Footage shows part of the Titan submersible was still intact after it imploded, and a physics professor has explained why.
The Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate, lost communication with its support ship, Polar Prince, approximately one hour and 45 minutes into its descent toward the Titanic wreck site.
Positioned just above the wreckage, the sub tragically imploded, killing all those onboard.
The victims included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British explorer Hamish Harding, French diving expert Paul Henri Nargeolet, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.
In one of the final communications from the ill-fated Titan submersible before its tragic implosion in June 2023, the five-person crew sent a message stating: "all good here," according to revelations made during a US Coast Guard hearing, per BBC News.
As the hearing into the incident continues, new footage shows the wreck of the Titan on the seabed.
On September 17, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard released video footage showing the wreckage, notably the aft tail cone of the submersible.
This prompted many viewers to question how parts of the vessel remained intact after such a destructive implosion.
Physics professor Arun Bansil from Northeastern University explained to The Mirror that it’s not uncommon for large objects to remain mostly intact even after powerful implosions.
Bansil noted: "Although it seems counterintuitive, large objects do not normally split apart into smithereens in an implosion or explosion."
The professor likened it to a pressure cooker, saying: "The initial failure of Titan would have occurred at its weakest links such as defects in the hull. Once a crack opens, however, large pieces of the hull will no longer experience very violent forces and remain more or less intact."
Regarding the hull of the Titan, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge told the hearing that he had concerns about the vessel, cited by Sky News.
"They reused these domes. They reused these ceiling faces. They reused the acrylic. They reused the interior. Everything was reused. It's all cost," he said.
His testimony revealed deep concerns about the sub’s build quality, highlighting significant issues with its structure.
"There were so many laminations, so many voids. The imperfections were incredible. There were glue runs everywhere. And that's a red flag," Lochridge said, adding that he was "appalled" by the state of the sub.
Despite raising alarms about the sub’s safety, Lochridge testified that he was ignored by Stockton Rush, saying: "It was naive of me not to think he was going to do something to me for doing this. I knew how Stockton would fly off the handle."
Lochridge emphasized the importance of pressure testing submersibles before diving, stating: "Nobody is going to put anybody inside a submersible and put it down to depth without pressure testing."
He concluded with a chilling remark about the vessel’s condition: "I knew that hull would fail – it was an absolute mess."
