What's it really like on the Titanic submarine?
BOSTON - Last year, CBS correspondent David Pogue got inside OceanGate's submersible to descend to the Titanic. The sub and its crew are currently missing on the latest mission to the wreckage. Crews have been working around the clock to find them.
During his trip to the Titanic, the sub also got lost, but unlike the current situation, they maintained communication with the ship above. Their team drove for hours but never found the Titanic.
"We have the GoPro footage of that dive, so we have some idea of what it's like when things go wrong down there," says Pogue. "There is a lot of taking off of hot jackets and throwing out suggestions."
He says the sub is about the size of a minivan, with the passengers sitting on the floor. The submersible itself is one-of-a-kind. The tube of the sub was created with the help of NASA, but the rest of it could be described as makeshift.
"I can give you a long list that really seems janky and improvised. Yes, you pilot the sub with an Xbox game controller. Why? Because it's perfect for the task. Up, down, left, right," says Pogue. "There's only one window. It's a little porthole about 21 inches across."
Pogue says there are seven different ways to bring the sub to the top. They can use the thrusters, inflate an air bladder, release the legs of the sub, or they can drop their sandbags with a lever. If the crew passes out, the hooks holding the bags will dissolve in sea water. Also, there are used construction pipes sitting on shelves as ballasts.
"If the power goes out, do you want to know how you release the pipes? You get everybody in the sub to lean to one side, and you tip the sub like this, and the pipes roll off," says Pogue. "They are covered, and covered, and covered again. Given that, why isn't the sub on the surface? It might be, but that doesn't make things easier. The running out of air problem doesn't change if you are on the surface."
In the past few days, he has had numerous conversations with fellow crew mates. He knows his time for personal reflection is coming.
"There is some gnarly, you know, metaphysical stuff that when all these interviews are done that I am going to have to confront. Is it by the grace of God? Did I dodge a bullet? If they invited me this week instead of last year, would I be dead?" questions Pogue.
