Film director James Cameron blamed the Titan submersible tragedy on unheeded warnings in a Thursday interview with ABC News.
Cameron took aim at OceanGate, saying the company received warnings from those concerned the submersible was not safe.
“You know, this is a mature art. And many people in the community were very concerned about this sub,” Cameron said.
He added that some of the “top players” in the deep submergence engineering community wrote letters to the company, expressing concerns the vehicle was “too experimental” to be used for commercial purposes.
Cameron drew similarities between the Titan submersible implosion and the Titanic, suggesting unheeded warnings from the captains led to the passengers’ demise. (RELATED: ‘Terrified’: Aunt Of 19-Year-Old On Titan Submersible Says He Did Not Want To Go)
“I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field,” Cameron told ABC News.
‘Titanic’ director James Cameron on the ‘catastrophic implosion’ of Titan submersible: “I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field.” pic.twitter.com/vO8JkCXS5f
— ABC News (@ABC) June 22, 2023
The Avatar director said he felt astonished at how such a similar tragedy happened at the exact site of the Titanic, lamenting on how unheeded warnings lead to the passengers’ demise.
“I think it’s quite astonishing. It’s really quite surreal,” Cameron said.
The Academy Award-winning director said his personal friend Paul-Henri Nargeolet’s death on board the submersible was “impossible” for him to process.
Cameron is a submersible designer who claims to have taken 33 dives into the ocean. He said he designed and built his own submersible to embark on a journey to the deepest place in the ocean.
The Titan submersible went missing Sunday after it embarked on an expedition to visit the Titanic. A multi-day search and rescue effort subsequently ensued to locate the passengers. A search team found debris from the vehicle Thursday, indicating the submersible imploded and killed those on board.