If The Titanic Were Also An Airplane, It Could’ve Just Flown Out Of The Ocean
Even years later, it’s hard to erase the memory of the tragic night that the Titanic went down into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, but I’ve said this time and again: the tragedy of the Titanic could’ve been avoided if it were a plane, because it could’ve just flown out of the water.
What people don’t realize is that the answer has been right in front of us for years. What’s the opposite of sinking? To me, it’s quite obvious, and that is “Flying.” Rather than moving down underneath the dark waves, the Titanic should have been moving up towards the sky and away from the icebergs. You can’t take on water if there’s no water for you to take on!
Surely, the 14 compartments for extra water were installed as a security measure, but when these precautions were installed out of fear, who could’ve expected anything else to happen? Had the designers of the Titanic been more proactive and allowed for wings and a pair of jet engines, we wouldn’t be having this discussion right now. Unsinkable? Hardly. To me, it’s more unthinkable that they could’ve overlooked such a small and simple adjustment.
James Cameron stood to benefit from this simple fix more than anyone else. Do you think he wanted to make a sad movie about a sinking ship, or a fun movie about a ship that carried its passengers out of the ocean and on a magical journey through the heavens? I think his more recent movie, Avatar, answers that question, as he explores the awesome power of flight rather than the crushing misstep of leaving airplane parts out of a ship.
Unfortunately, the past cannot be changed, and the Titanic remains at the bottom of the ocean instead of flying through the clouds. Despite all of my warnings, most ships have still not added airplane wings to their designs. The closest that we’ve come to seeing a ship that is also an airplane is the fictitious Marvel universe’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Maybe one day, ship designers will wise up and realize that the only direction that any ship needs to sink is up.
