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The.Nature.Of.Things.S64E14.Implosion.The.Titanic.Sub.Disaster
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00:00Where do you want to go in the ocean?
00:18What is the most known site in the ocean?
00:21And it's clearly the Titanic.
00:23Lock me up.
00:25Unlock.
00:26We're unlocked.
00:28Next stop, Titanic.
00:29The Titan began its dive on Sunday bound for the wreckage of the Titanic two miles below
00:35the surface.
00:36Oh, my God.
00:37That's it.
00:38Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:39I remembered how excited I was to see this iconic shipwreck and to go deeper than I'd ever
00:44gone before.
00:45Amazing dive.
00:47Everyone that stepped on board the Titan after Dive AD was risking their life.
00:51This is someone who's hell-bent on taking people down in this thing no matter what.
00:55I told them I'm not getting in it.
00:59Death is not getting in it.
01:01I'm gonna try this.
01:02If you want to move in.
01:03You're gonna be terrified.
01:04That's alright, yeah.
01:05That's all true.
01:06You're gonna be good.
01:07You're gonna be better.
01:08You're gonna be better.
01:09You're gonna be better.
01:10Maverick inventor Stockton Rush had a bold vision to democratize deep-sea exploration.
01:19He co-founded OceanGate in 2009.
01:22I wanted to be an astronaut. That's why I got an engineering degree. I watched Star Trek, Star Wars.
01:28I wasn't going to get to Jupiter or Mars, but I did realize that all the cool stuff that I thought was out there is actually underwater.
01:36We have better maps of the moon than we have of the bottom of the ocean.
01:41He wanted to support science and he wanted to support educational outreach.
01:45He wanted to, you know, make this kind of adventure more approachable to the public.
01:57Where do you want to go in the ocean? What is the most known site in the ocean?
02:01And it's clearly the Titanic. And to go to the Titanic, which is at 3,800 meters, requires a special sub.
02:11Certainly Stockton had the money. He had the vision. He had the drive to do this.
02:19And he surrounded himself, for the most part, with people that would say yes.
02:27It always has been a challenge to explain to people why they would go in a sub, because they're typically nervous about going in a sub.
02:34But when you say you're going to the Titanic, they don't care.
02:37They just immediately, they've seen the pictures in the movie.
02:41They want to go see the Titanic.
02:43And so, from a business perspective, it was very appealing.
02:45Stockton wanted to be recognized as both an explorer and an innovator.
02:54Carbon fiber in subsea vehicles is really the right substance to use.
02:58It's three times better on a strength-to-buoyancy basis than titanium, the next best thing.
03:03So our hull is going to be positively buoyant, which is what you want in a submersible.
03:08He designed Titan, a one-of-a-kind submersible featuring a carbon fiber hull and titanium end caps.
03:17It could be the deepest diving carbon fiber sub ever built.
03:21When it goes to 4,000 meters, it would be the only one out there.
03:25By the time we're done testing it, I believe it's pretty much invulnerable.
03:29Okay, Titan, we're going to pick up speed here at two knots.
03:45I was Ocean Gates' safety diver.
03:48A big responsibility is to help if you're needed.
03:51On the 18th, the sun came out, the skies were blue, the seas were calm, the wind was down.
04:02It was a perfect day for diving.
04:06Everything went like clockwork, and we were ready.
04:11All right. Very nice. We have calms.
04:15Stockton was the pilot.
04:17He's like, this is great, this is great.
04:19We get to dive.
04:35After four days of an intensive international rescue operation,
04:40debris from the Ocean Gate Titan submersible
04:43was discovered on the seafloor off the coast of Newfoundland.
04:47Less than 500 meters from the bow of the Titanic.
04:55Speculation ran wild, but the true cause of the tragedy remained unclear.
05:02The U.S. Coast Guard launched an investigation.
05:05An MBI is the highest level of investigation the Coast Guard conducts.
05:12The board will first and primarily work to determine the cause of this marine casualty
05:17and the five associated deaths.
05:19And it can make recommendations to the proper authorities
05:22to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary.
05:27It's always sobering to see the remnants of a catastrophic accident.
05:34You don't really know what you're going to get when you have a debris field,
05:38but you do know in most cases that you can use that forensically to find what happened.
05:45This is the evidence we'll be collecting.
05:55We have to tell a story.
05:57We have to talk about what happened that day
05:59and try and figure out why so we can prevent it from happening in the future.
06:02Sometimes when we have casualties and we don't recover the bodies,
06:11it can be just you see it just as an investigation.
06:14But here, we needed to provide closure.
06:21I didn't want to close the door because of the families.
06:27Having that debris from the salvage
06:34was kind of like their candle being blown out,
06:42the lights being dimmed, and the hope going away
06:45because it was a reality now.
06:49Seeing all of the gear that came up,
06:57the sheared off rings and the metal and the bent penetrators,
07:03once you saw what was left of the composite hull,
07:06there was no hope.
07:09This was a moment in time when their sub was there,
07:13and then it was not.
07:16That's it.
07:19Did they have a chance to worry about it?
07:22Not a chance.
