A hearing is trying to determine exactly what went wrong on the doomed trip of the Titan, the submersible that took five people to see the wreckage of the RMS Titanic.
A photo of the wreckage sitting on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean was released. The vessel was found several hundred yards from the Titanic, CNN reported.
All five people on board the Titan were killed in June 2023: founder and CEO of OceanGate Stockton Rush, businessman Shahzada Dawood, his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, adventurer Hamish Harding and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Their deaths were confirmed via DNA testing.
They had boarded the sub to see the wreckage of the Titanic on June 18. The submersible disappeared one hour and 45 minutes into the trip, The Washington Post reported.
The images provided by the Coast Guard show the tail cone broken off the submersible. The debris was found by a remotely operated vehicle, and “conclusive evidence” showed that the submarine imploded or collapsed inward due to the pressure of the water outside.
The debris was eventually recovered.
A hearing by the Marine Board of Investigation from the Coast Guard is being conducted with the first witnesses called on Monday, former employees of the now-closed OceanGate company that developed and operated the Titan. The hearing is expected to last about two weeks, The Washington Post reported.
In addition to the images and testimony messages that were exchanged between the Polar Prince and the Titan were shared.
At 10:14 a.m., Titan sent a message to the Polar Prince saying “All good here” after the mother ship had told those on the sub that “I need better comms from you.”
Then about half an hour later, the doomed excursion sent its final message from the doomed excursion — “Dropped two wts” meaning that the submersible dropped two weights that would be released, a move that would typically allow it to resurface. A few seconds later, the final “ping” to locate the submersible happened. The mother ship then lost contact with the Titan, CNN reported.
The hearings will produce a public report that will show whether any criminal act occurred and if so make referrals for prosecution, the Post reported.
A separate wrongful-death lawsuit was filed Nargeolet’s family surrounding his death.
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