Oceangate Submarine Disaster - What REALLY Happened

on June 18 2023 Titan a submersible operated  by Ocean Gate went missing the international   waters in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast  of Newfoundland Canada the submersible was on a   tourist expedition to view the wreckage of the RMS  Titanic with five individuals on board including   the founder and CEO of Ocean Gate Stockton Rush  due to the estimated three days of oxygen supply   there was a huge rescue effort by the U.S  Coast Guard and Canada's Coast Guard which   was unsuccessful until early on June 22nd when  evidence of the wreckage of the vessel started   to emerge leading to the tragic conclusion  that the vessel imploded in the ocean depths   and there were no survivors as an engineer I'm  furious about what happened and the different   shortcuts that were taken we'll go in through  all of that today so let's try to figure out   what exactly what happened and what we can learn  from this I'm Ricky and this is TwoBit DaVinci let's start what we know about the company  operating the Titan and submersible Ocean   Gate Incorporated is a privately held U.S company  operating out of Everett Washington that provides   crude submersibles for tourism industry and  research and exploration the company was   founded in 2009 by Stockton rush and Guillermo  Solen Stockton Rush wanted to be an astronaut so   he got his commercial pilot license but because of  bad eyesight he could never be a military pilot so   instead he moved from San Francisco to Seattle to  work at McDonald Douglas as a flight test engineer   for the F-15 Eagle after attending the launch  of spaceship 1 in the Mojave Desert in 2004   he decided he didn't want to go up to space as a  tourist he wanted to be like Captain Kirk on the   Enterprise he wanted to explore and pivoted his  pursuit to undersea exploration he was married to   Wendy Rush a descendant of Isidore and Ida Strauss  two people who actually passed away on the sinking   of the Titanic which ties into the story here  today the tragic events happened during a deep sea   tourism expedition to explore the wreckage of the  Titanic which sunk in Northern Atlantic in 1912.   before we get to the specifics of this particular  tragedy let's put just how difficult deep sea   exploration is into context it's easy to be an awe  of Aviation and space exploration because Breaking   Free of gravity and flying through the air seem  like such a feat but in many ways deep sea craft   are the much greater engineering challenge it all  comes down to pressure we don't think about air   pressure because at sea level it's just 14.7  pounds per square inch that pressure is the   result of the column of air that reaches above  us all the way into outer space all those very   molecules above us pushing down result in that  pressure but water is a much more dense fluid than   air so for every 10 meters or 32.8 feet you dive  the pressure increases by one atmosphere or 14.7   PSI the Titanic is sitting on the ocean floor at  about 12 500 feet below sea level the two broken   parts of the ship the bow and the stern are more  than 2 600 feet apart and surrounded by debris   after over 100 Years of being in the bottom of the  ocean the wreckage is 400 miles off the coast of   Newfoundland in Canada you can stay here let's put  this depth into perspective imagine laying on your   back with a one foot by one foot board okay and  how much weight you would feel on that board at   100 meters the size of a soccer or football field  we have the pressure of 10 atmospheres or 145 PSI   which means on that one by one foot board we would  feel the weight of 20 880 pounds that is 4.7 Tesla   Model wise at 381 meters 1250 feet we have the  height of the Empire State Building in New York   City at this depth we would feel 37.4 atmospheres  of pressure and that one by one footboard would   feel the weight of 80 000 pounds at 490 meters  we have the max dive depth of the C-Class of U.S   Navy submarine here we'd feel 48.5 atmospheres of  pressure that one by one foot board would feel the   weight of 94 800 pounds at 828 meters we have  the height of the Burj Khalifa here we'd feel   82 atmospheres that weight on the board would be  173 520 pounds now this is around the same depth   as the deepest diving submarine in operation today  the oscar-class submarine in the Russian Navy at 3   800 meters sets the wreckage of the Titanic here  the pressures are 376 atmospheres that one by one   footboard on our chest would have the weight of  797 000 pounds the Ocean Gate Titan was rated   for a mass dive depth of about 4 000 meters now  that might sound insane but actually it's not even   the record for the deepest human beings have been  that honor goes to James Cameron and the deep sea   Challenger built in Australia in 2012 the deepsea  Challenger reached the deepest part of the Mariana   Trench in the Pacific Ocean the deepest point on  Earth at a mind-boggling 11 000 meters or 36 000   feet here we'd feel 1090 atmospheres of pressure  and that one by one foot board would have the   weight of 2.3 million pounds on it compare that  to the difference in pressure of an airplane at   cruising altitude of 36 000 feet we're outside the  pressure might be 3 PSI and on the inside between   10 and 12. and that hopefully puts in perspective  why more people have been to space than have been   into the deepest parts of our oceans now let's  talk about the red flags that plagued Ocean Gate   from the get-go by the way Ocean Gate just sounds  like a walking Scandal ready to happen first the   design limitations of the Titan required that  the hatch be bolted down by 17 to 18 Bolts from   the outside this means there's no way for the  passengers inside to open the hatch they'd have   to rely on ground Crews to open it now this is  understandable because of these deep sea vessels   have to be incredibly tight they have to be very  