07:28And we've confirmed the identities of all five men on board,
07:33including the CEO of Everett-based Oceangate.
07:36That's Stockton Rush.
07:38Three of my friends were in the sub and disappeared.
07:42Stockton somewhere, we were a kindred spirit.
07:46PH, he's one of the godfathers of diving.
07:55And Hamish, they were all in there
07:58to get something out of this, you know.
08:03Suleiman knew nothing about it.
08:06This was just his grand adventure.
08:07I helped him get in.
08:12I helped him get into the sub,
08:16and then I said, have a good dive.
08:28Like, Shehzada was the love of my life,
08:30Suleiman was the light of my life.
08:31I lost the people who are most important in my life.
08:38Do I need to know exactly what happened
08:40in order to come to terms with these empty rooms?
08:47It doesn't change the fact that they are dead.
08:51They're not going to come back.
08:52They're never going to come back.
08:54Fifteen months into the investigation,
09:04the public hearings began.
09:07Over the course of two weeks,
09:08the board examined testimonies
09:10from witnesses, former employees,
09:12passengers, and submersible experts.
09:16People want to see that somebody cares,
09:19you know, and somebody's doing a deep look.
09:21If you get the facts out there,
09:23it's the first step in accountability,
09:27and that's what a public hearing does.
09:30Mr. Stanley, the board's recorder,
09:32Lieutenant Steele, will now administer your oath.
09:34Carl Stanley was invited on Titan's
09:36first crude deep water test in the Bahamas.
09:40He'd logged over 3,000 hours of experience
09:42piloting submersibles.
09:44Did you understand that that hull
09:46was intended to go out on a Titanic expedition
09:50following the completion of those tests
09:53in the Bahamas?
09:55Yeah.
09:56I mean, the idea was really,
09:57we were trying to get to
09:58the exact depth of the Titanic
10:01to confirm the hull was safe for that depth.
10:05Stockton had chosen to test Titan
10:07in the Bahamas
10:08because of easy access
10:09to deep water close to shore.
10:12I could count on one hand
10:14hand the people in the world
10:16that had built a unique vehicle
10:19and had done it essentially
10:23from design to construction
10:26on their own.
10:30I did not even come close
10:33to appreciating the real danger.
10:37I was the one that was like,
10:39hey, capture this moment.
10:40Like, I was happy to be there.
10:45Petros Mathiadakis
10:46was training Stockton
10:47on how to operate Titan's
10:49new underwater scanner.
10:51He volunteered to go with them.
10:53Yeah, I was aware
10:54that this was extremely risky
10:57and Stockton was very clear.
10:58He said,
10:59do you have,
11:00do you have a wife?
11:02And I said,
11:04no.
11:05Do you have kids?
11:06And I said,
11:07nope.
11:08He said,
11:09okay, you're in.
11:15Now,
11:16left is,
11:17forward is down
11:18on the left stick.
11:19This is down?
11:20That's up.
11:20That's up?
11:21I remember driving
11:22for a large amount
11:24of the time.
11:26Turn left.
11:27Okay.
11:28Okay.
11:29Like,
11:29we're getting closer to it,
11:30but we're not touching it.
11:31Can you tell
11:32what the bottom looks like?
11:33Yeah,
11:33there's life.
11:35There's lots of little burrows.
11:36and shit.
11:37The first time
11:39the carbon fiber
11:41made a noise
11:42in that hall,
11:42it was extremely loud.
11:44It was like a gunshot.
11:47You don't want
11:47to be in a submarine
11:48and hear those kinds of sounds.
11:51You're on the dive.
11:53It's hard to put
11:53the brakes on that.
11:54Like,
11:55if you're on a plane
11:56and stuff's not going right,
11:58you're just going to sit there
11:59in the seat
11:59because what are you going to do?
12:03You sent an email
12:04on April,
12:06in April 18th,
12:082019th,
12:09I believe.
12:10To Mr. Rush,
12:12you say,
12:12the sounds we observed yesterday
12:14sounded like a flaw,
12:15defect in one area
12:17being acted on
12:18by the tremendous pressures
12:19and being crushed,
12:21damaged.
12:22How did you identify
12:23that it was
12:24the sound
12:24of carbon fibers
12:26snapping?
12:26You could even localize
12:30where it was coming from.
12:32We were hearing it
12:34so often
12:35that the first couple times
12:38it was,
12:39you know,
12:41disnerving.
12:44It took a while,
12:46let's say maybe like
12:47five or ten
12:48cracking incidents,
12:51and that was when
12:54I think I was
12:55composed enough
12:56to isolate
12:59where the cracking sounds
13:00were coming from.
13:02It didn't phase Stockton.
13:03He was like,
13:04yep,
13:04that's normal.
13:05Like,
13:05you know,
13:06that happened before.
13:09But the interesting thing
13:11about that
13:11is that
13:12as
13:13calm and collected
13:15as Stockton
13:16claimed to be
13:17on his
13:18solo dive,
13:19he hadn't
13:20been able
13:21to isolate
13:22where the sounds
13:23were coming from
13:24on his own.
13:27That's right
13:29about there.
13:30That's good.
