A Canadian surveillance aircraft detected “underwater noises in the search area” while scouring the North Atlantic for a submersible that went missing on Sunday while exploring the wreckage of the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard announced early Wednesday morning.
Rescue operations were relocated to explore the origins of the noises but have not yet located the submersible, which was carrying five passengers. The Coast Guard explained it will begin to make greater use of the P3 surveillance aircraft as the search continues.
Rolling Stone reported Tuesday that a Canadian P8 aircraft also heard “banging” in 30-minute intervals in the area the explorers descended. “The P8 deployed sonobuoys, which reported a contact in a position close to the distress position. The P8 heard banging sounds in the area every 30 minutes. Four hours later additional sonar was deployed and banging was still heard,” read an internal e-mail update sent by the Department of Homeland Security’s National Operations Center.
In addition to underwater detection capabilities, the U.S. and Canadian aircraft that have been dispatched have also deployed torpedo-like probes dropped into the ocean. A number of ships are also searching for the missing submersible called Titan.
The submersible was only equipped with a 96-hour oxygen supply and began its dive at 8 a.m. on Sunday. It was expected to resurface at 3 p.m. that same day. The Canadian research vessel Polar Prince alerted the U.S. Coast Guard it was overdue and that it had lost contact with the submersible within two hours.
The Titanic wreckage is at a depth of 13,000 feet. The U.S. Navy’s manned rescue craft can only descend about 2,000 feet underwater, so if the explorers are close to the wreckage, a remote-operated vehicle must be used. The French government said on Tuesday that it was also sending a research vessel, the Atalante, which is equipped with an exploration robot, Victor 6000.
However, the vessel will only reach the area on Wednesday evening and the passengers aboard the submersible are set to run out of oxygen Thursday morning.
Among the five people on the missing sub are two billionaires: Hamish Harding, a 58-year-old businessman who holds three Guinness world records for prior extreme trips, and the 48-year-old businessman Shahzada Dawood, who was traveling with his son Sulaiman, 19.
The sub is operated by Oceangate, an exploration tourism company, and tickets to explore the Titanic wreckage cost $250,000. Reports have emerged that the submersible was using equipment that did not appear to be cutting-edge. OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, also on the missing submersible, previously told CBS the sub is run with a video game controller.