Cause of Titan submersible implosion that killed five revealed in damning final report
Company failures, design flaws and inadequate regulatory oversight were to blame for the deadly 2023 Titan submersible disaster that killed all five passengers on board, according to the final report on the incident released by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.
“The investigation determined that the as-built properties of the Titan’s carbon fibre cylinder were never validated to ensure they met the theoretical values used in the design process and that the construction and testing of the Titan did not follow standard engineering practices,” the agency concluded in its 136-page report.
It wrote that OceanGate, the US-based company leading the doomed expedition to the Titanic wreckage, didn’t fully grasp the extent of the danger the craft posed to passengers, and was blinded by “groupthink” and “confirmation bias.”
Agency inspectors examined unused pieces of the same material the Titan was made from and found fundamental structural defects that left it subject to compromised structural integrity, according to the report.
Although OceanGate tested the craft at an equivalent depth to that of the Titanic wreckage — approximately 12,500 feet — the report found it failed to test the impact on the vessel after facing the punishing forces of multiple voyages.
“The as-built properties of the Titan’s carbon fibre cylinder were never validated to ensure they met the theoretical values used in the design process, and the construction and testing of the Titan did not follow standard engineering practices,” TSB wrote.
“As a result, OceanGate did not know for how long the Titan’s pressure hull would remain structurally intact when used repeatedly for dives to the depth of the Titanic.”
TSB Canada’s findings echo a US National Transportation Safety Board report on the disaster released in October, which concluded that the faulty engineering of the Titan “resulted in the construction of a carbon fiber composite pressure vessel that contained multiple anomalies and failed to meet necessary strength and durability requirements.”
The NTSB also stated that OceanGate failed to adequately test the Titan and was unaware of its true durability.
The implosion happened during the Titan’s 88th dive on June 18, 2023, during which it lost contact with its support vessel after two hours and was reported overdue that afternoon.
Ships, planes and rescue equipment were rushed to the scene about 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, but after several days without contact, it became clear there would be no survivors.
The implosion killed OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, as well as French underwater explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, known as “Mr. Titanic”; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, 19.
Christine Dawood, Shahzada’s wife and Suleman’s mother, originally bought two tickets for the Titan voyage for her and her husband, but gave up her ticket so the father and son could take the excursion together.
After the implosion, she went through a lengthy and heartbreaking grieving process, during which even setting eyes on the ocean gave her feelings of despair.
But now she feels “connected” to the ocean, she told the Sun.
“Every time I see the ocean water, I need to dip my feet in and connect with them. I feel that they are now part of the ocean. I don’t feel that the graveyard is where they are,” she shared.
“When the ocean kind of swirls around my feet, it’s just a really good feeling and I feel close with them.”
OceanGate ceased operations in July 2023 after the disaster.
“We again offer our deepest condolences to the families of those who died on June 18, 2023, and to all those impacted by the tragedy,” a company spokesperson told The Post in a statement.
“After the tragedy occurred, the company permanently wound down operations and directed its resources fully towards cooperating with the government investigations such as that completed by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board. We appreciate the professionalism shown by the TSB and the thoroughness of its investigation and final report.”
