What was the banging sound heard during the Titan rescue bid? 

Five men aboard the Titan submarine died after a “catastrophic implosion” due to enormous pressure in the ocean’s depths, authorities say.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced the devastating news last night that robotic search engines had found a “debris field” near the Titanic wreck in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Titan submarine, operated by the American company OceanGate, began its dive to Titanic on Sunday morning, but all contact with the mothership was lost shortly afterwards.

During early searches, popping noises were detected at 30-minute intervals by underwater sonar devices called “sonobuoys.”

It was speculated that the thumping sounds of the men in the submarine gave hope that they were still alive and waiting to be rescued.

But experts say the men would have been crushed as soon as the submarine ran into trouble – so what were the popping noises?

The U.S. Coast Guard announced the devastating news Thursday that robotic search engines had found a “debris field” near the Titanic wreckage.

According to experts, the “thumping” could be from search equipment in the area, marine life such as whales or even simply sounds from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

Dr. Jamie Pringle, a lecturer in Forensic Geosciences at Keele University, thinks the noise was “man-made.”

“The ocean is a very noisy place with passing ships, submarines, fishing vessels and in this case even search vessels,” he told MailOnline.

‘Sounds can come from any source, and sound waves don’t always travel radially outward from a source, as bodies of water are usually stratified and sound waves propagate along them.

It is also unlikely that the sound of the Titanic wreck will surface at that water depth.

“The fact that it was every 30 minutes suggests a man-made cause and not marine propellers that are continuous.”

U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick announced on Wednesday that the “thumping” had been detected by sonobuoys, fueling speculation that it was the five men who hit the submarine’s titanium hull.

But even if they hadn’t been killed by Sunday’s implosion, hitting Titan’s titanium hull by hand is unlikely to have picked up, as it wouldn’t have been very loud.

“Obviously, sources need to get bigger and bigger to cover greater distances and 3.8 km [12,000 feet] of the water is very deep to spread out to the surface and be able to measure,” said Dr Pringle.

“Note: this is speculation – we don’t have the raw data to analyze.”

U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick, right, said noises and popping noises were heard coming from the search area for the Titanic submarine

One of the last photos of the OceanGate Expeditions Titan submarine before it began its fateful descent to the Titanic wreckage

During searches on Tuesday, popping noises were detected at 30-minute intervals by underwater sonar devices called ‘sonobuoys’

Matthew Schanck, founder of the maritime search and rescue organization Marsar International, also suspects a manmade origin.

“We understand that the noise can come from different sources,” he told MailOnline. ‘The subsurface of the ocean is a noisy environment.

“However, given the high density of vessels operating their propulsion systems in the area and heavy machinery/equipment in the area, this may have been picked up by sonobuoys.”

Stefan B. Williams, a professor of marine robotics at the University of Sydney, explained Business Insider sea ​​creatures ‘such as whales’ could even have caused the sound.

The North Atlantic is home to several whale species, including the North Atlantic right whale and the mighty blue whale.

Jeff Karson, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at Syracuse University, said any interpretation that the banging came from the men was “wishful thinking” and probably “junk.”

“Is it really popping or just an unfamiliar sound?” I think that’s a more accurate description at this point,” he said.

“There’s no telling where the sound is coming from or how far away it is.

“Personally, I’m afraid the sound is coming from something far from where they should be looking.

When rescue crews manage to locate the missing submarine (file photo of the Titan) thousands of feet below sea level, they face a series of barriers and an incredibly complex mission to retrieve the ship unlike any they’ve ever seen before.

Five people were on board, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding and Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who was just 19

French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) sat in the submarine with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition

But they have to follow up. It’s the best clue right now. Everything is being done. It’s all hands on deck, international ships, everyone is doing their best.’

The thump was detected by sonobuoys, devices originally developed to detect German U-boats during World War II.

Any underwater acoustic signals detected by the hydrophone, for example caused by a nearby U-boat, are then transmitted to the aircraft via the radio transmitter.

But sonobuoys are now used for a variety of purposes, including search and rescue.

They can map the location of a plane crash, a sunken ship or survivors at sea and were used in 2014 during the fruitless search missions to locate the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.