Faulty engineering caused a private submersible to implode during a 2023 expedition to the wreck of the Titanic, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Wednesday.
The final NTSB report comes after a U.S. Coast Guard investigation in August found a litany of problems with operator OceanGate’s conduct, as well as design flaws in its Titan submersible, that led to a “preventable tragedy” in which all five passengers were killed.
What does the report say?
The report concluded that the Titan submersible’s faulty engineering “resulted in the construction of a carbon fiber composite pressure vessel that contained multiple anomalies and did not meet necessary strength and durability requirements.”
He added that because OceanGate had not adequately tested the Titan, “the company was unaware of the pressure vessel’s actual strength and durability, which was likely well below their target.”
“Additionally, OceanGate’s analysis of real-time monitoring data from the Titan’s pressure vessel was flawed, so the company did not know that the Titan was damaged and needed to be immediately taken out of service” after a previous dive, he added.
The report also states that the Titan debris likely would have been found sooner if OceanGate had followed standard emergency response guidelines, which would have saved “time and resources even if a rescue was not possible in this case.”
What happened to the Titan submersible?
In 2023, the submersible Titan, operated by OceanGate, sets out on an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic. Seats on the submersible were priced at $250,000 (€215,000) per person.
About an hour and 45 minutes after the submersible’s departure, communications with the ship were lost.
The submersible imploded, killing all five people on board, including OceanGate’s chief executive, Stockton Rush.
The wreckage of the Titan was found a few days later and the remains of those on board were recovered when the submarine was brought to the surface.
OceanGate halted all operations after the incident and last year was sued by the family of one of the passengers who died in the implosion.
Editing: Zac Crellin