13:31That dramatically
13:32pushed us up.
13:34In one of my emails,
13:36I tell him
13:36that the hull
13:37is yelling at him
13:39and he needs
13:40to listen.
13:41You could literally
13:42see it on a graph
13:43of paper
13:43and he still
13:44chose to ignore that.
13:46I'm sure
13:47we were within
13:47a few percentage
13:48points
13:49of
13:50implosion.
14:03This accident
14:04was highly unique.
14:06You know,
14:06I've monitored
14:07as chief
14:08of the investigations
14:08for the Coast Guard
14:09thousands and thousands
14:11of accidents.
14:12I had never seen one
14:13with the circumstances
14:15that this had.
14:15well,
14:19there's a few
14:19anomalies
14:19that I've
14:20never seen before
14:21and one of them
14:23was just
14:23not registering
14:25the tight.
14:28One reason
14:29to not register
14:30is to make sure
14:31that no one
14:32from a regulatory
14:33standpoint
14:33is monitoring
14:34operations.
14:35That was a move
14:37that we haven't
14:40seen before.
14:40how can somebody
14:44operate
14:44in a public
14:46manner
14:46yet still be
14:48off the regulatory
14:48radar?
14:49And that
14:50is definitely
14:52part of the
14:52investigation.
14:57At this time,
14:59we will now hear
15:00testimony
15:01from Mr. Tony
15:02Nissen,
15:03the former
15:04Oceangate
15:04Director of
15:05Engineering.
15:06As the Director
15:07of Engineering,
15:08did you make
15:09all engineering
15:09decisions?
15:10No.
15:12Did you make
15:13any engineering
15:14decisions?
15:14Yes.
15:16And who would
15:16make the majority
15:17of the engineering
15:18decisions?
15:19It was Stockton.
15:20Would you have
15:21felt comfortable
15:22as the Director
15:23of Engineering
15:23going down
15:25in the Titan
15:25submersible,
15:26specifically
15:27Hull 1,
15:28to full rated depth?
15:29That's almost
15:30the best question
15:31here, isn't it?
15:33So,
15:34Stockton's
15:35and my relationship
15:35started to turn
15:36sour,
15:36but they
15:38wanted me
15:39to be
15:39the pilot
15:40that runs
15:41the Titanic
15:44missions.
15:45And I told
15:46them I'm not
15:46getting in it.
15:51But I didn't
15:51trust Stockton
15:52either.
15:56Christine
15:57DeWood
15:57could not
15:58attend the
15:58public hearings
15:59in person.
16:00I was at
16:01home and
16:02listening to it.
16:03It felt
16:04like a real
16:08crime horror
16:08film,
16:09to be honest.
16:11My apologies.
16:12That's my watch
16:13telling me I have
16:14an abnormally
16:14high heart rate.
16:19In June
16:20of 2019,
16:21an Ocean Gate
16:22pilot was
16:22conducting a
16:23pre-dive
16:23inspection
16:24and identified
16:25a crack
16:26in the carbon
16:26fiber.
16:27I got a picture.
16:29I said,
16:30I think the email
16:31was,
16:32hey Tony,
16:32is this
16:32supposed to be
16:33there?
16:34I said,
16:34nope,
16:34that's a crack.
16:35Like,
16:35the hole's done.
16:37And I spent
16:37a couple hours
16:38trying to convince
16:38people that,
16:40no,
16:40this is not
16:40salvageable.
16:41And we started
16:42carving it out
16:43and noticed
16:43that the crack
16:44was bigger
16:46than we thought.
16:46carbon fiber
16:53is not
16:54approved
16:54for certified
16:55deep diving
16:56submersibles.
16:58Sphere-shaped
16:58titanium
16:59or steel
16:59subs
17:00are the
17:00industry
17:01standard.
17:02I know
17:03what it takes
17:04to create
17:05a sub.
17:06It's because
17:07it's what I do.
17:09Stockton
17:09was using
17:10carbon fiber.
17:12I did not
17:14agree with it.
17:17Hardly anybody
17:18in the public
17:19is familiar
17:19with carbon fiber.
17:21It's stable
17:22all the way
17:25up until
17:26this magic
17:27point
17:28that it is not.
17:30When it finally
17:31pops,
17:32it will
17:33catastrophically
17:35fail.
17:37When the
17:38first hull
17:38failed,
17:39there's,
17:40they went
17:42through and
17:42sanded it
17:44all out
17:45and they saw
17:46that there
17:46was a
17:47crack
17:48that went
17:49all the way.
17:51It went
17:52virtually
17:52the whole
17:53length of
17:54the hull.
17:57Reconstruction
17:57of the Titan
17:58began in
17:592020.
18:00The titanium
18:01domes from
18:01the original
18:02Titan were
18:03retained
18:03and a new
18:04hull was
18:04built,
18:05once again
18:06using carbon
18:07fiber.
18:08I mean,
18:09anything when
18:09you're trying
18:10something outside
18:11the box,
18:11people inside
18:12the box
18:13think you're
18:13nuts.
18:14Same thing
18:14when Elon
18:15Musk was
18:16doing SpaceX.
