Titanic submersible search: Westhampton-based NY Guard crew keeps up search

A Westhampton-based New York National Guard transport plane continued searching above the North Atlantic Tuesday for any sign of a submersible with five people aboard that went missing on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage.

An HC-130J, carrying a team from the 106th Rescue Wing — six crew members, one combat rescue officer, four parachute jumpers and two crew chiefs — arrived on scene at 6:30 p.m. Monday and began search operations, said Capt. Cheran Campbell, a spokesperson for the New York National Guard unit.

By late Tuesday, said officials with the U.S. Coast Guard, time was critical because the submersible, known as the Titan had about 40 hours of oxygen left.

The Coast Guard and the Canadian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, have been leading the surface search missions overhead in the North Atlantic since Monday afternoon. OceanGate Expeditions, the operator of the mission, is leading underwater search efforts because of its knowledge of the site, Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said.

About 10 a.m. Monday, the Coast Guard requested the assistance of the 106th Rescue Wing, Campbell said. The 106h Rescue Wing launched the HC-130J Combat King II Aircraft, loaded with water rescue equipment, at about 3 p.m. 

The Titan submerged Sunday morning, according to the Coast Guard. Its support vessel lost contact with the submersible about an hour and 45 minutes later. The Titan had been about 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland at the time, according to Canada’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

The U.S. Transportation Command was sending three C-17 transport jets from Buffalo, New York, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, carrying commercial equipment considered useful for the search, according to a command spokesman.

The submersible was designed to have an oxygen supply of as much as 96 hours in case of an emergency, according to the Coast Guard. The 40-hour estimate of breathable oxygen remaining was based on that number, said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jamie Frederick at a news briefing in Boston Tuesday.

"There is a full-court press effort to get equipment on scene as quickly as we can,” Frederick said.

In a statement, OceanGate Expeditions said it was “exploring and mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.”

The Titan carries a pilot and four crew to its maximum depth and can monitor their health in real time. The system provides “early warning detection for the pilot with enough time to arrest the descent and safely return to surface,” according to OceanGate’s website.

Company expeditions to the Titanic wreck site include archaeologists and marine biologists. OceanGate also brings people who pay to come along, known as “mission specialists.” They take turns operating sonar equipment and performing other tasks in the submersible.

The five people on board the missing vessel include Stockton Rush, OceanGate's CEO and founder; Hamish Harding, a British billionaire and chairman of an aircraft brokering company; father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, members of one of Pakistan's most prominent families, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French navy officer who is considered a Titanic expert after making multiple trips to the wreckage over several decades.

With AP and Tribune News Service