strong the water seals have to hold and that's all   complicated but I think this shows you why it's  really important to have backup systems and have   some sort of an explosive detonation cord you can  pull to blow the hatch in the event that the craft   surfaced and no one found it and that was actually  one of the fears early on is that the vessel could   actually surface and be at the surface somewhere  along the Atlantic unfound and still die from   suffocating because they couldn't open the hatch  and the air could run out the Titan also didn't   have GPS or other navigational instruments on  board and it didn't have a locator beak in either   like a black box on an aircraft most Subs use GPS  for near surface navigation which doesn't work in   deeper waters in deeper waters they use dead  reckoning course information obtained by the   ship's gyro Compass measured speed and estimates  of local ocean currents they also allowed inertial   navigation systems which was an estimated position  Source utilizing acceleration deceleration pitch   and roll from the computers that transmit this  data the Titan in contrast appeared to rely only   on data provided by the surface support vessel in  2019 Ocean Gate published a blog post explaining   why the Titan was not certified by any ship  Authority which was a huge red flag Ocean Gate   stated the vast majority of marine and Aviation  accidents are actually the result of operator   error not mechanical failure here and argue that  classification focused solely on the physical   state of the vessel and not the corporate actions  which are characterized as a constant committed   effort and a focused corporate culture of  maintaining high level operational safety   that sounds like absolute [ __ ] to me I'm  sorry journalist David progue who rode on the   Titan to view the Titanic in 2022 noted during  his expedition the surface support vessel lost   track of the Titan for about four to five hours  and mentioned that adding a Locator Beacon was   actually discussed during this event they could  still send short texts to the sub but they had   no idea where it was it was quiet and very tense  he says and they shut off the ship's internet to   keep us from tweeting oh my God that is terrifying  and they've already known that this could happen   the craft was also controlled by a video game  controller which sounds like some cool Silicon   Valley way of thinking beanbag chairs and break  rooms but it's downright stupid military spec   products go through incredible rigorous testing  making them safe in all operating environments for   example as expensive as Apple's Vision Pro headset  is at 3 500 it is done right cheap compared to the   four hundred thousand dollars that it costs  to get a helmet for the F-35 fighter jet and   the reason why well lower volumes of course but  also because they have to go through unbelievable   vibration testings to make sure the wells will  all hold up make sure that the higher levels of   radiation at 40 to 50 000 feet won't do any  damage long term and to make your absolute   reliability now let's talk about how we got to the  Titan Ocean Gate started by purchasing antipodes   which is a submersible back in 2012 which was  their first test bed for testing and learning   about this entire Endeavor next they built cyclops  one which is in collaboration with University of   Washington's Applied Physics laboratory and this  was a deeper sea vessel capable of reaching a max   depth of 500 meters still nowhere near deep enough  for the Titanic but this was their next step and   their next iteration in the early design the hole  was made of carbon fiber and that's the whole   submersible would dive vertically with pivoting  seats to ensure the passengers remained upright   now it was said that Boeing worked with Ocean Gate  and the University of Washington on their initial   design analysis but we'll get back to that in a  second because there's a little bit more to that   story finally they would arrive at the Titan their  final product that would actually be rated for 4   000 meters one of the key takeaways about the  Titan is that this is a carbon fiber and titanium   hold submersible now this is really exotic in the  world of materials we've been using high strength   steel aluminum for a long time and we have data  engineering data on how they fail and what to   look for and test methodologies but carbon fiber  is still quite exotic in fact any car you've ever   driven probably doesn't have much carbon fiber in  it the only exceptions are really really high-end   supercars or even in the case of Aviation more  recently with the Boeing Dreamliner but before   that we've always used aluminum and titanium  and other materials like that so just generally   there's less known about it and it's also really  difficult to make sure that you get it right Ocean   Gate signed a contract with Spencer Composites  in January 2017 for the carbon composite cylinder   this was the same company that built the composite  pressure hole for the single person deep flight   Challenger for Steve Fawcett after Fawcett passed  away d-flight Challenger was acquired by Richard   Branson's virgin Oceanic which had announced  plans to conduct a series of five Dives to the   deepest points of the ocean but deep flight  refused to endorse the plan as the craft had   been designed to dive only once this is important  we'll get back to this in a second in a statement   they said the problem is the strength of the deep  flight Challenger does decrease after each dive   its strongest on the first dive said Adam Wright  the firm's president it was designed to set the   record dive to the deep and then be retired as  an exhibit in the Smithsonian this is a really   crucial part because sometimes in engineering what  it comes down to is the operational Lifetime and   understanding it and this might have been at play  here and by the way I try