am very interested to hear your thoughts and your explanations on how this played out, in your opinion.
This isn’t a tragedy, this was entirely preventable and negligent. It’s criminal not a tragedy.
Why does being criminal preclude it from being a tragedy? Its all those things.
They signed a waiver though. So any criminal charges would be negated, I think.
@@keenanmoore264 🤷🏿♂️...🤦🏿♂️
@@keenanmoore264 no waiver can save you from gross negligence. But the responsible is dead too.
@@keenanmoore264 most waviers like those "any injury is my fault" often fall through in court and don't actually make it the person who signed fault. its more of a deterant to sue than anything
As a marine engineer I have a few serious red flags regarding the diving vessel.
First, yes you are correct. There may be communication problems between the controller and the control module especially if there are any power fluctuations. At those depths would be no place or time to fix any electrical problems. The controller should be hardwired on a flexible cable and the monitors should also be mounted along with some main control panel. That way , nobody moving about inside could accidentally pull something out.
Now the vessel. The carbon fiber machine used to make build the hull looks like it was scaled up from similar machinery used to build SCBA air tanks and similar piping. The is a difference between air tanks of compressed air and external forces pushing in. The angle of the weave should be different.
Next , materials expand and contract differently and at different rates. Having the hull carbon fiber and the end’s titanium means that individuality they will expand and contract to a different size.
Having the titanium end glued on just one dive would compromise the bond due to different sizes they attain at different depths.
I believe the carbon fiber is in pieces and floated away hundreds of miles while the titanium ends and other metal pieces would sink (not directly) and bury themselves in the silt at the bottom.
We may never recover any part of the vessel.
I hope some changes are made to the agencies that would oversee these kind adventures.
We should not give up on space or ocean tourism however, this is one area that needs regulatory oversight.
I'm sure after this tragedy they will place some new regulations on passenger vessels...hopefully
@@taylorlangley900his submersible already broke a lot of safety regulations the CEO said that no expert should look at it because it "slows them down" also there was a worker that said that the ship isnt safe enough to travel down 4000m but he got fired for saying that
Yes, I too noticed that the CF weave appeared to be applied in a single plane, not layered at different angles.
This CEO needs jail time, this is pure reckless negligence for personal gain, and now five people are lost and dead.
@@DoctorProph3t Well he'll be serving it in hell considering he is without a doubt, dead.
This beats any news reporting on this tragedy, which tends to be sensational or superficial. I come away from this analysis with focus on specifications, possible validation loopholes and understanding more of the origin of the story. Really appreciate expertise and experience, and how to sniff out slopp on engineering jobs
Crazy he hired inexperienced heads to save money but it probably bite him in the butt
Yeah crazy when news is made by actually intelligent people and not communications grads with zero knowledge about anything.
people still watch the news in 2023?
That was not a ps3 controller though, just saying
@nickdotson21 very ironic how cost cutting ended up costing him the ultimate price
I’m almost convinced that the CEO should be facing criminal charges if he had not been on the vessel.
Came here to say exactly that! And so many of the things said in the video. He was criminally negligent.
@@badger313 he got judged and executed... Sadly along with some gullible company
Almost? This guy disregarded safety standards and ignored decades of experience in submarine development
Yeah sue his molecules they're probably floating around out there somewhere...
@@leecowell8165 His estate can absolutely be sued.
When a sub expert says it’s too late, he’s definitely right
so many experts out there i wonder which one is right,i saw some experts saying they are alive and can emerge on surface anytime
@@Sergeant-Mustache Even if they resurface they still can't get out. They need an outside crew to remove the bolts.
@@Sergeant-Mustache I don't even think they are gonna find the submarine in this vast ocean...I hope they do though, but the people there...the odds are all against them, only a miracle now for them to be alive.
@@Sergeant-Mustache Please do share some links with experts claiming that they can emerge on surface anytime, 'cause I haven't found any.
