In June 2023, the world was horrified by the implosion of the Titan submersible during its descent to the Titanic wreck site. Two years later, new footage reveals the moment disaster struck.
The video, obtained by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), shows Wendy Rush, wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, aboard the submersible’s support vessel. She is sitting at the computer that sent and received messages from the sub. As she monitors the data, a bang that sounds like a car door slamming is heard.
Unaware of its significance, she asks, “What was that bang?” Moments later, a delayed text message from Titan comes through, saying it had dropped two weights. At this point, the crew believed the dive was proceeding normally. Investigators have now confirmed that the slamming sound was the sub’s catastrophic implosion at around 3,300m.
All five individuals aboard the Titan perished instantly: Stockton Rush, British explorer Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood with his 19-year-old son Suleman. The submersible’s wreckage was discovered about 500 meters from the Titanic’s bow.
Carbon fiber problems
Investigations show that the Titan’s carbon-fiber hull showed signs of delamination—a separation of its layers—as early as a year before the fatal dive. Despite warnings from experts and former employees, OceanGate continued its missions.
Many questioned the use of carbon fiber in the submersible because of its tendency to delaminate. The USCG now believes that the carbon fiber layers started to separate during its 80th dive, a year before the fateful journey. Passengers on that 2022 dive described hearing a loud bang as they surfaced. At the time, Stockton Rush told them it was simply the sub shifting in its frame. The USCG says that data from the dive shows this was caused by delamination.
“Delamination at dive 80 was the beginning of the end, and everyone that stepped onboard the Titan after dive 80 was risking their life,” Lieutenant Commander Katie Williams from USCG told the BBC. The USCG plans to release its final report on the disaster later this year.
