Dramatic new video has revealed a troubled test dive of the Titan submersible which later imploded while diving to the wreck of the Titanic in a disaster that left five dead.
British adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, and father and son Shahzada, 48, and Suleman Dawood, 19, both died in the tragedy on the deep-sea vessel in June 2023.
Stockton Rush, 61, who was the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions which ran the voyage was also killed, alongside French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77.
Four years earlier, Mr Rush had been in the middle of testing Titan’s first-of-its-kind carbon fibre hull and took the submersible down to deep waters off the Bahamas.
But those on board have told a new documentary called ‘Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster’, which airs on BBC Two next Tuesday at 9pm, how the dive ran into trouble.
They heard a noise ‘like a gunshot’ from the hull, the lights on the exterior went off and it then lost full vertical thrust availability when one of the battery banks failed.
Mr Rush was joined on the dive in April 2019 by colleague Joel Perry, underwater electronics technician Petros Mathioudakis and submersibles expert Karl Stanley – who claimed those on board ‘were within a few percentage points of implosion’.
Mr Stanley told how Mr Rush had planned the 12,000ft expedition after 46 previous dives – most of which were shallow, with only three reaching deep sea pressure.
The lights go out on the Titan submersible during a test deep dive off the Bahamas in April 2019
The Titan’s first-of-its-kind carbon fibre hull was being tested during the dive in April 2019
(From left) Submersibles expert Karl Stanley, underwater electronics technician Petros Mathioudakis, OceanGate Expeditions chief executive Stockton Rush and his colleague Joel Perry during a test dive on board the Titan submersible off the Bahamas in April 2019
The Titan is taken to deep waters off the Bahamas in April 2019, four years before the disaster
Karl Stanley (left) and Petros Mathioudakis (right) talk about the 2019 dive in the documentary
He told the documentary: ‘I did not even come close to appreciating the real danger. I was the one that was like ‘hey, capture this moment’. I was happy to be there.’
Joining the dive was Mr Mathioudakis, 25, who was in the Bahamas demonstrating an underwater scanner to Mr Rush and jumped at the chance for a ride on Titan.
Mr Mathioudakis said: ‘I was aware that this was extremely risky. And Stockton was very clear. He said do you have a wife, and I said ‘no’. Do you have kids? And I said ‘no’. And he said OK, you’re in.’
Speaking about being in the submersible, he added: ‘When you’re inside of Titan on your descent you’re just freefalling. You’re heavy and gravity is pushing you down.’
Mr Stanley added: ‘You’re essentially in the dark, just enough light to see.’
Mr Mathioudakis: ‘The first time the carbon fibre made a noise in that hull, it was extremely loud – it was like a gunshot. Any noise would have been loud – that was loud. Everyone stops talking for a little bit and ‘OK, I think we’re OK’, you know.
Mr Stanley said: ‘That loud, sudden noise that you know is essentially part of your pressure vessel breaking. I think that’s going to scare anybody.’
In addition to these loud noises, the lights then went out – with video filmed on board showing they were left in darkness apart from a torch that was turned on.
A file photo of the OceanGate vessel Titan, used to visit the wreckage site of the Titanic
Remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean after the accident in 2023
The Titan submersible is seen on the floor of the Atlantic in June 2023 following the disaster
Remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean in 2023 after the accident
Debris from the Titan is unloaded from a ship at St John’s in Newfoundland in June 2023
Someone can be heard saying: ‘Can you see anything down there?’ Another adds: ‘The lights are off.’
A voice is then heard saying: ‘I see the bottom.’ And another says: ‘I don’t think we’re touching it right here.’
A voice then says: ‘We’re getting close to it, but we’re not touching it.’
Speaking now about what happened six years ago, Mr Mathioudakis said: ‘When we got almost to the bottom. The lights on the exterior of the sub powered down.’
‘We had a bit of an issue with one of the battery banks. Stockton had mentioned we’re not seeing full vertical thruster availability.’
And Mr Stanley said: ‘The supposed goal of the trip was to test it to the exact depth of the Titanic. They got 96 per cent of the way there.
