Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tonight, the U.S Coast Guard is presenting the most complete look. Yet at the final moments of the OceanGate, Titan submersible lost while on a mission to explore the wreck of the Titanic. The Coast Guard today showed this never-before-seen animation, tracking the Titan and its support vehicle, the Polar Prince. Messages sent back and forth between those two ships, including one chilling communication sent from Titan "All good here." Sent less than an hour before Titan went silent. (00:30) And on the first day of a weeks-long hearing testimony from the former head of engineering at OceanGate who said "CEO Stockton Rush ignored concerns about Titan's design."
Tony Nissen (00:42): Most people would just eventually back down from Stockton. It was almost death by a thousand cuts.
Speaker 1 (00:47): Tony Nissen saying he refused to dive in the submersible that he helped design.
Tony Nissen (00:53): He wanted me to be the pilot that runs the Titanic missions, and I told him, "I'm not getting in it."
Speaker 1 (01:02): He was right not to. On the morning of June 18th, 2023, the submersible began its voyage. The sub had five on board, including Rush, but about three hours into the descent, the vessel lost contact with its support ship. The final message from the Titan reading "Dropped two WTS." An abbreviation for dive weights, meaning the sub may have been trying to rise, not dive, just seconds before it imploded. Roughly eight hours passed before OceanGate notified authorities, that according to the Coast Guard. The search was on. (01:36) The clock is ticking. They may not have much more time. (01:38) Which we covered extensively. (01:40) A massive grid search. (01:42) For the next three days, the world watched with bated breath as Titan was only built with a 96 hour supply of oxygen. A glimmer of hope as a Canadian aircraft flagged what it believed could be man-made sounds from the ocean. (01:56) Can you describe what the noise sounds like that they're hearing?
Speaker 3 (01:59): They're trying to put all the pieces together. The noises have been described as banging noises.
Speaker 1 (02:05): But what we didn't know then, on the day the Titan disappeared, the U.S Navy detected a quote "Sound that is consistent with an implosion or explosion." But not definitive, located near where the sub went missing. That information passed on to the Coast Guard but not reported publicly. It meant that Titan's occupants likely died instantly under the immense crushing pressure of the deep sea. (02:29) Most experts I talk to say there may not be any more victims' remains on the bottom of the ocean. (02:35) On the fourth day of the search, a robotic vessel took this picture, released for the first time as part of today's presentation, showing shattered pieces of Titan's hull and tragically confirming the fate of everyone on board. (02:51) The only consolation in all of this is that it appears that whatever happened, it happened instantly, and they would've been gone very quickly.
Speaker 4 (02:58): Where does this investigation, they're doing this hearing, they have these findings, where does this go from here?
Speaker 1 (03:03): It is a two-week investigation, 24 witnesses in all. They want to hear from not only employees, former employees, but also they want to hear from Coast Guard commanders, Coast Guard investigators. Ultimately, all of the findings will be presented to the Coast Guard Commandant and the NTSB. The bottom line is this, should this ship, submersible, ever have been allowed to go into the water? This is a carbon fiber design, is that simply a flawed design for this kind of a deep dive? The Navy doesn't use carbon fiber. And then if there are any criminal charges, they would refer that to the DOJ.
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