Titan sub crew suffered ‘terror’, knew they were going to die, lawsuit claims

New details reveal the harrowing final moments the crew of the Titan submersible on a Titanic expedition would have endured.

A lawsuit claims the Titan submersible crew, which imploded during a Titanic expedition, likely endured overwhelming “terror and mental anguish,” fully aware they were about to die.

The family of one of the victims who tragically died in the vessel disaster filed a $A90 million wrongful death lawsuit on the sub’s operator, OceanGate.

French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, known in the diving community as Mr Titanic, was among the five voyagers who died in June 2023 while on the submersible, which was owned by OceanGate.

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and three other explorers — Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, and his 19 year old son Suleman Dawood — were also on board when the submersible imploded in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The Titan submersible went missing while on a trip to view the Titanic. Picture: AFP

In court documents obtained by the US Sun, the estate of Mr Nargeolet argued that OceanGate “purposefully concealed” key information about the vessel.

“Nargeolet may have died doing what he loved to do, but his death … was wrongful,” the lawsuit reads.

“Rush concealed dangers of which he was aware, specifically providing only certain information to his crew and the public at large.”

The victims of the Titan sub tragedy — Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Suleman Dawood and his father Shahzada Dawood, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Picture: AFP

the family of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, an expert on the Titanic, say the French explorer was not told of the dangers. Picture: AFP

They alleged that even though Mr Nargeolet agreed to participate in the voyage, the submersible was “doomed” and had a “troubled history”.

OceanGate has suspended operations since the tragedy.

The lawsuit states that the submersible “dropped weights” just 90 minutes into its dive, suggesting the crew had either aborted or tried to abort the dive early on.

“While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realised exactly what was happening,” the court papers said.

“Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.”

The filing goes on to speculate on the horrific final moments Mr Nargeolet and the four others on-board likely experienced after realising their looming fate.

“The crew may well have heard the carbon fiber’s crackling noise grow more intense as the weight of the water pressed on Titan’s hull. The crew lost communications and perhaps power as well,” the suit said.

“By experts’ reckoning, they would have continued to descend, in full knowledge of the vessel’s irreversible failures, experiencing terror and mental anguish prior to the Titan ultimately imploding.”

The submersible lost contact with its support ship just two hours after beginning its journey to the famed shipwreck of the Titanic, which lies near Newfoundland, Canada.

The haunting last image of the Titan submersible before the doomed voyage. Picture: Action Aviation/Instagram

Just two days later, the US Coast Guard announced that debris consistent with the submersible had been located.

The US Navy confirmed that sensors detected a likely implosion that killed the five passengers instantly.

The Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are still investigating to determine the exact causes of the implosion.

Originally published as Titan sub crew suffered ‘terror’, knew they were going to die, lawsuit claims