Pieces of
the Titan submersible
that imploded
with five people on board
have been retrieved from the ocean floor.
It's been more than a week
since the sub's
ill-fated voyage to the Titanic
wreck in the North Atlantic.
CNN's Paula Newton is in Ottawa for us.
Paula, tell us more about the pieces
that were brought in today
and what else
officials are looking at
as this investigation continues.
Yeah, so those pieces of debris
you see
beyond are from pelagic research,
and they're the ones that operated
the remote operated vehicle
near the Titanic wreck.
They had first
mapped out the debris field.
And then what's extraordinary
here, Brianna,
is that they brought up
such large pieces of Titan.
You can actually see
the dome and the viewport.
And if you compare
what they brought up today
to the submersible one, it was intact.
Certainly a lot to go by there.
We had been told by the U.S.
Coast Guard
when they first announced this tragedy
that in their term,
the area was unforgiving
in a very challenging and remote area
in which to recover debris.
But here we are.
We do see quite a few pieces of it.
I have to say, obviously,
as with some disquiet,
this is the resting place
for five people
who tragically lost their lives.
And I'm sure
while the family members
are glad to see
that there will be these clues
in the investigation,
it's obviously causing
so much grief again
to see all of this play out.
I will say, though,
this investigation
is very important, though,
to many people and many countries.
Right here in Canada,
the Transportation Safety Board
trying to determine exactly what went on.
They've conducted many interviews.
They refused to say to me today
where those pieces of debris are headed,
but they will be headed to labs either
in the United States or Canada
to be examined further
And I will mention as well
beyond that,
obviously, the RCMP,
the national police force
here, is determining
whether or not a criminal investigation
needs to be opened.
And again,
the more that they can salvage
from the deep sea,
the more that they will have answers,
because the last thing anyone wants here
is for this to be a guessing game.
So this recovery and important
operation beyond
and I'm sure is
as painful as
this may be for the family
of the victims families,
I'm sure they would like to see
some of this evidence
as well and see where
this investigation leads
Paula Newton, thank you.
Well, joining us now is Bart Kemper.
He's an engineer
and was one of the dozen experts
in the submersible craft industry
who actually raised concerns in 2018
about how Ocean Gates
Titan vessel was made.
He warned back then
that the company's
experimental approach
could result
in catastrophic consequences.
And of course, we did
see that exact thing play out.
Bart,
what do you make
of the size of the pieces
that have been recovered thus far?
This is consistent with an implosion.
Don't forget, an implosion is.
It collapses in on itself.
It's not an explosion.
So the have the living quarters,
which is the only part
that's supposed to be at one atmosphere
or the normal
what we breathe atmosphere,
it will collapse inwards on that.
But the rest of the items are
what we call it in
potable volumes or volumes
that that are not part
of the living space,
which would be the batteries,
lights, the gas cylinders.
Those aren't part of the
the one atmosphere place
where the where the crew would be
so that
those would still be intact,
as would be the framework
that's holding it all together.
So I'm not surprised to see large pieces
come out.
It's just a question of
which pieces are coming up.
And of course,
what the investigation leads us to.
So if you were doing reverse
engineering here,
as we're seeing and learning
more about these pieces,
what are some of the questions
that you'll be asking
I would want to know the
thickness and composition of the carbon
fiber composite.
It's not just a question of the thickness
because it's not one solid
piece of carbon fiber.
It's a composite
or multiple layers of different materials
and different
different orientations
that would give it
its strength in compression
The reason why I say compression
is because
it's an external pressure,
so it's pushing in on it.
If it was
a internal pressure like a
like a medical hyperbaric chamber,
if you pull it outwards.
The other thing
I similarly would want to link
the dimensions of the window,
which is made of acrylic
as well as the dimensions
and thickness of the titanium cap.
Another critical part be
how everything comes together because
we're the joints coming
together will be a
potential point of failure.
So you'd want to
have a good examination of that.
So hopefully
some of these components
are still connected
the way they're supposed to be.
So the investigators
will be able to properly assess
what was the failure modes
and what was the actual cause
of the collapse I know you had warned
Ocean Gate to comply
with some of the U.S.
regulations for this industry.
What kind of changes
or safety features
need to be made
so so that this doesn't happen again?
Or is this as simple
as perhaps complying with U.S.
regulation could have
avoided this from happening?
Well,
more to the point with this,
this is out of international waters.
So this B
I am o were
the International Marine Organization.
That's where the rules would be.
However,
you are correct
that this was an experimental
not a tourist sub, not a researcher,
but a very much an experimental item
that has not been built
to an existing codes
and standard
such as pressure
vessels for human occupancy
published in United States
or any of the classification societies
such as American Bureau, Shipping or DMV.
Those are
that's how these other submarines
are done.
And it's as has been mentioned before.
There are nine or ten other submarines,
non-governmental ones,
that can reach this depth
and not had a problem.
All right, Bert Kemper,
thank you so much.
We appreciate your time.
Thank you.