In The Flap Of A Housefly's Wing

Not out of any sense of morbid curiosity or malicious intent, I found myself wanting to know if the occupants of the Titan submersible really didn't have any idea as to what was happening as the vessel imploded. 

And the reason for my wanting the answer to the question, "Did they have even the slightest idea about what was happening?" is that I so wanted Stockton Rush in particular, to know what he had done. To know, that due to his hubris, he had right royally fucked up. Of course, whilst I have no sympathy for the man, I can only hope that he rests in peace, it would be inhuman of me to wish for anything else.

On the other hand, I found myself hoping that the innocent victims of this event, had no idea of what was happening, not even at the minuscule level of milliseconds.

Once the implosion was triggered there would have been only milliseconds for it to start and finish its devastating work. How long exactly is a millisecond, I hear you ask? Good question. Here are some answers, to put it into a context we can comprehend.

A millisecond is one one-thousandth of a second. To put this in context, the speed of a human eye blink is 100 to 400 milliseconds, or between a 10th and half of a second.

1 millisecond is the time it takes for a normal flash in a camera to finish.

1 millisecond is the time taken for sound to travel 34 cm. 

1 millisecond is the time taken for light to travel 300 km in a vacuum.

1 millisecond is the time it takes a housefly to flap a wing.

Ok, my next question is how long does it take a pain signal to reach the human brain? The answer is, not less than 100 milliseconds.

Next question; how long does it take the human brain to process an external physical event? The answer is about 200 milliseconds.

And finally, how long does an explosion last? That all depends on far too many variables to cover here. However, an explosion can last up to 3000 milliseconds.

So, my conclusion is that yes, it is theoretically possible for the occupants of the Titan to have known what was happening, if only for a few milliseconds.

Then I thought, what if there were earlier prior indications of what was about to happen?

For example, was the hull making any creaking noises as it struggled to withstand the enormous pressure it was under? And if noises were heard, did Stockton Rush simply dismiss them as being a normal occurrence on any dive? Were there any objections on the parts of the other four occupants due to erroneous indications from the sub or its controls?

And what about instrumentation? Were whatever rudimentary instruments the sub might have had making any indicative signs that all was not well?

What if, due to prior signs that all was not well, Stockton Rush had decided to halt proceedings and return to the surface? Would it have already been too late? At what point did the Titan pass the point of no return? Was this all a replay of Captain Smith of the Titanic saying full steam ahead, contrary to the warnings of an iceberg he had been given?

These are all questions nobody can answer. Having said that, there must have been at least one hour and forty-five minutes of functioning comms. Were those comms recorded? If they were recorded, which as a matter of safety they ought to have been, are those comms now available for analysis?

I think that there does have to be a thorough scientific investigation, going all the way back to the choice of materials used, along with the design and construction of the Titan, as well as any maintenance carried out or ignored. I think it also has to include the attitude and behavior of Stockton Rush, and his employees and/or associates, both past and present, prior to and during the dive and its terrible outcome.

For the sake of the victims and their loved ones, this cannot be brushed under the carpet. Whatever the cost, it has to be done as soon as humanly possible.