BOSTON: The US Coast Guard said Tuesday that the air-and-sea search for the submersible that went missing during a trip to see the Titanic debris has expanded to include an underwater search.
Surface ships and planes searching for the small submarine have now combed an area of nearly 5,000 square miles (13,000 square kilometers), according to Rear Admiral John Mauger, who is directing the search, on ABC News’s “Good Morning America.” Mauger said they have flown various planes over the site in the previous three or four hours seeking evidence of the submersible surfacing.
According to Mauger, a Canadian P-3 plane dropped sonar buoys near the wreckage in the North Atlantic to listen for any sound from the submersible, which went missing Sunday while carrying five people. He said the search is now expanding undersea.
During a Sunday dive to the Titanic, which rests at a depth of crushing pressure more than two miles below the surface of the North Atlantic, all communication with the 21-foot (6.5-meter) Titan vessel was lost. Mauger said that as the search continues, they are expanding their skills so they have a commercial vessel on the scene right now with remote-controlled devices that will allow them to search beneath the water.