@@felipeabreu4866 and the sub is painted white. They should've added some orange paint so they could stand out in an emergency.
My immediate question is why would you use fiber components like this? Carbon fiber does really well in tension, which is why it is used for airplanes and pressure vessels. It does terrible in compression. This is not a design decision a trained engineer would make.
What do you think would be a better material?
edit: the guy and near 10 others have already answered. No need for people to keep saying the same thing over and over.
@@erad67the stuff that they use to build nuclear powered subs
Exactly what I was going to say, plus it was layed down in almost parallel strips not in a cross hatch pattern
Exactly.. I have been saying why was the hull made of carbon fiber. Crazy!!
Under compresion, that was just an epoxi tube.
As an Engineer, the more details I hear about this vessel, the more uncomfortable I get. I feel sorry for the families who deal with the loss of their loved ones as a result of this engineering disaster.
They are older and rich, I’m sure their families or whatever loved ones will be well off with all the money.
@@WhiteWolfeHU money isn’t going to bring back their loved ones. I’ve lost friends and family; I’d turn down millions of dollars if it meant they could come back.
@@WhiteWolfeHU waivers?
The people on board obviously had little regard for their own safety. They had the resources to do their own research to verify the safety standards just as we're all doing now. They put their own lives at risk just to have a cool story to tell other people. They are not simply innocent victims in this situation, and I'm sure their love owns know that.
As an engineer as well, this whole situation disturbs me. I can only assume the lack of experience amongst the engineering team lead them to produce and continue production on this... turd... even after their senior engineer dipped out.
I presume he CEO was overstepping his role and injecting himself into engineering decisions where his experience and education is blantantly not. In doing so, he was taking advantage of his authority and inexperience of the engineering team to drive poor decisions for the sake of cost cutting and "progress".
Great video. This really broke it down and brought up many concerns and situations that realistically needed attention.
I am a Naval Architect. You did a great job with this video.
When I first heard about the incident and the price tag of $250 000 a seat, I thought the sub was going to be something like the Mir-1 or a commercial version of it, but seeing that it was actually hand assembled with bolts in some shed, piloted by a PS2 controller, and had none of the usual safety features makes me wonder how the heck did this not raise red flags.
Hey now give them some credit, it was in a workshop, with a PS3 controller! /s
Seriously the fact that this was allowed to dive any deeper than a shallow lake is a tragedy in and of itself. Any decent craftsman will tell you that built to spec is underbuilt, and i highly doubt it was actually built to spec to begin with
Me too - I just can't understand how anyone would get in it - the whole thing is just so unbelievably amateurish. Nuts.
@@tomriley5790 Yes hearing all this its just utterly insane that anyone would voluntarily step foot in that death trap
Yes exactly me too. Mir (and Alvin) to me are what I would expect to see Titanic. First time I saw the boat I was confused. Didn't quite register for a moment it was the sub. I thought it was maybe a camera to film the main sub....
It's not the hand-assembly that worries me, it's the scarcity of testing.
I would never want to go anywhere in a submersible that it hadn't tested at! Or that didn't have a tether and hardwired comms to the surface!
Great in-depth. Can you do a video on how the titan imploded?
Stunned to know the sub was never tested to its full 4000m working depth before commencing commercial operations. Absolutely incredible.
@@Dr.LongMonkey Not really a test if it was a real expedition. Considering the material used wasn't even safe for those depths, there was a limited number of times they would be lucky and come back alive . Had they actually done tests and listened to the advice of experts it would show that the sub wouldn't be able to handle multiple repeated trips.
@@lix6048 compression cycles are a bitch.
@@Dr.LongMonkey did they always lose comms and thought that was just a thing to be ok with?
Even if they tested it 100 times to that depth, a flawed design is a flawed design and this is why engineers have to check their work with other engineers and companies. It could have been the carbon fiber tube finally had enough of the repeated loading and broke because it is brittle. I heard that they used portholes that were only rated for a third of the depth. That porthole could have been stronger than listed but still too weak and just finally gave out. It could be the batteries on their 1998 off brand ps1 controller died. Maybe the paper with sharpie drawn arrows that they used to label the valves fell off and they dove instead of rising lmao. Such a bad design and it’s a miracle it worked that long from an engineers point of view.