18:17Inside the
18:17box,
18:18everything's
18:18scary.
18:22As Ocean
18:23Gate completed
18:24reconstruction
18:24of the new
18:25hull,
18:26promotion for
18:27Titanic tours
18:27had already
18:28begun for that
18:29summer.
18:30This caught
18:31the attention
18:32of Discovery
18:32US host
18:33Josh Gates.
18:35Oh dear.
18:37What am I
18:37looking at?
18:38One element
18:39we were looking
18:40at is could
18:41we predict
18:42the failure
18:42of carbon
18:43fiber?
18:43So a carbon
18:44fiber sub
18:44may work
18:45great for
18:46one dive
18:46or ten
18:47dives.
18:47Right.
18:48So basically
18:48we're listening
18:49to the sound
18:50of the carbon.
18:50They start
18:51popping and
18:51crackling,
18:52these micro
18:52buckling pieces,
18:54you know,
18:54little air bubbles
18:55go and fibers
18:55snap and we
18:57found that you
18:57can tell quite
18:58clearly way
18:59before the carbon
19:00fails that it's
19:01going to fail.
19:02Hmm.
19:02And that would
19:03allow you to
19:03hear it.
19:04Yes.
19:04So if you
19:05get to 2,000
19:06meters and it's
19:07making more
19:07noise than the
19:08last time you
19:09went to 2,000
19:09meters, you
19:10can stop and
19:11go to the
19:11surface and
19:11say we've
19:12got a problem.
19:12Right.
19:13Stockton's
19:13answers were
19:14reassuring I
19:15suppose but
19:16they also felt
19:17rehearsed.
19:18You ready?
19:18Yeah.
19:19To explore the
19:19potential of
19:20filming a
19:21Titanic expedition,
19:23Stockton
19:23invited Josh
19:24and his crew
19:24for a test
19:25dive in the
19:26port of
19:26Everett in
19:27Washington
19:27State.
19:28Hi
19:29everybody.
19:29How are you?
19:31Stockton
19:31was a really
19:32compelling salesman
19:33and that's a good
19:35way to describe him
19:36I think.
19:36So this is the
19:37largest viewport on
19:39any deep diving sub
19:40in planet Earth.
19:43Wow.
19:44That is
19:45extraordinary.
19:46This was an
19:47experimental vehicle.
19:49It had never been to
19:50Titanic at this point.
19:51She's off and you're in.
19:52All right.
19:54See you later.
19:56Thank you, sir.
19:58Copy that.
20:00And so when you
20:01climbed inside of it
20:03and they close that
20:05door, they seal you
20:07in from the outside.
20:08They're bolting it in.
20:10Literally bolting it in.
20:11How many bolts go
20:12around it?
20:12Four bolts.
20:13Four bolts.
20:14So we're in.
20:17You're in.
20:17Yes.
20:18We're sealed up.
20:19You are a prisoner.
20:20Am I a prisoner?
20:21I'm happy to be here.
20:23Happy to be serving.
20:25Stockton just didn't see,
20:26even psychologically,
20:28I think understand the need
20:30for a way out of this,
20:32of this sub.
20:33Um, I don't know why,
20:41because this is
20:42the starburst that we changed.
20:45No UBT light.
20:47The sub didn't really do
20:49anything it was asked to do.
20:51There was just a cascade
20:52of problems with the sub.
20:54Now this guy will be down
20:55at Titanic too, right?
20:57Yeah.
20:58Yeah.
21:03Then there was an issue
21:08with the software.
21:11Topside tightened.
21:14The motor doesn't even
21:15seem to be moving,
21:16but the control program
21:17says it's moving,
21:18no current.
21:19You may just go back
21:20to the platform.
21:21The dive was aborted.
21:24Okay, we're up.
21:25Thanks.
21:25We've got two on TV,
21:27all okay?
21:28Yep, everything's good.
21:30Tell us back
21:30whenever you're ready.
21:32Stockton shared
21:33a revealing recording
21:34from his solo deep dive.
21:38It was, you know,
21:39I'll play you
21:39what it sounded like
21:40when the carbon fiber
21:41is collapsing around you
21:42and you don't have
21:43much time left.
21:44This is what it sounds like.
21:46Those click sounds,
21:47that wasn't a mouse clicking.
21:51And what,
21:52you just were sending,
21:53ascending, ascending
21:53at that point?
21:54No, no, I was going down.
21:55I kept going down
21:56because why not?
21:59He disregarded
22:00his own acoustic recording
22:02of the carbon fiber failing.
22:05Okay.
22:06Oh, we're back.
22:09Fresh air.
22:10I just, in that moment,
22:13felt like I fully understood
22:14this is someone
22:16who's hell-bent
22:17on taking people down
22:19in this thing
22:19no matter what,
22:20you know?
22:21And here we were
22:23in 2021,
22:24and I was thinking,
22:26when did they go back
22:27and test this new sub?
22:29We've had 52 dives
22:31on the hull,
22:31a lot of them at Everett,
22:33and many of them
22:35in the Bahamas.
22:36Okay.
