OceanGate CEO Bragged About Using Expired Carbon Fiber to Build Doomed Sub

jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de to Technology@beehaw.org – 286 points – OceanGate CEO Bragged About Using Expired Carbon Fiber to Build Doomed Sub
futurism.com

New evidence strongly suggests that OceanGate's submersible, which imploded and killed all passengers on its way to the Titanic wreck, was unfit for the journey. The CEO, Stockton Rush, bought discounted carbon fiber past its shelf life from Boeing, which experts say is a terrible choice for a deep-sea vessel. This likely played a role in the submersible's tragic demise.

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I'm saddened by the amount of taxpayer money that was spent searching for 5 millionaires who went missing while on a joyride in a test vehicle.

Actually, money could have been saved... here's why:

  1. The US Navy's submarine detection network heard a "boom" on the day of the implosion, which they kept close to their chests...
  2. Sounded the alarm, they spent money and resources looking for something they were almost sure was lost...
  3. After the expiration of time when the submarine "could be recoverable" was when they said "well... we did heard something the other day"...

Imagine the other possible scenario where the say on the first day "Hey, the sub imploded, we heard it on our underwater microphones, we won't spend money looking for these people..."
And then a future investigation reveals that they got stuck somewhere or lost power but were "buoyant" for 48 hours or so, and died for lack of oxygen when no one was looking for them.

Can you imagine the lawsuits?

Easier way to say it is that there was just no way to be sure what that boom was.

This. They had no way to be sure that the sound they detected was from the sun imploding. From the standpoint of the search crew, it makes much more sense to continue until you can verify without a doubt that you detected the failure.

This is a tragic situation but your typo is very funny

You are too far along in the chain of causalities. The tax payer money was wasted the moment they went under water with an unfit "sub". The search was only necessary because of that.

I hear you. The best I can do is tell myself that hopefully the Coast Guard personnel and other mariners got some practice/training which will be useful in emergencies in the future. And it's still right to try and save someone, even if they put themselves in the dangerous situation.

I doubt it was much of an added expense. The search was carried out by Coast Guard and Navy personnel, who would be getting paid regardless.

If the sub hadn't gone missing, it's quite likely their time and resources would have been spent on practicing some sort of rescue mission.

The search was carried out by Coast Guard and Navy personnel, who would be getting paid regardless.

Bro the major cost in moving a host of ships is not the hourly wage of the sailors lol

They do drills and such when they're not doing rescues. The ships move regardless.