There are plenty of good reasons to retrieve these pieces.

Oh completely - I’ve done that trip a ton, and it’s usually been great - this was just one very glaring exception. And it wasn’t even really the airlines fault given that, at the time, I recall most of the east was going through some heavy snow storms.

According to the BBC it lost contact when it was believed to have been at 3500 meters. So it seems like they were most of the way down, and, of course that means that they would have been under significant water pressure.

And really, even if anything else survived - they were half way to the bottom of the ocean - anything edible was going to be scavenged on the way down, or shortly thereafter.  

Pretty sure it was Flair - and at the time there was also a cheap ‘virtual airline’ called Newleaf (had to look it up) that basically just sold tickets on planes owned by other airlines.  Not exactly sure how it all worked (or was supposed to work).  

Flying on one of those budget airlines from Victoria BC to Edmonton Alberta. There was, apparently, one plane crisscrossing the country and delays out east began to add up. By the time our supposed late afternoon departure time had arrived, the plane was till somewhere in Ontario. I think we had close to an 8 hour…

Lots of dead organic material ends up on the ocean floor. If the remains are found to be human - then yes, they’re almost certainly one of the passengers. But, sheathing the sarcasm for just a second, there’s probably a hugely open question as to whether what they found is human.

You expected solid pieces of metal and plastic to implode?  The only parts that would have been damaged are those with air inside, and insufficient structural integrity to resist the water pressure.

I’m sorry - but did you just ask why a Billionaire would have two of something instead of just one?

It’s not too out there. His parents would have been from a generation that had kids in their late teens early 20s. So entirely inside the realm of the possible (even not that surprising) that they’d both in their late 80s or early 90s. Basically the WW2 generation.

Also a billionaire.  I won’t discount a 911 or Corvette - but with essentially unlimited funds, they seem a little ‘low rent’.  I’m guessing track only Ferrari.

Somewhere, in the great beyond, Stockton Rush is nodding approvingly, but questioning how you get 4 other people onto it for tours to 180 MPH.

I don’t think we should - honestly - this needs to be a big fucking wake up call to arm-chair adventurers, wealthy self-financed explorers, extreme-tourists, and DIY types - the shit you’re planning on doing is serious. It’s risky. It takes decades of experience, millions upon millions of dollars and real education…

I noticed similar things:

Yeah, that’s what I was saying (or trying to at least) - it acted like a diesel engine in that compression caused combustion - not that it was a diesel engine or that there was diesel fuel onboard.

I don’t know what you’re trying to say, or how it’s relevant to my point.

Don’t disagree with any of that. My only thinking is that it’s even more important when a group represents to third parties that what they’re doing is safe, proven and dependable to at least some standard. If some eccentric billionaire wants to explode, or compress, themselves to smithereens, that’s their own business…

I don’t know if the temperature of the sun bit is right (it might very well be).  But I’ve had it explained to me like this - the sub essentially because a diesel engine with the O2 and other combustible... material, effectively the fuel.  

Honestly - I don’t know if I agree that we should (at least not yet). But perhaps the discussion should shift from this specific event to the bigger topic about balancing the risks and rewards of exploration - and particularly exploration by private parties and what role government regulation has in that. And then whet…

So basically, they’re investigating whether they should open an investigation. Which sounds a little silly at first, but it’s not like private ocean exploration companies routinely have their subs implode on tourist trips.