22:36We spent a year and a half
22:36in the Bahamas
22:37testing the sub.
22:38And the answer was,
22:40it hadn't.
22:41It was a bait-and-switch.
22:43Pieces of it
22:44were tested
22:45in the ocean.
22:47But the main pressure hull,
22:49once it was refabricated,
22:51never went back
22:52to depth.
22:53It wasn't just
22:54a red flag for me,
22:55it was like
22:56a flare had gone up.
23:06So to confirm,
23:07to become a mission specialist,
23:09did you pay
23:09Ocean Gate any money?
23:12I did.
23:14As a mission specialist,
23:15were you part
23:16of the submersible crew,
23:17or were you a passenger?
23:18I did.
23:22Well, both.
23:24I was a passenger
23:27who was given
23:28the latitude
23:30to participate
23:32in the mission.
23:33I didn't do any of the,
23:35what I would say,
23:36critical items.
23:38Mission specialist
23:39was definitely something
23:40that was created
23:41by Ocean Gate
23:42to give the perception,
23:45you know,
23:45to others,
23:46and including regulators,
23:47that these were
23:49really crew members.
23:50when in fact
23:52they were paying passengers,
23:53you can do
23:54an operation safely,
23:55where you give
23:56passengers simple duties,
23:58but it has to be done
24:00with the proper oversight,
24:02and that's what
24:04was lacking in this case.
24:05Did you observe
24:06the incident
24:07as the dome fell off?
24:10Yes, I did.
24:12I actually have
24:12a picture of it
24:13on my phone.
24:13When the titanium dome
24:19fell off,
24:21there were only
24:22four bolts in it,
24:23and they just sheared,
24:24and they exploded
24:25like bullets,
24:26and suddenly the people
24:27inside were looking
24:27out at the ocean
24:28down a ramp,
24:29and, you know,
24:31obviously a horrifying moment.
24:35Titan's dome
24:36was designed
24:37to be sealed
24:38with 18 bolts,
24:39but Ocean Gate
24:40used only four.
24:42The thought
24:43with the four bolts
24:44was simply
24:44that once you
24:45went to depth,
24:46the pressure
24:46was so intense
24:47that you couldn't
24:48pry it off.
24:55Stockton wanted
24:56to appropriate
24:57any pictures
24:57or videos
24:58of the occurrence,
25:00so there was
25:01a dedicated effort
25:02to hush that up.
25:03Ocean Gate's first attempt
25:06to reach the Titanic
25:07failed,
25:08but it was soon
25:09followed by a series
25:11of successful dives.
25:24There's something
25:25eternal about Titanic
25:27and her passengers.
25:28We know the ship
25:29is wrecked,
25:29we know about
25:30the lives lost,
25:31we know that
25:32it's down
25:32in the depths
25:33of the ocean,
25:33but it's still
25:34kind of out there.
25:36It's the ship
25:36of dreams,
25:37it captures all of us,
25:38we all went
25:39to that movie,
25:40right,
25:40because there's
25:41something about
25:42the story of Titanic
25:42that really
25:43reaches out to us.
25:45How do you keep
25:49the person
25:49who doesn't understand
25:50submersible operations,
25:51who just knows
25:52they want to go
25:53see something unique,
25:54taking the ultimate
25:55risk like that,
25:56especially in a kind
25:58of a commercial
25:58arrangement,
26:00where they're
26:01paying passengers.
26:02That is something
26:04the Coast Guard
26:04has to look at.
26:05It was now
26:13Alfred Hagen's
26:14turn to be
26:15a passenger.
26:18I was okay
26:19with accepting
26:20the risk,
26:20I was okay
26:21with going to,
26:22I insisted
26:22on going down
26:24on the next mission
26:25after the dome
26:26fell off,
26:26because it was
26:27the first actual
26:28descent.
26:28Jump on TV.
26:29And if you look
26:42under Dive 62,
26:44there are several
26:45issues listed,
26:46and some are
26:47dive critical.
26:48States incident,
26:49external hull
26:50HPA valve
26:51set in the wrong
26:52position for the dive.
26:53Starbird control pod
26:55failed at 1,700 meters
26:56after pop sound.
26:57Two drop weights
26:58jammed,
26:59and the starboard
26:59channel.
27:00Dome hinge
27:00retention plate bend.
27:02DVL intermittent.
27:03External lights
27:04flickering and tilt
27:05not functional.
27:06Port battery
27:06will not turn on.
27:09Did any of that
27:10cause you any concern
27:11while you were
27:12inside the submersible
27:13at the time?
27:15Well, there wasn't
27:16anything I could do
27:17about it.
27:17I mean, we just
27:18had to get back
27:18to the surface.
27:20Nobody is going
27:21to come down
27:22and rescue us.
27:23I mean, the odds
27:24of them mobilizing
27:25one of the few
27:26resources on Earth
27:27capable of going
27:28that deep
27:28and capable
27:29of mounting
27:30a rescue operation
27:31were very, very slim.
27:39Hagen's dive
27:40did not make it
27:41to the Titanic.
27:43However,
27:44by the end
27:44of 2021,
27:46Titan had reached
27:47the iconic wreck
27:48a number of times.
