What did the last messages from the crew of the Titan submarine say before it imploded on its journey to the Titanic

The Coast Guard of USA revealed on Monday one of the last messages sent by the crew of the submarine Titanthe ship that imploded while heading towards where the remains of the Titanic in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. The information is part of the investigation into the causes of the tragedy that cost the lives of five people.

The implosion of the Titan It happened on June 18, 2023. The remains of the capsule ended up at the bottom of the seaat about 3,800 meters deep and less than 500 meters from the Titanic the legendary ship that sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912, causing the death of 1,496 people.

The US authorities concluded that the submersible had suffered a “catastrophic implosion”that is, a sudden inland collapse caused by immense pressure.

In it Titan owned by the American company OceanGate they were traveling Stockton Rush the owner of the company; the prestigious French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet who led several expeditions to the Titanic; the British billionaire Hamish Harding and the British businessman of Pakistani origin Prince David and his son Suleman19 years old.

OceanGate charged $250,000 per passenger for the expedition to the Titanic.

The Marine Research Board of the Coast Guard A two-week hearing into the crash began Monday.

According to a visual recreation presented by the Coast Guard, on June 18, 2023, one of the last text messages from the crew of the Titan to his support vessel Polar Prince before the submarine imploded he said: “Everything is fine here”.

He Titan and the Polar Prince They communicated through text messages while the first one immersed himself in the Atlantic.

The crew lost contact after an exchange of messages about the submersible’s depth and weight as it descended, the Coast Guard said.

So the Polar Prince sent several messages asking if the Titan He could still see the ship on his onboard display.

It was in that communication effort that the Polar Prince He received the message “All is well here.” At that time he was at a depth of 2,274 meters.

The submarine sent its last message at 10:47 a.m. local time, at a depth of 3,346 meters, to report that it had dropped two pesos, according to Univision.

Shortly after, the Titan lost contact with the support vessel. This happened two hours after the dive began.

The complete dive to the Titanic, including descent and ascent, took eight hours. and had been completed several times with the same submarine.

The remains of the Titan They were found four days later at the bottom of the ocean.

The problems of the OceanGate company

The former director of finance and human resources of OceanGate, Bonnie Carltestified Monday that he was aware of concerns about the safety of the Titan and said the company’s chief operating officer, David Lochridgehad described it as “insecure”.

For its part, Tim Cattersona contractor who worked with the company, said Monday that “Training and operations at sea could have been better.”

Tony Nissena former employee who served as chief engineer of OceanGate, stated that Titan was struck by lightning during a test mission in 2018and that could have compromised his helmet.

According to Univision, Nissen said that he refused to pilot the Titan years ago because he did not trust the operations staff, and that prevented the submersible out to the Titanic in 2019, telling Stockton Rush what the ship “was not performing the way we thought it would.”

He added that he had received pressure from Rush to speed up schedules and get the Titan into the water. He ended up being fired.

On Tuesday, in the continuation of the hearing, David Lochridge He said that The company culture was more focused on “making money” and “very little on science.”

He added that his responsibility was to ensure the safety of all crew, customers and trainee pilots, but that He felt more like “an impostor” because no one else was qualified as a pilot.

“It was all a smokescreen,” said about the way the company operated, according to CNN. “Everything you see on social media about all these past expeditions. “They always had problems with their expeditions.”

“Every time I expressed my displeasure at what was happening, my disapproval… I was dismissed”“Everyone knew about the engineering team, I mean I talked to every single one of them, all these guys fresh out of college, some hadn’t even been to college yet… None of them had any experience as submersible operators. There was no experience across the organization.”

“They wanted to be able to qualify a pilot in one day, someone who had never sat in a submarine. They wanted people to basically come in, qualify as pilots, and be able to take passengers on the submarine.“I was very disappointed,” said Lochridge, who said he was eventually fired in 2018 after raising the alarm about safety issues.

“Every time you go on a trip submarine“The most important thing is to return home safely to your families, not to continue making money and overstepping your boundaries… Don’t take unnecessary risks with faulty equipment, and I mean faulty, deficient,” he added.

OceanGate The company does not have any full-time employees currently, but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement.

The first image of Titan at the bottom of the Atlantic

The Coast Guard He also shared the first image of the Titan at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

In the photo you can see the broken tail cone of the submarine against the blue background of the North Atlantic. The tail cone was separated from the rest of the ship, with the edges torn, while a fragment of the submarine can be seen nearby.

The Marine Research Board He said the tail cone and other debris were located by a remotely operated vehicle on June 22 last year, providing “conclusive evidence” that The submarine suffered a catastrophic implosionaccording to CNN.

The board is the highest level of inquiry for the Coast Guard. It was convened within days of the submarine’s disappearance and is the in charge of reviewing the cause of the tragedy and offering recommendations including potential civil penalties and criminal prosecution, CNN explained.

When the investigation is complete, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board will each conduct independent analyses and produce full reports, said Jason Neubauer, chairman of the board. Marine Research Board.