U.S. air force aircraft land in St. John's with gear to aid in search for missing submersible

U.S. air force gear lands in St. John's to aid in search for missing submersible

1 year ago

Duration 1:20

Three aircraft belonging to the United States air force landed in St. John's on Tuesday, carrying gear that will be used in the search. Several transport trucks were also at St. John's International Airport to transport the equipment to the Titanic wreckage site.

Latest updates:

• U.S. Coast Guard says extensive searches have turned up nothing.
• Search continuing with OceanGate Expeditions leading underwater efforts.
• More equipment lands in St. John's to aid in search.
• U.S. Coast Guard saysCanadian search aircraft detected "underwater noises" insearch area.

A Canadian military surveillance aircraft has detected underwater noises as a massive search continued early Wednesday in a remote part of the North Atlantic for a submersible that vanished while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.

A statement from the U.S. Coast Guard did not elaborate on what rescuers believed the noises could be, though it offered a glimmer of hope for those lost aboard the Titan as estimates suggest as little as a day's worth of oxygen could be left if the vessel is still functioning.

The coast guard wrote on Twitter that a Canadian search aircrafthad "detected underwater noises in the search area." Searchers then moved an underwater robot to that area to search. However, those searches "have yielded negative results but continue."

"The data from the P-3 aircraft has been shared with our U.S. navy experts for further analysis which will be considered in future search plans," the coast guard said.

Meanwhile, more equipment is on the way to the site of the Titanic to aid in the search offthe Newfoundland coast.

ThreeC-17 aircraftbelonging to the U.S. air force had landed in St. John's as of 7:30 p.m. NT Tuesday. The planes were met by several transport trucks. Once the equipment is unloaded, it willbe sent370 nautical miles, about 685 kilometres,southeast to the Titanic wreckage site.

Capt. Jamie Frederickof the 1st Coast Guard Response Departmenttold reporters there has been no signof the Titan a seven-metre craftthat went missing while diving to the Titanic.

Tuesday afternoon's update came as the clock continues to count down forthe five people aboard the submersible, which is equipped with a 96-hour emergency supply of oxygen.

"We know there's about 40 hours of breathable air left based on that initial report," Frederick told reporters.

To complicate things further, there is no equipment currently at the scene that can retrieve the crew if they are found alive. Frederick was asked if he believes help will arrive in time.

"I don't know the answer to that question," he replied."What I will tell you is that we will do everything in our power to effect a rescue."

WATCH | The U.S. Coast Guard says people aboard submersible likely have less than two days' worth of oxygen left:

Time running out for submersible crew

1 year ago

Duration 1:27

The U.S. coast guard estimates the crew aboard the Titan has about 40 hours of oxygen left, as of 2:30 p.m. NT.

The U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement late Tuesday that it has established a "unified command"with the Canadian Coast Guard and the tour company,OceanGateExpeditions.

"This is a complex search effort which requires multiple agencies with subject matter expertise and specialized equipment, which we have gained through the unified command," said Capt. Jamie Frederick of the U.S. Coast Guard.

OceanGate is leading the efforts under the water, where it has conducted numerous successful missions in the past. That's happening as the company's CEO, Stockton Rush, isone of five people missing in the ocean.

More ships, equipment inbound

The Royal Canadian Navy hasHMCS Glace Bay, equipped with a six-person mobile hyperbaric recompression chamber, en route. It's not expected to arrive until midday Thursday.

The Canadian Coast Guard is also sending CCGSJohn Cabot, which is expected to arrive lateTuesday. Two other coast guard ships are in St. John's,standing by to load any equipment the team might need.

The type of equipment needed to search at the depths required is rare.

LISTEN | David Marquet, a retired captain and former U.S. navy submarine commander, speaks with theCBC's As It Happens:

As It Happens6:12Search for Titanic submersible reaches 'desperate' point, says former navy captain

David Marquet, a retired captain and former U.S. Navy submarine commander, tells As It Happens host Nil Kksal that while there is still hope for the five people on board a submersible lost off the coast of Newfoundland, its time for people to steel themselves for the worst possible outcome.

