TOPLINE
Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick said Wednesday afternoon a team of experts is analyzing banging sounds that were picked up earlier Wednesday and late Tuesday, but the search mission for the Titan submersible—which has five passengers and disappeared Sunday—has not yielded any other signs of the missing vessel.
KEY FACTS
A Canadian airplane picked up “underwater noises in the search area,” Frederick said, leading authorities to direct many of their search efforts around the area where the sound was heard.
The sounds are being analyzed by experts, but their source has not yet been identified.
The search area has been almost doubled in size since the Coast Guard last addressed the public Tuesday afternoon, and is now incorporating an area twice the size of Connecticut.
Frederick declined to give a timeline for how much longer the crew would search for the submersible, and clarified the mission is still “100%” a search-and-rescue attempt and not yet a recovery mission.
He also shared the team’s thoughts and prayers with the families of the five people onboard the Titan.
KEY BACKGROUND
The Titan had 96 hours of life support, which means the passengers likely have less than 24 hours of air remaining. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger told the BBC on Wednesday that rescue crews are assuming they have until Thursday morning to find the submersible with its occupants still alive. But the oxygen “is just one piece of data” the team is considering in its time line for how much longer to search, Frederick said. The submersible went missing shortly after it dove at 4 a.m. Sunday morning off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, to view the wreck of the R.M.S. Titanic more than 2 miles underwater.
FURTHER READING
‘Underwater Noises’ Detected In Titanic Sub Search By Canadian Military Plane (Forbes)