to go to oceangate.com   to get a little bit more information and I noticed  that their site was taken down on June 22nd so   after The Disappearance of the Titan in 2023 the  University of Washington stated that APL their   Applied Physics laboratory had no involvement  in design engineering or testing of the Titan   submersible a Boeing spokesperson also said that  Boeing was not a partner on the Titan and did not   design or build it a NASA spokesperson said the  NASA's Marshall space flight center had a space   act agreement with Ocean Gate but did not conduct  testing and Manufacturing via its Workforce or   facilities basically all of these Partnerships  that they had are now being revealed that they   were not really Partnerships this is a classic  example of a company trying to get credibility   by partnering with NASA how good does that sound  but what exactly they did with NASA isn't really   well understood it could have just been as simple  as hey can we run out a little bit of space over   in this corner of your facility this is probably  the most infuriating for me as an engineer David   Lockridge the Ocean Gate director of marine  operations filed a quality control report in   January 2018 stating that no non-destructive  testing or ndi of the carbon fiber Hull had   taken place to check for voids or delaminations in  the carbon fiber layup that could compromise the   whole strength ndi non-destructive investigation  NDT non-destructive testing is a way of checking   something to make sure that it's safe without  actually breaking it apart because the really   the best way to check if something is safe is  to cut it in half break it and go yep it's safe   but of course you've destroyed the product so NDT  is something that Engineers lean on all the time   to make sure things are safe and in the world  of carbon fiber it's that much more difficult   because carbon fiber doesn't Bend or yield or  get grooves and cracks the way other materials   do it requires a lot of information and insight  lockbridge was told told that Ocean Gate would   rely on the real-time acoustic monitoring system  which he felt would not warn the crew of potential   failure with sufficient time to safely abort the  mission and Evacuate the day after he filed his   report he was summoned to a meeting in which he  was told the acrylic window that you look out of   was only rated for 1300 meters because Ocean Gate  would not fund the design of a window rated for 4   000 meters in that meeting he reiterated his  concerns and added it he would refuse to allow   crude testing without a whole scan Lockridge was  dismissed from his position as a result Ocean   Gate filed a lawsuit against Lockridge that June  accusing him of improperly sharing proprietary   Trade Secrets and fraudulently manufacturing a  reason to get rid of him the suit was settled in   November 2018 I'm sure it was all sealed off and  we'll never know exactly what was agreed upon but   that is absolutely terrifying during a human  piloted descent on December 10 2018 Stockton   Rush used the vertical thrusters to overcome  unexpected positive buoyancy when descending   past ten thousand feet these submersibles are like  a balloon with air inside right so it's hard for   them to dive and so they have different ways and  ballast systems to be able to accomplish that but   for whatever reason around 10 000 feet he had to  use vertical thrusters to continue his descent and   when this happened it caused interference with the  communication systems between spinning propellers   the disturbance in the wake of the water coming  off those propellers and everything else they   lost contact for one hour now Rush was thrilled to  call himself the second person to solo dive to 13   000 feet after James Cameron but if that was me  I would be terrified I would come back and figure   out what on Earth happened with the comms and what  can we do we change the frequency can we have a   backup system can we have a tether whatever  has to happen to never let that happen again   and we know what happened again because of that  report from the reporter after these tests were   completed in January 2020 the hall the Titan  began showing signs of cyclical fatigue and the   craft was derated to 3 000 meters now the hull was  repaired and again rated again for 4 000 meters   of diving depth but by who and was everything done  properly it's impossible to know I decided to make   this video because I think we're at the precipice  of a new age of exotic tourism and exploration   between going to the space to go to the Moon low  earth orbit or deep sea diving we're at the edge   of seeing more of this wealthier people the people  that were involved in this particular incident   always want to have that next thing and so if  we're gonna do this it's important to realize just   how unsafe this can be unlike commercial Aviation  there are no regulatory boards involved here this   is International Water the company did have to  register the parent vessel that takes people   from Canada right so that had to be registered  but what happens out in open Waters is not very   highly regulated this is a really tough story for  me because as an engineer I do love ambition I   mean building your own vessel carbon fiber five  inches thick it sounds cool but as an engineer I   also realize how important safety measures and  Protocols are Aviation is a perfect example if   you ever hop on an airplane you cannot imagine how  safe you are because of all the people involved   from company members like Boeing and Airbus  Personnel engineering test officials all the way   to the FAA and other regulatory approval bodies  that make sure every little thing is regulated and   controlled there is none of that going on here one  of the first things to realize about an implosion   of the vessel is that there was probably not a  lot of suffering the people probably just died   instantly