It cost more than $2.4M for one RCAF plane to join Titanic sub search

It cost at least $2.4 million to deploy a single Canadian aircraft to search for the Titanic submersible that went missing last month.

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CP-140 Aurora took off from Nova Scotia soon after Canadian authorities were notified of the incident on the evening of June 18. Over the next three-and-a-half days, crews aboard the Aurora conducted a visual search and dropped hundreds of sub-detecting "sonobuoys" to listen for the missing Titan, which likely suffered a "catastrophic implosion" before the search even began.

According to a Department of National Defence spokesperson, it costs $29,662 per hour to operate the Aurora, which logged 82.5 hours of flight time, making the total amount more than $2.4 million. The 341 sonobuoys that were used may cost more than $1,300 each, according to federal procurement records. Together, that could mean the Aurora's role in the mission cost taxpayers nearly $3 million.

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"Undoubtedly this effort will run into the multi-millions considering the specialized resources expended," search and rescue expert Graham Newbold told CTVNews.ca after the search ended.

Newbold was a RCAF pilot as well as a search and rescue mission coordinator before becoming a professor of public safety at Algonquin College in Ottawa. Canadian assets that joined the Aurora included ships such as the Royal Canadian Navy's HMCS Glace Bay and the Canadian Coast Guard's John Cabot, Terry Fox and helicopter-equipped Ann Harvey.

"In Canada (search and rescue) operations prioritize saving lives and ensuring public safety," Newbold said. "The focus is on rescuing individuals in distress rather than determining who will bear the financial responsibility for the operation."

THE AURORA AT A GLANCE

The propeller-driven Aurora is a long-range patrol aircraft that can take on a variety of roles, including search and rescue, reconnaissance and submarine detection.

While there are several types of sonobuoys, most of the ones the Aurora launched for this mission are designed to listen for signs of submarines lurking in the sea. 

"Sonobuoys are equipped with a detachable flotation device with an antenna enabling data relay back to the aircraft," the Defence Department spokesperson explained. "The hydrophones submerge on a line attached to the flotation device, and spool to an operator-selected depth."

During the operation, hopes were briefly raised when crew aboard the Aurora detected recurring "banging" noises in the ocean, although these were ultimately determined to be unrelated to the missing submersible. A U.S. Navy sub-detecting acoustic system reportedly picked up an "anomaly" on the morning of June 18 that was likely the Titan's fatal implosion.

The Aurora deployed three types of sonobuoys during the search, the majority of which were the AN/SSQ-53D from Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems in Dartmouth, N.S. Both the company and Canada's Department of National Defence would not disclose a per-item cost.

While CTVNews.ca was unable to find procurement contracts that specifically mention the device, similar purchase agreements with a U.S. company in 2022 and 2013 show sonobuoys such as these can easily cost more than US$1,000, or C$1,300, per item. With 341 sonobuoys deployed, this makes it possible that an additional $443,300 were spent on the search, bringing the estimated total from more than $2.4 million to nearly $2.9 million.

"The cost of the contracts also typically includes all of the extras such as transportation, sometimes in-service support, replacement pieces," the Canadian defence spokesperson wrote in an email. "For the cost of the Aurora, the RCAF budgets each operational fleet of aircraft’s yearly flying rate (YFR) based on assumed training and operational tasks. These tasks include missions like support to search and rescue and as such there is no additional cost incurred."

The defence spokesperson said a total cost for the mission won't be available until August or September. Unlike the figure calculated by CTVNews.ca, the Department of National Defence's numbers will only include "incremental costs" and not those that fall under normal operating budgets, such as regular salaries and existing equipment like sonobuoys.

WHO PAYS FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE?

Operated by OceanGate, the Titan submersible lost contact with the surface less than two hours after it plunged into the ocean on the morning of June 18 during a tourist expedition to the infamous Titanic wreck. Reported missing nearly eight hours later, an international round-the-clock air and sea effort searched for the sub approximately 700 kilometres southeast of St John's, N.L. until a remotely operated underwater vehicle located its imploded remnants near the Titanic on the morning of June 22. Experts say the Titan's experimental design and carbon-fibre hull likely made it unable to withstand the immense pressure of the deep ocean where the Titanic rests at 3,800 metres below sea level. All five people aboard the Titan were killed, including OceanGate's CEO.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is now investigating the incident. Costs associated with the U.S.-led search and rescue effort will likely be covered by American and Canadian taxpayers.

"On the high seas, international maritime law, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), establishes obligations for nations regarding search and rescue at sea," Newbold, the former Canadian search and rescue pilot, said. "According to UNCLOS, all states have a duty to render assistance to any person in distress at sea, regardless of nationality or status. This duty is primarily based on humanitarian grounds."

The Defence Department spokesperson said the cost of operating the navy's HMCS Glace Bay is about $47,000 per sailing day, and that the ship supported the mission for six to seven hours on June 22. The Canadian Coast Guard would not release similar cost estimates, and added that it does not seek reimbursement for search and rescue missions.

"Responding to incidents is part of our overall daily operations, and as a result it would be difficult to calculate and allocate costs on a case-by-case basis," a Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson told CTVNews.ca after the operation. "We are part of the Canadian search and rescue system which operates under international conventions, agreements and domestic regulations to provide protection for all mariners who find themselves in danger at sea."

Aldo Chircop is a maritime law expert and legal professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

"There is a humanitarian duty for states to provide assistance to persons in distress at sea," Chircop told CTVNews.ca. "It is a longstanding custom and rule of the international law of the sea, international maritime law, and international humanitarian law."