tl;dr: Sonar buoys picked up sounds at 30 minute intervals. There is a relatively high probability that these are from the missing vessel, as producing sound by banging on the hull at the hour and half-hour is protocol for rescue signalling from underwater. Sound travels well where radar and other kinds of signalling does not. It’s also possible that the vessel is at or near the surface; sounds travel better in the same ocean layer, and the buoys are at the surface.
It’s also possible that the vessel is at or near the surface
NPR has someone on that had done the trip and said there are multiple systems in place to surface the sub in an emergency, including some that happen automatically. So there’s a very good chance that they’re at the surface, but still very hard to find because it’s a 20-ft sub in a huge search area. And they’re still running out of air because the hatch must be opened from the outside.
tl;dr: Sonar buoys picked up sounds at 30 minute intervals. There is a relatively high probability that these are from the missing vessel, as producing sound by banging on the hull at the hour and half-hour is protocol for rescue signalling from underwater. Sound travels well where radar and other kinds of signalling does not. It’s also possible that the vessel is at or near the surface; sounds travel better in the same ocean layer, and the buoys are at the surface.
NPR has someone on that had done the trip and said there are multiple systems in place to surface the sub in an emergency, including some that happen automatically. So there’s a very good chance that they’re at the surface, but still very hard to find because it’s a 20-ft sub in a huge search area. And they’re still running out of air because the hatch must be opened from the outside.
undefined> And they’re still running out of air because the hatch must be opened from the outside.
That seems like a…pretty big oversight. Is that standard?