@@Dr.LongMonkey It could be the repeated stress cycling. Perhaps the multiple trips is what caused a weakness and failure.
As a former submarine qualified officer and engineer in the Swedish navy I'm lost for words.
Same here. Getting younger people in for the cool factor instead of old white men is the modern schizophrenic disease negating adult capable reality for Peter Pan fantasy types. They cannot differentiate real from fantasy, it is crazy… worse than disinformation, it is a blurrinformation. It is nuts in America these days - this kind of hatred for reality and doing adult work with mentalities of Call of Duty basement dwelling retard. This CEO was power hungry, trying to incite schizos and wash himself of responsibility!!
Narco-subs are used only once. In Airplanes carbon composite makes sense but I do not remember any use in deep sea.
@roderickthered4981We will hear it if adults in charge start making this a lesson for the “young punkism” in America favoring teen mentality wizard idiots above adults. It is fine to make video games in the silicon valley and build a google database. It is not for serious stuff.
@@peterdambierindeed, the thread of carbon works well in airframe pressurized tension from the inside, not for crushing pression from the outside! Fibers work well in tension , not in compression. In compression, first, you need an egg shape arch hull, not a straight tube. If any fiber are to be used like spokes on bicycle wheels or sustentation cables on a bridge, they have to be on the outside above pulling the bridge up, not below it pushing it up. An outside frame mesh would have held it, not on the hull directly.
I’m not, just look around. We live in a Clown 🤡 World society these days where hurting someone’s fee fees is of utmost importance
The fact that they were bolted in from the outside with no other means of egress just adds one more layer of psychological terror to this story... What goes through the mind in situations like that? It's almost enough to take you to the edge of insanity just pondering it.
The whole story is existentially terrifying. Every detail.
Whilst it is fucked there's no hatch, opening the hatch and going for a lil swimmy poo at 13'000 feet isn't really an option so I wouldn't be stressing too much, at least not until I was made aware of the possibility of burning to death trapped. But I doubt that thought entered these dummies' mind.
@@chesprenger8510problem is that if they surfaced somewhere they’d still be run out of air
@@chesprenger8510 what about opening a hatch when floating on the top of the sea?
@@retpok718 Yea it's not ideal but like, if you surface and there's no one around to help you open the hatch, being able to open the hatch won't fix the issue of there still not being anyone around to take you home. But it's a moot point anyway cuz there fuckin should be an openable hatch in case the stupid thing catches fire. I do concede though that if you're running out of air and the surface vessel is relocating to come pick you up, crucial seconds will be wasted.
Sir, I really appreciate the calm, clean speech, professional way in which you made this video! You and many other older, experienced men in my life have inspired me! Don't ever think that you are to old to inspire young people...I am one! Thank you again! Please do a follow up video!
Imagine having a minor issue (only communications down, for example) so you return to the surface - only to suffocate bobbing in the sunshine because you can't get out and they don't see you.
That is very possibly the case
Or worse, the tv screens or the rv light you bought at camping world catches fire and you die burning inside a bolted down coffin.
@@Shadow__133 With so much water around 😂
I dont know if itd be worse to suffocate bobbing on the surface with the hot sun beating down on the thing or at the bottom of the ocean in pitch blackness.
Why the hell wasn't it fitted with an EPIRB, or similar device activated when surfaced ???????
Never even seen one in R/L or been maritime trained. Read about it while reading "The Perfect Storm" which is what this has transformed into !!!
Not hiring seasoned veterans is probably the reason why this sub has gone missing. Way to go ceo, you're really inspiring those young kids now.
This ideology is being applied to airplane pilots, etc. Diversity is more important than qualifications. Still wanna fly?
