Comments by "Glamdolly" (@glamdolly30) on "FOX 32 Chicago" channel.

  1.  @piperwren7732  I prefer optimism, until we know different. In fact there is still sufficient oxygen yet awhile, according to experts. And the banging the coastguard reports may indicate survivors. We simply don't know what's happened to that submersible vessel. If it has failed at those depths - sprung a leak, imploded or even had a fire on board, then obviously the consequences are dire. But we just don't know. I find it shocking OceanGate sent the 'Titan' down with members of the public on board, while its sister submersible is out of action, being repaired. That means the people in charge knew if it experienced a problem, they had no other vehicle suitable for those depths, to search for it! I think they cut corners on safety and got complacent, in their haste to make money.
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  2. Agreed - you need strong, calm leadership in an horrendous crisis like that. I hope the two men in charge have been able to provide that for the others - but they too must be terrified. Your idea to lay down is very sensible, for many reasons, chief among them to conserve oxygen, stay calm and stave off panic attacks, which are a very real possibility. Even with the 'Titan's' carbon-fibre exterior, it will be very chilly down there at that incredible depth, surrounded by miles of pitch black, freezing cold seawater. I hope there are some kind of blankets/foil wraps available for them. The state of that toilet (a bucket behind a curtain), after 5 days use by 5 men, must be horrendous. My heart goes out to all of them, but I keep thinking about the father and 19-year-old son in particular. There's no way that man would have taken his boy with him on a trip of a lifetime to see Titanic, if he thought there was any real risk to life involved. OceanGate's 61-year-old CEO Stockton Rush is one of the five. He has a confident - some may say too confident - manner, which I believe has given the public the mistaken idea this is low-to-no risk. Tellingly, in an interview last year, Rush said his biggest concern was the submersible not surfacing, for whatever reason. It seems a prescient comment today. That poor Dad must be going through such fear, guilt and anguish, trying to reassure his son they will be rescued - and wishing to God he had never handed over half a million dollars to put them both in mortal danger. We are hearing there may have been safety concerns about the 'Titan' for a some time. Five years ago a former OceanGate employee entered into an acrimonious legal battle with the company (settled out of court), after he claimed the carbon structure, window, and various aspects of it and the general safety ethos, were weak. One of his criticisms was that there were flammable elements within the vessel, one of many issues he said paying customers were unaware of. I fear OceanGate has been doing these Titanic trips for so long, they've become complacent about safety. The 1912 Titanic disaster is the ultimate cautionary tale about man taking on the might of the ocean. It's a battle we can never win. We disrespect nature and the natural world at our peril. I pray one hundred and 11 years later, the Titanic is not about to claim another five victims.
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