The Titanic sits more than 3,800 metres beneath the surface of the ocean, where the pressure is immense and light is non-existent. OceanGate has previously told CBC News there are few manned vessels on the planet that can reach such depths.

They're also searching for a small vessel in a wide area. Titan is seven metres long and just under three metres high. Thesurface area the search has covered so faris more thandouble the size of Prince Edward Island.

"This is a complex search, and it's complex for a variety of reasons," Frederick said. "Logistically speaking, it's hard to bring assets to bear. It takes time. It takes co-ordination."

WATCH | Extreme conditions in North Atlantic complicate potential rescue:

Search for missing sub comes with unthinkable challenges

1 year ago

Duration 2:01

Rescue crews face extreme conditions as they search for a submersible carrying five people that vanished on an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic.

A commercial vessel also joined the search Tuesday morning, as the Bahamian-flagged shipDeep Energy arrived on scene. The pipe-laying ship has deepwater capabilities and figures to play a role in search efforts.

"It is a marine emergency, and we are there at the discretion of the American and Canadian Coast Guard for as long as needed," said a spokesperson from the ship's company, TechnipFMC.

The submersible was towed out to sea on the weekend, takingcrews of fivebelow the surface to view the Titanic. The last communication between the submersible and its mother ship, the Polar Prince, happenedabout 1 hours into the dive early Sunday morning. It has not been heard from since.

Worst-case scenario, says former passenger

Colin Taylor knows as well as anyone what the crew might be going through, after going on a Titanexpedition with his son last summer.

"I will have nightmares about it,I'm sure," he said from his home in St. John's."It's not for the faint-hearted to begin with, and it's certainly not without risk."

Taylor and his son made a successful trip to the Titanic, but he said it crossed his mind on multiple occasions that things could have gonedifferently.

The wreckage sits about 685 kilometressoutheast of Newfoundland. OceanGate says the Titan has life support capacityfor five people on board for 96 hours, or four days.

Communicationlimited during dives, says former passenger

Taylor said the submersible dives for about 2 hours before spending between four to five hours at the Titanic.

The depth levelofthe Titanicalso means there is very little if any communication with the surface.

"The communications are almost nil and they don't really know where you are on the bottom. It's very, very difficult to triangulate where the sub is from the ship on the surface. And so you really don't know where you are," he said.

"You're kind of at, you know, the mercy of the gods."

LISTEN| Colin Taylor speaks with CBC Radio's As It Happens:

As It Happens6:30Former tourist on Titanic dive calls trip 'utterly remarkable' but risky

A small submersible should have resurfaced in St. John's yesterday evening after an expedition to view the Titanic shipwreck. Retired St. John's businessman Colin Taylor, who previously took the trip, tells As It Happens host Nil Kksal it's clear the deep dive comes with a degree of risk.

The vessel also has to fight undersea currents anda widedebris field once it reaches its destination, Taylor said.

"I don't know that that's happened at all, but that would be one of the risks here," he said.

"And if you are caught on it, the next thing becomes, well, how could you be rescued? And there's very, very few vehicles on the face of the earth that are capable of going down to that depth."

3 factors at play, says hyperbaricspecialist

If the crew members are still alive, there would be a trio of debilitating factors at play, according to Dr. Ken Ledez, a hyperbaric medicine specialistfrom Memorial University.

Ledez said they'll have to contend with the potential for hypothermia, lack of oxygen and an excess of carbon dioxide.

The ocean at that depth would be near-freezing. If the severance of communications was caused bya loss of power,the crew would have to find a way to keep warm.

"[After a while] you won't have movement or muscle strength," Ledez said."Your reasoning will decline and you will lose consciousness the colder you get."

If the submersiblegoes beyond its oxygen supply, Ledez said it wouldn't take long for the crew to begin feeling the effects. Suddenlyand without warning, he said, peoplewill lose consciousness.

Even if they have oxygen, they willbe at risk if they have no way to filter out the carbon dioxide from their breath. Ledez said that couldbe a risk if they've lost their electrical system, but it could be mitigated by disassembling the equipment used to filter outCO2, and spreading it across the floor of the sub.

"To me it sounds very treacherous indeed," he said.

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