Safety concerns arise after Titan submersible implodes, killing 5

BOSTON (WLNE) — Days after the Titan submersible was last heard from, prompting a massive search, the U.S. Coast Guard announced all five people died when the submersible imploded.

“The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” John Mauger of the Coast Guard said. “I offer my deepest condolences to the families.”

The Titan was found by an underwater drone in pieces, leaving no hope of recovering the crew.

The first sign of trouble came an hour and 45 minutes into the dive when contact was lost.

After days of combing through a search area twice the size of Connecticut and two-and-a-half miles down, the sub was found just 1,600 feet from its destination, the wreck of the Titanic, roughly the length of the Waterfront at Providence’s Innovation Park.

The people on board were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British adventurer Hamish Harding, Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, father and son.

Recent revelations about OceanGate and the Titan stoked fears of this outcome, including false claims of design consulting from the University of Washington, as well as video of Rush appearing to disregard safety concerns.

Dr. Robert Ballard with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute said they’ve never lost a vehicle during any of their deep-sea explorations, saying; “this was a first.”

The Coast Guard is still working to figure out the timeline of the vessel’s demise. Mauger said it is too early to determine if there will be an investigation.

Officials said they will be pulling vessels away from the scene but will continue remote operations on the seafloor.

The Coast Guard said their focus is on documenting the scene, as many details still remain unknown.