God help them..I still can't believe why anybody would want to dive down so far in such a rickety looking sub with guidance from a modified video game controller.

So much for health and safety, doesn't exist with that firm, just interested in making big bucks from people with money to burn. God help those poor souls.

Trouble with this game is, when it goes wrong a lot of very expensive kit is needed to have a glimmer of a chance of survival.
Frankly I’d ban them.
I’d imagine it was crushed by the pressure at that depth, one little glitch or fault can prove fatal, the only consolation being it would be over in seconds.

fillum coming up if they are rescued but the way things are going I doubt it, I am no expert but it wasn’t a submarine and not self propelled, weren’t there umbilicals attached from the mother ship ?

Don't think there's any umbilicals, if there were they'd be able to follow them down to the sub. Even if it's still intact and they locate it it will be quite a challenge to get it to the surface before the oxygen runs out. How people cope knowing they're in that situation and waiting for the inevitable is beyond me. I'd need drugs or being hit over the head with a blunt object to keep me calm.

Been on a conventional sub, but to see plastic party bus subs going down to where even a nuclear sub would descend has all the appeal to me of a wet Friday tea time on the M1 in a cut n shut Lada with terminal rust problems and a suicidal truck driver behind me and the only device in the ‘car’ is a set of Rosary Beads.

There needs a book compiling of all your "quotes" Snowy.

What a terrific read it would be.

You didn't quite finish the journey on the M1, expect it was close to Watford Gap services?

Nah, it’s when travelling up from Pompey you join the M1 at Northampton and that eternal drag reaching its climatic ejaculation of hope as you get near Leicester…… the place is riddled with photo copier reps in Vauxhall’s bland offerings driving on the road to nowhere.

cannot imagine anyone going in it at the first place knew there would be risks involved. just comparing the depth that sub had to go down to against the depth a normal sub can decend too you can see there could be a problem.

Looks like the various rescue missions mounted at vast expense are out of time. You have assume that all the people on board were fully aware of the risks involved and that they were basically doing it for shits and giggles. Feel sorriest for the 19-year-old lad and his mother.

What I can't fathom out is the obvious safety measure of having a button , when pressed it sends a location feature to the surface, not being available. Surely a device of that sort would be top of the list.
Banging on the hull of the submersible is a tad primitive to me, even though it has been picked up.

Whilst I have sympathy with loss of life why is it getting so much coverage, they went on the journey voluntarily ?

As terrible as it is, it's 5 people who knew the risks and decided to do it anyway. The people you feel for are those left behind.

Just seen they charged $250,000 each for the trip!!

If they offered to pay ME £1,000,000 to go down I'd say Do I Look Fookin Stupin!!!!!

The closest I ever want to be involved in the Titanic is when I fly into Belfast and see the iconic cranes bearing the H & W logo, Samson & Goliath, although they were never part of the building process as they were only commissioned in the late 60's early 70's.

Feel sad for the 5 who lost their lives but it seemed doomed from the outset and if I had taken a look at the construction before going on board I would have made a speedy retreat.

The Chief Executive of the company Stockton Rush said….” …he was tired of industry players who try to use a safety argument to stop innovation”.

Looks like ‘industry players might have had a point.

Without risk takers we'd probably still be living in caves though.
It wasn't the first dive for the pilot or vessel, and I don't suppose Mr Rush had a death wish.

The way interest rates are rising there will be many people living in caves - so don't knock it.

As regards Mr Rush he's name gives the game away, in a rush to prove something that really was never going to happen. I imagine any descents carried out were in waters akin to the Lake District.

They'd been down to Titanic last year as I understand. Suggestions now are that each previous dive would have weakened the integrity of the sub and therefore catastrophic failure was therefore inevitable at some point.
It goes without saying someone will try again with an improved version.

This is where the safety factor becomes paramount never mind innovation. Innovation with an aircraft is good, but never at the expense of safety….you can’t build a passenger carrying aircraft without rigorous testing before you let a passenger anywhere near it, this should be no different.
Why should uncertified Heath Robinson builds be sent into to such extreme conditions is beyond me. These ‘excursions’ to the Titanic are totally unnecessary and exploration of the depths should be by ROV’s…..the constant re-pressurisation of the shell should be studied under lab conditions….if a cut and shut uncertified airliner crashes with a full load of tourists we don’t reply by praising the ‘innovation’ of the designers and the disaster a price worth paying, extensive enquiries follow,
In effect, they were carrying fare paying passengers to the Titanic….oddly enough, I don’t recall ever having to sign multiple disclaimers before boarding a plane.

The pioneers of flight went up in aircraft made of canvas and string, have you been to NASA and seen the clip of the lunar modules, one of the space shuttles exploded with people on board, racing cars, trains, airships, were all heath Robinson in the early days.
You sign disclaimers for many dangerous activities, sky-diving, supercar driving days, and even pony trekking.
I'm not defending taking short cuts with safety when the risks are so high, that is why in the future at some point this will become regulated and therefore safer.

Hindsight.
But apparently there was plenty of warnings given about the health n safety of this Sub.
For 200k a go the risk of death should never of come into play.
Hindsight.

The early pioneers of all sorts of activities put their own lives on the line, but they weren’t charging people to fly with them, this is a tourist business at the end of the day…. A gawping session to say you’ve been there.
That’s one cruel environment to play trips around the Titanic in.

There’s really nothing innovative about it. If there was need to go any deeper safely the defence industry would have cracked it by now because their multi billion pound kit doesn’t go anywhere near that depth for a reason.

At the end of the day everyone on board had a choice to climb in or not, I'm sure 3 or 4 pages of disclaimers and simply looking at the thing would be enough to put many off, let alone the cost of a seat.
Unfortunately the gawpers will always be around, how many times have you been held up by rubber neckers on the roads?
Virgin and Musk were sending tourists into space and that will continue until there's a catastrophe too.
Science and pioneering spirit will always mean man wants to be the first to do things, to go higher, deeper, faster, further, etc and good luck to them I say.

at the end of the day the titanic itself is now just a rusting load of scrap metal and bears no resemblance at all to what it originally was. they must have seen the hours of footage over the years of that ship and you,d think paying to see something closer with the obvious dangers involved was a no takers from the start.

I remember when the Mary Rose was raised from the Solent a wet Bank Holiday and our lass had to see it….she was transfixed waiting for it to rise from the sea bed only to be gutted when the wreckage broke the surface…underwhelmed would be putting it kindly. Even though the Goonies film came along later in 1985, I suspect she was anticipating the scene where he galleon emerged with sails unfurled and flags flying. Oh dear