It has been eight months since the Titan submersible disaster happened on 22 June 2023.
OceanGate said they believed that the five men on board the missing Titan submersible had died on their way to see the wreck of the Titanic.
The group embarked on a unique expedition from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada on 16 June.
However, 90 minutes into its descent to the wreck on 18 June, the company lost contact with the submersible.
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Authorities later confirmed that CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet had sadly lost their lives with the US Coast Guard saying that the sub had suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ and the debris of the sub having been located near the wreck.
Rear Admiral John Mauger said at a press conference at the time: “In consultation with experts from within the unified command, the debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber.
“Upon this determination, we immediately notified the families.
“On behalf of the United States Coast Guard and the entire unified command, I offer my deepest condolences to the families. I can only imagine what this has been like for them.
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“And I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time.”
According to Dr. Dale Molé, the former director of undersea medicine and radiation health, the explosion would have happened so quickly that the five passengers wouldn't have realised what was happening.
He told the Daily Mail: “It would have been so sudden, that they wouldn't even have known that there was a problem, or what happened to them.
“It's like being here one minute, and then the switch is turned off. You're alive one millisecond, and the next millisecond you're dead.”
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Speaking to The Guardian, Stefan Williams, a professor of marine robotics at the University of Sydney, also described the implosion as being like a 'small bomb going off'.
Over the next few days, a two-part documentary called The Titan Sub Disaster: Minute by Minute will air on Channel 5 and will include never-heard-before audio recorded by the Canadian Air Force, who heard the so-called ‘banging’ from day one of their search.
A statement by ITN said: “It will create a detailed picture of events surrounding the submersible’s expedition to the wreck of the Titanic, assess the scale of the mission and ask what lessons have been learned from the tragedy.”
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Dan Walker, a news reader who announced the conclusion of the tragedy, said: “I remember being told in my ear that they're going to announce that there's been a catastrophic event and sadly they've all died.
“It's the end that you feared would happen, that you sort of knew would happen.
“But there is nothing that prepares you for that actual moment when you say those five people on board, they are sadly no longer with us.”
The Titan Sub Disaster: Minute by Minute will air on 6 March and 7 March.
Featured Image Credit: OceanGate ExpeditionsTopics: Titanic, World News, Channel 5