The pilot is 71 year old French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet. He has more experience diving to these depths than everyone in the comment section. You should educate yourself on the matter my friend.
@@GregoryCunningham lol it was controlled by anyone on a games console controller. What makes you think the post is referring to the pilot?
@@GregoryCunningham Too bad he wasnt smart enough to see what a total pos that submersible was. If he were to live, he should be put in prison for ignoring the glaring safety issues.
@@GregoryCunningham Probably not, judging from what I see about him online. He has some experience in deep sea submersibles, but it would appear primarily as a passenger. It's not at all clear he qualifies as an SME on submersible construction, operation or certification. Any qualification in that regard is, to be generous, open to question.
Hiring young people is definitely code for hiring cheap labour. At a previous workplace, a senior resigned because he wasn't getting payrises to match his experience, he felt. The bosses only hired a fresh out of university guy, and shifted the senior's work on to others. When I tried for senior they said I wasn't ready, after 9 years experience. So I left for a 35% increase at another place.
Ultimately, they just didn't want to spend the money
Yeah, I teach Japanese language and in out language school there are only young teachers. The pay is so so, I've seen one senior teacher come for an interview and she did not want to work with us because the pay is not sufficient. It's a common tactic.
He did it for the ESG score, didn't want "old white guys", got mixed results instead.
this was my first thought as well, paying them on the cheep. what a fkr.
Its always about the money, always.
@@commandervile394 How dumb has this world become lol. Not wanting to hire people who actually know what they're doing because they "look boring."
Truly a low IQ move for the ages, but very popular these days.
You know the saying "Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread"Definitely applies here. One catastrophic mistake on top of another 😮
I'm not an expert, but studied mechanical engineering, and I've found this a lot with non-engineers who have ideas for stuff they want to build: they get frustrated when they get told that it's not as simple as they think or that the reason the "pros" do things the way they do (which are more complicated and expensive) is because most of the rules and best practices are written in decades of human blood. One thing I've heard mentioned, but I didn't hear covered is that the sub supposedly had failsafes that would return the sub to the surface after 24hrs or two days or something. I don't know when the clock started ticking on that, but if they aren't up by now, I don't know how they could be located or even retrieved if they were. I know it'd have added dramatically to the cost, but some kind of retrieval tether or even just a datalink that could get up through the thermoclines or something. Going blind down there for so long just seems like a bad plan. Also, I think the craft had gone down many times before. Was it ever NDT inspected? Did they ever cut it apart to see how all of those joints were working?
SV Seeker on RUclips is a great example of this. Doing it yourself and skirting every rule and regulation and building everything with a contrarian attitude. 1 year later and every single system has failed and been patched, sometimes rigging a rig etc. Not quite as life threatening as a sub at 3800 meters though.
swiss cheese model of failure comes to mind. I bet small shortcuts and seemingly trivial cuts here and there in attention, maintenance, what have you, leads to catastrophic systems failure :(
Everyone wants to "move fast and break stuff" like their CEO idols. They seem to forget that the systems we use now evolved over decades or more of stuff breaking (and people suffering for it).
I have had a handful of run ins with this as a crazy inventor. The hard part is 3/4 if the time it's perfectly possible and safe to do I just couldn't communicate exactly what I was wanting to do to the engineer. To the point I made one out of cardboard and hot glue and the engineer said 'oh you want that easy as'
This is what happens when you hire amateurs and hope to inspire them to success. If a CEO, who also apparently is an amateur, is willing to risk the lives of his customers and employees with shoddy work in the name of creativity, he's the problem. Certainly has civil liability and I'd argue criminal also.
By far the very best analysis I've seen since Titan was reported missing. Reliably informed, thankfully concise, necessarily & justifiably critical, and most importantly calm, measured and considerate for the familes and loved ones of those who perished.
Thank you for the thought and time that you put into this presentation.
Maybe if the submarine company hired a few guys like this they wouldn’t have murdered 5 people. Death by diversity hire.