27:49All right.
27:55Good morning, everyone.
27:58Headed back
27:59to the Titanic.
28:00Right now,
28:01we did vessel checks
28:02this morning.
28:03A couple of very
28:04minor anomalies,
28:06which is great.
28:08The following year,
28:09Alfred Hagen
28:10finally got the chance
28:11to fulfill his dream.
28:12It was one of those
28:19moments where
28:19you embrace
28:20the possibilities,
28:22you embrace
28:22the unknown,
28:23and you find
28:24that you're,
28:25in that moment,
28:25you're living a life
28:26trembling with joy.
28:28That's the essence
28:30of what I felt.
28:32Titan is a go
28:35for a dive
28:36to the Titanic.
28:43It's unlocked.
28:44Unlocked.
28:45We're unlocked.
28:46Okay.
28:52There we go.
28:57I remembered
28:58how passionate
28:59we were
29:00at that moment,
29:01how excited I was
29:02to see this
29:03iconic shipwreck
29:04and to go deeper
29:05than I'd ever
29:06gone before
29:06or had ever imagined.
29:10Oh, my God.
29:11That's it.
29:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:13We're just on it now.
29:16Above here.
29:17Oh, yeah.
29:17That's the final number one.
29:25We're going to slowly
29:26start taking it out.
29:28The trip ended
29:29with an alarming noise.
29:35I can see the surface
29:37almost.
29:37I can see the surface.
29:42We were ascending
29:44in the Titan.
29:45We were actually
29:46fairly close
29:47to the surface,
29:47as I remember,
29:48and we heard
29:49a loud crack,
29:50which sounded like
29:51the ship breaking apart,
29:53but it was very loud.
29:55It was very dramatic,
29:56and everyone sat up
29:58like,
29:58what was that?
29:59and it was
30:00certainly concerning
30:03because we didn't
30:04understand what it was.
30:09We will now hear
30:10virtual testimony
30:12from Miss Antonella
30:14Wilby,
30:15former Ocean Gate
30:16contractor.
30:19Miss Wilby,
30:20can you hear us?
30:21I can.
30:22Thank you for your time today.
30:24Miss Wilby,
30:24you appreciate it.
30:26Yeah,
30:26I was really impressed
30:27that Miss Wilby
30:28contacted us
30:29and said,
30:29hey,
30:29I'm willing to
30:30go on the record
30:32in a very
30:33high-profile setting
30:34and gave us
30:36some really
30:37critical testimony.
30:38So as I understand it,
30:40you were present
30:41during Dive 80
30:42on July 15,
30:442022,
30:45where a loud bang
30:47was heard upon surfacing.
30:48Am I correct?
30:50Yes.
30:51Can you please
30:52tell me in detail
30:53about what you know
30:55about that dive?
30:58I wanted to say
30:59something before
31:00the next dive
31:02because they were
31:03going to be diving
31:03the sub
31:04a couple days later.
31:10After Dive 80,
31:11one of the customers
31:12had said,
31:13I heard a bang.
31:14And I heard that
31:15and I was just
31:16like shocked.
31:17I brought up
31:18the possibility
31:19of delamination
31:20and I asked him,
31:20are you going to
31:21keep diving the sub?
31:22And he said,
31:22yeah, we'll do
31:23the next mission
31:23and then we'll
31:24visually inspect it
31:25when we get back.
31:28Delamination
31:28is essentially
31:29a parting
31:30of the carbon fiber.
31:32When they heard
31:33this loud bang,
31:34there should have been
31:35all stop,
31:36do not continue,
31:37investigate further.
31:38FRC, we see them now
31:40for 9 o'clock,
31:41about 450 meters out.
31:43I was just shocked.
31:45Like, you don't need
31:46to be a composites expert
31:47to see that
31:49and think,
31:49okay, maybe we need
31:51to step back
31:52and stop the operation
31:53until we figure out
31:54what this actually means.
31:58So the purple
31:59you see here,
32:00this is the acoustic data
32:02that was found
32:03or heard.
32:03On Dive 80,
32:05this purple line
32:06was a loud bang.
32:08There is this
32:09huge amplitude.
32:11Their system said
32:12there has been
32:13a fundamental change
32:14in the material
32:15of your carbon fiber
32:16and it was no longer
32:17structurally sound.
32:19It's an open book here.
32:20Do you have any questions
32:21about what's going on?
32:22About carbon fiber,
32:24problems we had,
32:25rumors of problems we had,
32:26actual problems we had.
32:28When we got to the surface,
32:29Scott was piloting,
32:30he heard a really loud bang.
32:32Not a soothing sound.
32:34No.
32:34But on the surface
32:36and as Tim and PH
32:37will attest,
32:40almost every deep guiding sub
32:41makes a noise
32:42at some point.
32:43Basically, it's like,
32:44pay attention to this,
32:45pay no attention
32:46to the man behind the curtain.
32:47We're going to work on
32:48to talk about
32:49all these different
32:49little things.
32:50No one actually notices,
32:52wait a second,
32:53like, there's a bigger
32:54problem here.
