Experts have explained what the victims of the Titan sub disaster would have experienced in the last 48 seconds before the vessel tragically imploded.
A crew of five - made up of OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush, Pakistani-born British billionaire Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, French deep-sea explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and British businessman Hamish Harding - lost their lives when the vessel failed deep in the ocean.
The Titan had been on its descent to visit the wreckage of the Titanic on June 18, but lost contact with its mothership the Polar Prince just an hour and 45 minutes into its journey.
After several days of searching, it was revealed that the sub had "catastrophically imploded", killing all five on board instantly.
Pieces of the wreckage were later recovered and brought to the surface so an investigation could begin to determine what it was that had caused the submersible to fail.
Questions had been raised about the safety of the sub, including its carbon-fiber body and its unusual shape, with past submarines being spherical and made of steel in order to withstand the intense pressure of the water as it descends to the depths of the ocean.
Experts have now explained what the crew would have experienced in the lead-up to the tragedy, with one claiming the passengers may have been aware of the impending disaster shortly before it happened.
According to a study by engineer and submarine expert José Luis Martín, the crew could have known something was wrong 48 seconds before the sub imploded.
Information provided by NIUS Diario, via Marca.com, claims those on board would have likely lost their balance and fallen on top of each other during the final descent and may have been aware something had gone wrong between 48 and 71 seconds before disaster struck, without being able to do anything to stop it.
According to Martín, the Titan would have dropped "vertically" and without "any control" for at least 900 meters, basing his opinion on calculations made by using parameters including the weight of the submersible, how fast it was going and its acceleration, the sub's mass and thrust as well as the friction placed on it from the water.
He explained that the Titan would have initially began its descent horizontally until it reached around 1,700 meters, when something such as an electrical failure could have left it without an engine or propulsion, or any contact with the Polar Prince.
Martín added: "The Titan changes position and falls like an arrow vertically, because the 400 kilos of passengers that were in the porthole decompensate the submarine.
"They all rush and crowd on top of each other. Imagine the horror, the fear and the agony. It must have been like a horror movie.
"As they fell into the depths of the ocean, the resistant hull was subjected to a sudden increase in pressure (which was not proportional to the depth at that moment) and then there was a strong compression of the container where the tourists and pilot were."
He concluded: "In that period of time they are realizing everything. And in total darkness. It is difficult to get an idea of what they experienced in those moments. After those 48 seconds, or one minute, the implosion and instantaneous sudden death occurs."
Our thoughts remain with the victims of the Titan tragedy, as well as their friends and loved ones at this difficult time.
Featured image credit: Ocean Gate/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
