An expert detailed Thursday what the five victims killed in the Titan submersible likely faced in the “catastrophic implosion” near the Titanic ship.
The United States Coast Guard announced on Thursday that the five passengers inside the submersible were “lost” in a “catastrophic implosion” just hours after they found debris near the wrecked Titanic ship.
“The reality is, at that depth and at those pressures, this is the natural outcome … this is definitely the way to go,” G. Michael Harris, a Titanic expedition leader, said on Fox News. “So, two nanoseconds for that vehicle to implode and it would take your spinal column four nanoseconds to register to your brain. Then it’s a problem. So we always said if there’s a problem out of the body in the presence of the Lord.”
Butch Hendrick, a rescue diver, said he hoped the submersible was “entangled,” and added he is thankful the search has been resolved. Dr. Michael Gullen, who experienced being stuck in a vessel undersea, said he knew the situation had to be a “catastrophic failure.”
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“It was designed to pop back up to the surface if anything had gone wrong happened, and it had backup systems, electrical systems and ultimately compressive air systems, automatic systems and the fact that none of those systems kicked in to bring this thing to the top, indicated to me that it had to be a catastrophic failure,” Gullen said.
The remains of the five passengers have not been found by search teams. The victims have been identified as British billionaire Hamish Harding, French oceanographer and Titanic researcher Paul-Henri Nargeolet, OceanGate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush, Pakistani business mogul Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman. (RELATED: Investor Says Submersible ‘Designed To Come Back Up’ After 24 Hours)
The submersible departed off the coast of St. John’s, Newfoundland on Sunday and lost contact with the mother ship less than two hours after its departure. Experts said the submersible would likely run out of oxygen by Thursday as it was equipped with 96 hours of breathable air.
A search for the submersible immediately began for several days until the discovery of the debris.