32:56It felt like,
32:57watching, like,
33:00some really bizarre
33:01surrealist movie
33:02or something.
33:03Sort of like,
33:04what's the old, like,
33:04story,
33:05the emperor has new clothes,
33:06right?
33:06And the only one person
33:07is saying,
33:07wait a second.
33:09That's it, let's go.
33:16And what we have
33:18come to the conclusion
33:18was there was
33:19a delamination
33:20on Dive 80
33:22upon surfacing
33:25at 2.46 p.m.
33:27local time.
33:29Everyone that
33:30stepped on board
33:31the Titan
33:31after Dive 80
33:32was risking their life.
33:42Okay, next stop,
33:43Titanic.
33:44Okay, ready?
33:44Here we go.
33:47Stockton would not
33:49be stopped.
33:49Ocean Gate
33:52continued to take
33:52passengers to the
33:53Titanic
33:54right up until
33:55the end
33:56of the 2022
33:57expedition.
33:59Oh, look at that.
34:01It's tremendous.
34:02Yeah, yeah.
34:03Awesome.
34:08You know,
34:15there's no doubt
34:15in my mind
34:16that his primary
34:17motivations
34:17were more ego-driven
34:19than financially-driven.
34:23As I've said
34:24many times,
34:25you know,
34:25Stockton wasn't
34:26always right,
34:27but he was always
34:28sure he was right.
34:29Well, Stockton
34:30was guilty of hubris,
34:32and he's,
34:33people accuse him
34:34of trying to prove
34:35himself and live
34:36up to his own
34:38ancestry,
34:39and those are
34:40relevant points.
34:42Yeah, I mean,
34:43his family legacy
34:44was really about
34:46the closest
34:46that you can get
34:47to royalty
34:48within the United States.
34:52Stockton was a true
34:53blue-blood patrician,
34:54as was his wife,
34:55Wendy.
34:56Her great-grandparents
34:57were the, you know,
34:59the people that owned
34:59Macy's,
35:00whose lives were lost
35:01on the Titanic.
35:02I mean,
35:02she had that direct
35:03connection.
35:04And two of Stockton's
35:05forefathers,
35:06that he was named for,
35:07Stockton Rush,
35:07you know,
35:08they were signers
35:09of the Declaration
35:10of Independence,
35:11and they were
35:11of the upper crust.
35:13I don't think
35:14most people
35:15can even imagine
35:16the access
35:17that Stockton had
35:19to the Uber
35:21elites of the world.
35:26Stockton's father
35:26had been the president-elect
35:28of the Bohemian Club,
35:30which owns
35:31a multi-thousand-acre
35:33reserve
35:35of old-growth
35:37redwood forest
35:39that they use
35:39for their
35:40private campground.
35:42He pitched an idea
35:45to people
35:46at the right place
35:47in the right time
35:48that threw money
35:49at him,
35:50and he felt
35:52some kind
35:53of psychological
35:54need to
35:55accomplish something
35:58and impress
35:59these people.
36:02This arrogance
36:03of the people
36:07in charge
36:08who,
36:10when they think
36:12they're above everything,
36:15that really gets to me.
36:19Like,
36:19why is ego
36:20and arrogance
36:21more important
36:22than safety?
36:25How can that happen?
36:28And
36:28the irony
36:30is not lost on me
36:31that the Titanic
36:32sunk for exactly
36:33the same reason.
36:34It's unfortunately
36:35not lost for me.
36:37So,
36:37history repeats itself.
36:41Arrogance
36:42before safety.
36:44Over the winter,
36:50Titan was stored
36:50outdoors
36:51in Newfoundland,
36:53exposed to the
36:53harsh,
36:54freezing elements.
36:58On June 18th,
37:002023,
37:01the Titan
37:02descended
37:02on its final voyage.
37:04this is what the sludge
37:21looked like
37:22once you got rid
37:23of the water.
37:23so a lot of this
37:25is just
37:26carbon fiber,
37:27fiberglass,
37:28you know,
37:28electronic parts,
37:30just all
37:31really just,
37:34I mean,
37:34really turned
37:35into sludge.
37:36We were going
37:36through these
37:37small pieces
37:38and we were looking
37:39for human remains.
37:40so as we were
37:45pulling apart,
37:46that's how we
37:47realized what it was.
37:48So like Mr. Rush's
37:50clothing,
37:51it was actually
37:52caked
37:52inside of
37:54sand.
37:55It was the piece
37:56of his sleeve
37:57that had survived.
37:59No,
38:00not the whole suit,
38:01just that.
38:02And inside of
38:03the sleeve of it
38:04was ink pen,
38:07business cards,
38:08and
38:10stickers
38:11for the Titanic.
38:18In the course
38:18of their investigation,
38:20the U.S. Coast Guard
38:21uncovered evidence
38:22confirming the moment
38:23of the implosion.
38:29Okay,
38:30so what you're
38:31going to see
38:31is Miss Rush
38:32as she is
38:34on the comms
38:35and tracking team.
38:36Right.
38:36She leads that team,
38:37right?
38:38Yes.
