NewsNation aired an “oxygen remaining” countdown clock alongside its coverage of the missing Titan submersible — and viewers weren’t happy about the “grim” choice.
The grave graphic appeared throughout the ratings-challenged news channel’s Wednesday coverage, including during the 10 p.m. show hosted by Ashleigh Banfield.
As the anchor discussed a theory that a sea creature could’ve attacked the sub during its descent to the shipwrecked Titanic, the countdown clock showed oxygen reserves ticked backwards from six hours.
The OceanGate Expeditions-run submersible, which is believed to have run out of oxygen as of Thursday morning, was carrying five passengers: Oceagate’s CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani tech mogul Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Sulaiman, and famed Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Social media users were quick to slam NewsNation for airing the clock, calling it “totally insensitive,” and “disgusting and disrespectful.”
“Like this isn’t a countdown to new year’s eve… peoples lives are in danger?” another user tweeted.
Yet another wrote: “They counting down like it’s the Super Bowl man wtf.”
“Super tasteless!” another user exclaimed.
The news channel did not run countdown graphic during the rebroadcast of Chris Cuomo’s show at 11 p.m.
A NewsNation spokesperson said: “The oxygen levels on the Titan submersible have always been an essential and important part of this story. Multiple media outlets have published or aired stories tracking the remaining oxygen on the Titan as the search continued, including the New York Post.”
“In fact, it would be irresponsible not to include this information in the story of the rescue effort,” the spokesperson added.
OceanGate said the vessel disappeared less than two hours after it submerged Sunday afternoon.
Unlike a normal submarine, a submersible is unable to get to the bottom of the ocean and back without its mothership.
For Titan, that was Polar Prince, which it depended on for navigation to the Titanic wreck, which lies 12,500 feet below the surface.
The vehicle was equipped with 96 hours of oxygen when it departed on Sunday from a port in Newfoundland, Canada.
On Wednesday, a banging noise rang out every 30 minutes in the area where the vessel lost radio contact with its surface ship, though officials weren’t able to locate the sub before the oxygen timer ran out around 7:08 a.m. Thursday.
Tourist submersible exploring Titanic wreckage disappears in Atlantic Ocean
What we know
A submersible on a pricey tourist expedition to the Titanic shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean has vanished with likely only four days’ worth of oxygen. The US Coast Guard said the small submarine began its journey underwater with five passengers Sunday morning, and the Canadian research vessel that it was working with lost contact with the crew about an hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
It was later found that a top-secret team with the US Navy detected the implosion of the Titan submersible on Sunday, but did not stop search efforts due because the evidence was “not definitive” and a decision was made to “make every effort to save the lives on board.”
Who was on board?
The family of world explorer Hamish Harding confirmed on Facebook that he was among the five traveling in the missing submarine. Harding, a British businessman who previously paid for a space ride aboard the Blue Origin rocket last year, shared a photo of himself on Sunday signing a banner for OceanGate’s latest voyage to the shipwreck.
Also onboard were Pakistani energy and tech mogul Shanzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman, 19; famed French diver and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush.
- Missing Titanic sub live updates
- Debris discovered near Titanic site during frantic search for missing crew on OceanGate sub
- Daughter of missing Titanic diver remains hopeful: ‘I think we have to trust’ search crews
- Titanic tourist Hamish Harding’s family slams OceanGate for delay in reporting missing sub
- Coast Guard knew Titan sub imploded Sunday, but continued search anyway — here’s why
What’s next?
“We’re doing everything we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those on board,” Rear Adm. John Mauger told reporters. “In terms of the hours, we understood that was 96 hours of emergency capability from the operator.
Coast Guard officials said they are currently focusing all their efforts on locating the sub first before deploying any vessel capable of reaching as far below as 12,500 feet where the Titanic wreck is located.
Mauger, first district commander and leader of the search-and-rescue mission, said the US was coordinating with Canada on the operation.
The debris recovered from the US Coast Guard’s Titan submersible search site early Thursday included “a landing frame and a rear cover from the submersible.”
After search efforts to recover the stranded passengers proved futile, and bits of debris from the submersible were found, it was decided that the sub imploded, which correlated with an anomaly picked up by the US Navy in the same area.
The Coast Guard later reported that all 5 passengers were confirmed dead, and rescue efforts were halted.
However, the rescue search on an area about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod is reportedly continuing, the Coast Guard crew said.
An expert said few craft can reach that depth and even if they could, it’s unlikely they could attach to the submersible and tow it up to the ocean’s surface.
Authorities are working to get a remotely operated craft that can plunge to depths of up to 20,000 feet to the site of the missing sub, according to an adviser to OceanGate, David Concannon.
The Coast Guard is leading the search-and-rescue mission from both the sky and ocean with the help of Canadian authorities.
Titan’s 12,500-foot depth far exceeds the deepest sub rescue in history, which occurred at a depth of just 1,575 feet below the Celtic Sea off the coast of Ireland in 1973.
Sunday’s trip was OceanGate’s third annual voyage to the site of the famous underwater shipwreck to report on Titanic’s deterioration since it sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg.
Extreme explorer Harding, who’s one of the five tourists who paid $250,000 to embark on the underwater journey to the Titanic, said on Instagram that the manned mission was likely the only one that would take place in 2023.