we mentioned how much weight you would  feel at these depths and you would pretty much   just get crushed so what probably what happened  is they built a vessel which was in and of itself   pretty impressive the carbon fiber layup the  composite structure titanium this was an exotic   craft and it had a viewing window to go see the  Titanic these are things that human beings could   not do before but the problem is every craft  every vessel every engineering device has an   operational lifetime now the way Engineers do this  is by testing something and figuring out how many   cycles can we hit this with before problems start  to emerge and then they add a safety factor for   example your car will work almost forever there's  no pressure involved if just atmospheric pressures   at sea level right now if it rusts and things that  that could change the equation but your car is   fine how about aircraft aircraft are pressurized  and depressurized pressurized depressurized right   and you can't really inspect every little nook  and cranny it's what Engineers figured out because   if we're going to build this out of aluminum if  we're gonna build it from carbon fiber we have to   do a test every thousand hours 500 hours whatever  the case might be a complete overhaul where they   tear down the wall panels and inspect and they'll  actually get out and check for any cracks in other   impurities and Imperfections because any crack  or any little divot can be a stress concentration   point where it'll start to impound and fail  then finally they'll say at this many hours 20   000 flat hours whatever the number might be the  aircraft is retired that doesn't mean it's going   to fall apart but we know we we tested it for  millions of hours and nothing bad will happen   in this window and that is the operational window  odds are a plane could probably fly for thousands   of more flights after that but we don't want to  do that that is the operational lifetime what   was the operational lifetime of the Titan was it  ever established they were not doing ndis or ndts   non-destructive testing to see what was happening  to the carbon fiber again carbon fiber is a mesh   weave that is laid in alternating patterns  and then glued up it is incredibly strong and   Incredibly impressive as an engineering material  but it's equally not as well studied we have a   hundred years of history and experience with high  strength steel and aluminum and other materials   but this is a new frontier and that's why this  is so important to cover New Frontiers are   exciting they're sexy they're glamorous right  heirs travel we're on the brink of space tourism   where rich people can buy a ticket to go up  and tour around the moon have a nice little   catered lunch and come home whenever we have New  Frontiers we have unknowns that's what makes it a   frontier there's not a Playbook and when you have  to build vessels able to withstand the pressures   of the ocean's deep deep Waters there's a lot  that is unknown and that's why we don't have   commercial versions of this I think this vessel  just had some sort of a crumple or some de Factor   deformation something was happening over a couple  of Cycles I mean they did successfully go down and   come back three or you know three times and that  fourth time they crumpled honestly I don't think   any vessel that goes to the Mariana Trench or  12 000 feet in the Atlantic should have a life   more than a couple of cycles and I think what  they were trying to do I think Stockton Rush   was trying to make these tickets affordable right  now they started at 125 and dollars double that   by the time these guys went on at 250 right 250  000 sounds like a ton of money the real price for   this probably should have been a million dollars  1.5 that allows you to replace the vessel every so   often or to Do complete disruptive testing to  replace Parts there is a whole slew of things   that have to happen but I think in the interest of  trying to be affordable being on the ship yourself   The Prestige of your reputation trying to build  a brand trying to build a company they took all   kinds of shortcuts and did things they do not  understand and I'll be honest with you we know   more about space than we do our deep oceans or  the deep Earth these are just really really hard   environments to get to this is tragic you know I  was an optimist I was hoping that we would find   them somewhere and that this would all kind of  be a a Learning lesson without loss of life it   didn't work out that way but in engineering we  have to always learn from our mistakes if you're   a believer in Freedom and you know these people  took the risk they knew what they were doing I   do agree with that I'm a believer of freedom and  taking your own risk or taking your own choices   but did they fully understand what this vessel was  was it fully known were the risk really well known   to them probably not so those are things that  we can try to improve upon and maybe the next   time somebody comes up with this idea to do deep  ocean exploration there's better methodology in   place and I would imagine it's going to get much  more expensive all right that is a look if you   thought this story was crazy check out this one  next until next week I'm Ricky the stupid da Vinci

Channel: Two Bit da Vinci

Views: 15,193,688

Keywords: two bit da vinci, coast guard, atlantic ocean, missing submarine, titanic tourist sub, oceangate expeditions, submarine missing, titanic submarine, titanic submarine missing, titanic submarine tour, titanic oceangate, oceangate expeditions titanic, stockton rush, oceangate tragedy, titanic tourist submarine, titanic wreckage, sub missing, sub missing titatnic, coast guard submarine, titan, oceangate titan, submersible, Oceangate Submarine Disaster - What REALLY Happened

Id: TKLamhyJ6bE

Length: 21min 31sec (1291 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 24 2023