Titan sub victims likely knew their fate 48 seconds before implosion
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Dawood Family Handout / Becky Kagan Schott/OceanGate
The five people who were on board the doomed Titan sub likely knew their devastating fate between 48 and 71 seconds before the implosion, according to an engineer and underwater expert.
Last month, an OceanGate submersible headed for the deep waters to take a look at the famous Titanic wreck, though it never returned back to the surface.
Debris from the imploded vessel was found by a search and rescue effort and an investigation into the incident which led to the deaths of those onboard - Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman - is ongoing.
The US Coast Guard confirmed that the Titan sub had suffered from a 'catastrophic implosion', which would have killed all on board instantly.
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Following the devastation, a bunch of experts and people who have stepped foot on the sub before have come forward, providing their own stories and experiences aboard the Titan.
The expert's point of views have been particularly chilling, as many have documented what the five passengers on board would have gone through before Titan suffered the 'catastrophic implosion'.
Spanish engineer and underwater expert José Luis Martín has provided a timeline of Titan's final moments, describing the events as a 'horror movie'.
Speaking to the Spanish outlet NIUS, as per the English language Diario AS, Martín said: "During the controlled immersion of the Titan, there must have been an electrical fault, which left the craft without thrust.
"Without thrust, the weight of the passengers and the pilot (about 400 kilograms), which was focused on the front end close to the view port, would have disrupted the Titan’s longitudinal stability.
The expert went to say he believes the deadly malfunction happened at a depth of around 5,500 feet, leading to the point where Titan cannot be manoeuvred.
"The Titan changes position and falls like an arrow vertically because the 400 kilos (880 pounds) of passengers that were at the porthole unbalance the submersible," Martín wrote in his report on the disaster.
"Everyone rushes and crowds on top of each other. Imagine the horror, the fear, and the agony. It had to be like a horror movie," the expert added, saying the free fall would have took anywhere between 48 and 71 seconds.
This is when the terrified group would have been made aware of the situation they were in, with Martín adding: "In that period of time, they are realizing everything. And what’s more, in complete darkness. It’s difficult to get an idea of what they experienced in those moments.
"After those 48 seconds, or one minute, the implosion and instantaneous sudden death occurs."