38:39You will hear
38:40a noise that is
38:41external to the ship
38:42or external to the room
38:43I should say
38:44and you will see
38:45their reaction
38:46to the noise.
38:47Okay.
38:47And then we'll
38:47rewind and go again.
38:48Right.
38:50Um,
38:50yeah.
38:51Yeah.
38:52You should be
38:52gone.
38:54You're starting.
38:57What was that?
38:58Right.
39:01It appears
39:02that she thinks
39:03something happened
39:03or she senses
39:05something.
39:06I'm going to
39:06back it up
39:06and play it
39:07one more time.
39:07It sounds like
39:08a door slamming.
39:14That is
39:16the fatal moment.
39:18It's very sobering.
39:22The implosion
39:23likely occurred
39:24around 1047 a.m.
39:27when the Titan's
39:28final communication
39:29was received.
39:30So I think
39:31one of the
39:33most important
39:35things that came
39:37out for me
39:37personally
39:38was
39:40when the Coast Guard
39:42also assured
39:43us as a family
39:45that
39:45we couldn't have
39:47known.
39:49And
39:50I didn't know
39:51that I needed
39:52to hear that
39:52because
39:53because
39:53when I did
39:54the due
39:55diligence
39:55before
39:56this was
39:57not visible
39:57to me.
40:03So everything
40:04was conspiring
40:05against the
40:06sub.
40:09Water was
40:10able to get
40:10in between
40:11the glue line
40:13when it was
40:14left out
40:15in the elements.
40:16and each
40:17time the
40:17water would
40:18like go
40:18through
40:19freezing cycles
40:20during the
40:20winter.
40:21Yeah.
40:22It's like
40:22ice breaking
40:24up rocks.
40:28Everything
40:29was
40:30conspiring
40:32to break
40:32this thing
40:33apart.
40:40I think
40:41for many
40:42people the
40:42thrill of
40:43risking their
40:44life is part
40:45of the
40:45excitement.
40:45They want
40:46the adrenaline
40:46of going
40:47places that
40:48almost nobody
40:49has ever
40:49been before.
40:50You know,
40:51how do you
40:53make that
40:53safe is
40:54the question.
40:57Everybody's
40:57really happy.
40:58An amazing,
40:59amazing dive.
41:04Stockton
41:05flew in the
41:05face of
41:06orthodoxy
41:06at almost
41:07every level.
41:08He did
41:09the impossible
41:09and he
41:10achieved it.
41:11And it
41:11eventually
41:12ended badly
41:13but he
41:14did do
41:15what he
41:15set out
41:15to do.
41:18Stockton
41:18Rush had
41:1913 successful
41:20dives down
41:21to the
41:21Titanic
41:22depth.
41:23So in
41:23theory,
41:24he did
41:24prove his
41:25concept.
41:26However,
41:27he didn't
41:28do his due
41:29diligence to
41:30ensure the
41:30safety of
41:31people over
41:32time.
41:34They didn't
41:35treat the
41:35Titan hole
41:35with respect
41:36and that
41:37was your
41:37moneymaker.
41:39You need to
41:40be aware
41:41there is a
41:41cycle life
41:42to this
41:43hole.
41:43eventually
41:44you're
41:44going to
41:44have to
41:44replace
41:45the
41:45hole.
41:46Sometimes
41:47safety,
41:48actually often
41:49safety would
41:50take a second
41:50seat to
41:51monetary gain.
41:56How did
41:57the people
41:58involved that
41:59had access
42:01to the
42:02information that
42:03the general
42:04public didn't
42:05have that saw
42:06how badly
42:06things that
42:07were going,
42:08how did
42:09those people
42:10not only
42:11not stop
42:12him but
42:12keep giving
42:13him money?
42:21Regulations
42:22are written
42:22in blood
42:23because people
42:24have lost
42:24their lives
42:25and we're
42:26still learning
42:26from it so
42:27we have to
42:27put those
42:28in place so
42:28that it
42:29doesn't continue
42:30to happen.
42:31If you
42:36want to
42:36be an
42:37explorer,
42:38an inventor,
42:40an innovator,
42:41that's awesome.
42:42You know?
42:43Knock yourself
42:44out.
42:46But when
42:47you start
42:47inviting
42:49the public,
42:50when you
42:51bring a
42:51kid into
42:53this thing
42:54you've
42:54invented,
42:55you have
42:56a responsibility.
42:57It's
42:57inescapable.
42:59There is
42:59no letting
43:00stopped
43:01and off
43:01the hook
43:02at the
43:02end of
43:02this.
43:04We're not
43:05looking for
43:05blaming.
43:08We all
43:09know who
43:09the culprit
43:09is.
43:14It's not
43:14changing
43:15anything,
43:15does it?
43:17I just
43:18don't want
43:18to happen
43:18again.
43:19I just
43:19never,
43:21ever want
43:22anybody
43:22to have
43:24to suffer
43:24that.
43:30I just
43:32know who
43:33is
43:33going to
43:34to go
43:35to
43:35what
43:36is
43:36going to
43:36do
43:37to
43:37you
43:37Transcription by CastingWords
44:07CastingWords
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