One of the final messages from the Titan submersible crew said they were “all good here” before it imploded, killing all five on board.
British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood died alongside OceanGate Expeditions’ chief executive Stockton Rush and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The five of them had been communicating with the Polar Prince support ship by text message, according to an animation presented by the US Coast Guard, shown on the first day of the hearing looking into the causes of the implosion.
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The crew began to lose contact with those aboard the Polar Prince who repeatedly asked about the submersible’s depth and weight as it descended toward the wreck of the Titanic.
The Polar Prince also repeatedly asked if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
One of the Titan’s final responses, which became spotty as it descended deeper, was “all good here”.
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The submersible made its final dive on 18 June 2023, losing contact with its support ship around two hours later.
Rescuers rushed ships, planes, and other equipment to an area around 435 miles (700km) south of St John’s, Newfoundland.
The search for the Titan attracted global attention and the wreckage was eventually found on the ocean floor around 300m from the Titanic wreckage, according to officials.
‘Uncover the facts’
The hearing in Charleston County, South Carolina, is expected to last two weeks.
It aims to “uncover the facts surrounding the incident and develop recommendations to prevent similar tragedies in the future”.
“There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident,” said Jason Neubauer of the Coast Guard Office of Investigations, who led the hearing.
Speaking at the hearing, US Coast Guard officials also said that the Titan had been left exposed to weather and the elements during seven months of storage in 2022 and 2023.
The hull was also never reviewed by any third parties as is standard procedure, they added.
Read more:
The stories of the five men onboard the Titan submersible
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Other witnesses scheduled to testify on Monday include OceanGate’s former engineering director Tony Nissen, the company’s former finance director Bonnie Carl, and former contractor Tym Catterson.
Some key personnel from the company are not scheduled to testify, including Mr Rush’s widow, Wendy Rush, who was the company’s communications director.
The US Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific witnesses, a spokesperson said.
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Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein, former operations director David Lochridge, and former scientific director Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the US Coast Guard.
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