Needle in a haystack: Canadian searchers release video of plane surveying Titanic sub area

The Canadian Armed Forces released new footage of their planes searching for the missing Titanic submersible in the deep Atlantic Ocean. 

The Canadian military shared the footage via a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday after forecasters warned foggy weather and large waves may impact the search’s efforts.  

‘As part of @CanadianForces’s support to the search for a missing submersible, 380 NM south of St. John’s NL, an @ARC_RCAF CP-140 Aurora from 14 Wing Greenwood, NS is providing surface search and sub-surface acoustic detection capabilities’ the post explained.

It comes after a Canadian P-3 aircraft equipped with sonar equipment detected ‘banging’ that offered hope that the Titan 5 may yet be alive. 

The footage shows the Air Force soaring through the skies, with pilots scouring the vast expanse of ocean below as the search becomes increasingly desperate. 

At one point in the footage, a lone ship can be seen in the ocean, it is unclear if it is part of the rescue mission. 

Military operatives are also seen handling equipment used in the search for the Titan sub. 

One of the planes is also seen touching back down on a landing strip between searches, possibly to refuel or exchange crew. 

Rescue teams are battling time as well as weather conditions out in the North Atlantic. 

Winds of more than 25 miles per hour, nine feet waves and foggy conditions may have impacted visibility, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Conditions are likely to improve after midnight and into Thursday morning, according to the outlet.  

As the crew on board the missing submersible run out of oxygen some of the world’s most advanced underwater search equipment has been deployed to scour the depths of the Atlantic.

Two submersibles capable of descending 20,000ft beneath the ocean surface are currently leading the underwater search and more are on the way, Coast Guard chiefs have said. 

The vehicles are being aided by a fleet of specialized ships which also include tools that could help lift Titan from the seabed – if it is found.

There are now less than 24 hours worth of oxygen remaining on the missing vessel, which disappeared on Sunday morning with five people on board. The search area has now expanded to around 14,000 square miles – twice the size of the state of Connecticut.

The time pressure is compounded by the fact that the underwater vehicles may be able to pinpoint Titan, which was headed for the Titanic wreckage 12,500ft below the surface, but it will take additional specialized tools for the mammoth task of bringing it up.

The Canadian military released footage of their CP-140 Aurora scouring the ocean above the Titanic wreck

Rescue teams are battling time as well as weather conditions out in the North Atlantic

Military operatives are also seen handling equipment used in the search for the Titan

One of the planes is also seen touching backdown on a landing strip between searches, possibly to refuel or exchange crew

As the search for the missing Titan submersible becomes increasingly desperate, some of the world’s most advanced underwater search equipment has been deployed to scour the depths of the Atlantic

Hopes of a recovery were raised slightly on Wednesday when a Canadian P-3 aircraft equipped with sonar detected periodic ‘banging’ sounds, which experts hope came from Titan’s crew. The Coast Guard chief who’s coordinating the search said that sounds were initially heard overnight and more were detected on Wednesday.

Rescue crews are in a race against time and air to find the Titan five – the people trapped on a submersible at the site of the Titanic shipwreck. The Titan was launched Sunday morning and lost contact with the surface within two hours. 

Billionaire Hamish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and Shahzada Dawood, 48, a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust charity, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, are reported to be the people stuck in the sub.

A massive effort, involving several countries, is underway to try and rescue the crew. 

The P-3 is one of several models of aircraft which are also helping the search by scouring the ocean surface and using sonar equipment for signs of activity on the seabed.

A range of military and commercial vessels is also at the site, offering a mixture of search capabilities, communications tools and rescue equipment if Titan is found.

Ultimately, it is down to the submersibles to get eyes on Titan if it remains on the seabed – or trapped within the Titanic’s wreckage.

Sean Leet, co-founder of Horizon Maritime Services, the company which owns Titan’s mothership Polar Prince, said on Wednesday that he has never seen advanced search ‘equipment of that nature move that quickly’.

According to OceanGate’s website, the Titan can provide up to 96 hours of oxygen, which theoretically runs out on Thursday morning.

At a press conference on Wednesday, US Coast Guard First District response coordinator Jamie Frederick confirmed more banging sounds were heard on Wednesday. 

OceanGate’s Titan submersible went missing shortly after it departed for the Titanic wreckage on Sunday morning and its oxygen supply is running low 

The 21ft submersible has an oxygen supply of up to 96 hours but it is thought the crew of five have just 12 hours of breathable air left

He would not confirm that they were 30 minutes apart, as had been reported, nor did he describe them as being an SOS signal, as others had claimed.

However Frederick said the sounds and the ongoing search meant there was still reason ‘for hope’.

‘Several flights heard noises yesterday… the P-3 heard noises today as well. We don’t know what the noises are, to be frank with you… they have been described as banging noises but they are inconclusive.

‘The good news is we are searching in the area where the noises were detected,’ he said.

The sounds that were heard are now being analyzed by a team of Navy experts.

‘The noises are very complex and in the ocean, you need to be in acoustic analysis and have context. They have been described as banging noises, but they have to put the whole picture together and eliminate manmade noise sources other than the Titan.

‘The most important thing is we are searching in the area of the sounds,’ he said.

The only remote-operated vessels that are there today and searching have a depth limit of 13,000ft. The Titanic is buried at 12,500ft deep.