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The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

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Re: The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

#71

Post by tim333 »

voidfunc wrote: post #4
justrealist wrote: post #3

I mean, I get it, it was a clown show. And yes, give it 15 minutes of fame, because it's the Titanic and all. But I feel like some people care about this far more than I can understand, and the news cycle on this is quite protracted. People die in stupid ways every day and this doesn't seem more egregious than most.

Most people that die in stupid ways aren't rich. That's the difference

I think it was more an interesting way to go. I mean rich people die in everyday car crash doesn't get headlines but people die in deep sub to the Titanic or on space mission to the moon etc do.

Re: The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

#72

Post by eternityforest »

justrealist wrote: post #3

I mean, I get it, it was a clown show. And yes, give it 15 minutes of fame, because it's the Titanic and all. But I feel like some people care about this far more than I can understand, and the news cycle on this is quite protracted. People die in stupid ways every day and this doesn't seem more egregious than most.

People die in stupid ways, and a lot of them have aspects in common with this.

It's a pretty interesting case study on safety culture. Dying in a stupid way is often preventable, and yet we just accept it, for probably some of the same reasons Rush did.

Re: The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

#73

Post by eternityforest »

jaimex2 wrote: post #48

Everything is an accident waiting to happen. That's what an accident is. Driving to work, that's an accident waiting to happen. Consider all the poorly signed roads, drivers of various states of sobriety and rage. The sub was in use for years, they did well to engineer within their budget. There's always someone pointing out something wrong, nothing would get done if you actioned every single 'concern'

The FAA seems to action a lot of concerns... And stuff does get done, planes improve all the time, and it's very safe.

Perhaps this wouldn't have been possible on their budget... But I think I'd rather have no sub than a sub full of dead people.

Re: The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

#74

Post by hennell »

Bluecobra wrote: post #62
Animats wrote: post #24

Photos of the recovered debris show an intact titanium end bell being lifted by a strap through where the acrylic porthole was. No sign of porthole or carbon fiber tube. Not yet clear what failed first, the tube or the porthole.

The article mentions that at one point the viewport only had a depth rating only 1,300 meters, but it’s not clear if it was upgraded later on. The more I think about it, would it have been able to withstand even the first dive to Titanic depths without it being upgraded?

The articles comments on acrilic conversion factors are (obliquely) about that. Essentially for any construction material you have a failure rating and a factor of safety - the allowable load is failure divided by FOS, so your materials working load is usually significantly under its failure load.

Equipment rated for depths of 1,300 will be capable of several times that, possibly only reaching immediate material failure at 8,000 meters. But there's a reason you have a FOS; you want to be well within your material limits, not pushing it close to breaking point. After multiple trips that material could be weaker, or an unexpected stress could cause early failure.

Re: The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

#75

Post by blitzar »

dudeinjapan wrote: post #70
kelsolaar wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the fact that Rush seemed to have designed the company to avoid liability with US alone is worth the read.

Perhaps he forgot the ultimate liability is himself aboard.

His spouse and 2 children will either get to keep all the money houses cars etc or have nothing, depending on how effective the liability shielding is.

Re: The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

#76

Post by blitzar »

voidfunc wrote: post #4
justrealist wrote: post #3

I mean, I get it, it was a clown show. And yes, give it 15 minutes of fame, because it's the Titanic and all. But I feel like some people care about this far more than I can understand, and the news cycle on this is quite protracted. People die in stupid ways every day and this doesn't seem more egregious than most.

Most people that die in stupid ways aren't rich. That's the difference

Most normal people dont die in stupid ways. The rich are special in that they disproportionaly die in rich people toys like planes, helicopters etc.

Re: The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

#79

Post by panick21_ »

nradov wrote: post #17
vikramkr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but we're in a string of silicon valley come to Jesus moments and finally having a case where the founder was so deluded they got even themselves killed is going to get airtime. I don't think there's be nearly as much interest in this story if we weren't in also dealing with Theranos and FTX and the aftereffects of Cambridge analytica etc etc

OceanGate, FTX, and Cambridge Analytica were not headquartered in Silicon Valley. Out of the companies on your list Silicon Valley can only take the blame for Theranos.

Silicon Valley investors rejected Theranos. Most of them actually consider Tharanos a great victory. Tharanos funding come from lots of large private investors, like family fortunes and so on.

Re: The Titan Submersible Was “An Accident Waiting to Happen”

#80

Post by xeonmc »

> Soon afterward, Rush asked OceanGate’s director of finance and administration whether she’d like to take over as chief submersible pilot. “It freaked me out that he would want me to be head pilot, since my background is in accounting,” she told me. She added that several of the engineers were in their late teens and early twenties, and were at one point being paid fifteen dollars an hour. Without Lochridge around, “I could not work for Stockton,” she said. “I did not trust him.” As soon as she was able to line up a new job, she quit.
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