Most everyone has heard about the tragic story of the Titan sub trying to bring tourists down to see the Titanic. I spent Monday morning this week working on my sailboat's outboard engine. On the drive home, I heard a quick news blurb on the radio and became interested in the story. The sub went missing on Sunday and everyone knew they had 96 hours of air before the crew would start suffocating. I sincerely hoped the rescuers would find everyone alive and well within that 96-hour window.
Looking back, I had that nagging feeling that the sub imploded on the way down and nobody survived. I pushed that idea out of my mind as did a lot of people. The US Navy reported hearing an implosion sound on Sunday morning at about the same time the sub lost communication with the surface ship. They then clarified their statement as inconclusive. They knew what happened but didn't want to discourage anyone from looking for survivors because we all wanted to believe the 5 people in the sub could still be alive.
Tuesday and Wednesday we hear a story from searchers saying they heard banging sounds every 30 minutes. This is something that would happen if the people were sitting on the floor of the ocean inside the Titan sub tangled in the Titanic wreck. While we don't know the source of the sound, it gave everyone hope. We all wanted to believe in a miracle.
Thursday afternoon, the US Coast Guard held a press conference letting everyone know they had found pieces of the Titan sub on the floor of the ocean. They mentioned they found Titan's tail cone. I heard that but still had hope because it is a part meant to be ejected from the sub. Next they mentioned the rails that the sub sits on while on solid ground. Again, I had hope because the rails are not required to keep the hull of the sub intact. Finally they mentioned they found the front nose dome and all hope was lost that there would be any survivors. The only good news to come from the US Coast Guard press conference was closure to the story and knowing approximately what happened to the occupants inside the sub.
Today is Saturday and I have gone to a few news sources seeing if we know more about what happened. We can speculate but won't know for sure until a thorough analysis is completed. This will require finding as many pieces of the sub as possible, bringing them to the surface, and having engineers examine them to reconstruct what happened. I doubt it will be much different than what we all imagine happened as we mentally picture an aluminum can getting crushed with 5 people inside. I personally hope death came quickly and nobody suffered.
I know I am not alone as someone that hoped for a miracle. Everyone else that comments on the issue confesses to hoping as well. I think that is a good thing as we want to believe in happy endings. Sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.
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