‘The cracking sounds were continuing, so at some point collectively we came to a decision of ‘well, that’s good enough, let’s call it a day’. I’m sure we were within a few percentage points of implosion.’
Mr Mathioudakis added: ‘You’re on the dive, it’s hard to put the brakes on that, so what are you going to do?’
After the terrifying experience, Mr Stanley warned Mr Rush in an email that the noises could mean the Titan’s main hull was no longer safe.
New footage in the BBC documentary also shows Wendy Rush, the wife of Stockton Rush, trying to contact the doomed crew during their descent to the wreck of the Titanic in 2023
Stockton Rush, who was the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions which ran the voyage
In an note sent on April 18, 2019, Mr Stanley wrote: ‘The sounds we observed yesterday sounded like a flaw/defect in one area being acted on by the tremendous pressures and being crushed/damaged.
‘From the intensity of the sounds, the fact that they never totally stopped at depth, and the fact that there were sounds at about 300 feet that indicated a relaxing of stored energy would indicate that there is an area of the hull that is breaking down / getting spongy.’
A marine board of investigation hearing into the tragedy in 2023 took place in Charleston, South Carolina, in September last year – with evidence given from 24 witnesses over two weeks, including former executives of OceanGate and Mr Stanley.
Speaking to the panel, Mr Stanley added: ‘I was very much concerned that I kept sending him emails for over a year and I didn’t even know a fraction of what we know now.
‘I feel this exchange of emails strained our relationship. I feel like I pushed things as far as I could without just him telling me to shut up and never talk to him again.’
Following the tragedy it was revealed that soon after dive 47, Mr Rush found out about the crack and the damage was worse than Mr Stanley had suspected.
One of the pilots for OceanGate was later said to have been getting ready to do a pre-dive inspection of the hull and he found a crack in the carbon fibre.
Billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding looks out to sea before boarding Titan. He later died
Father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood both died in the tragedy on board the vessel
French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet also died during the Titan expedition in June 2023
The layers of carbon fibre were beginning to come apart at this point in a process known as the ‘delamination’, which is what caused the crack.
Four years later in 2023, Titan’s hull collapsed due to immense water pressure – killing all five people on board.
The deep-sea vessel was on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage around 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland – where the ship now sits after it sank in 1912.
But it lost contact with the tour operator an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent, with the vessel reported missing eight hours after communication was lost.
After days of searching in an extraordinary effort which captivated the world, wreckage from the submersible was recovered from the ocean floor near the Titanic.
In the new documentary, footage has also been revealed of Mr Rush’s wife Wendy smiling and asking ‘what was that bang’ as she unknowingly heard the moment the Titan submersible imploded – killing him and four others on board.
Video released by the US Coastguard shows Mrs Rush trying to contact the doomed crew during their descent to the wreck of the Titanic.
Mrs Rush, who was monitoring the sub’s progress from a support ship, can be seen reacting to a noise that sounded like a ‘door slamming’.
A file photo from OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the firm’s Titan submersible
The Titanic leaves Southampton on April 10, 1912, on her maiden voyage. She sank on April 14
She then turns to a team member sitting behind her and asks ‘what was that bang?’
Moments later Mrs Rush received a text message saying the sub had dropped two weights.
While she initially assumed this meant the dive was proceeding as planned, investigators now believe the ‘bang’ she heard was the moment the sub imploded.
It is thought the message she received was in fact sent just before the tragedy with its arrival being delayed due to the sound of the implosion.
The new documentary, which is also airing in the US on Discovery Channel on the same night at 9pm Eastern Time, follows the US Coast Guard investigation last year into the tragedy.
It also assesses new evidence, features interviews with relatives of the victims and looks at why the incident happened and whether it could have been prevented.
Speaking about the programme, Discovery Networks president Howard Lee said: ‘The Titan story captivated the world’s attention from the moment the vessel lost contact with the surface.
‘In this special, we will probe into the fascination with exploration, the risks that we are willing to take, and the ultimate price one can pay when pushing the limits of technology. It is a compelling journey into the haunting reality of this tragedy.’
The documentary is a co-production of the BBC, the Discovery Channel, CBC in Canada and ZDF in Germany.
Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster airs on Tuesday, May 27 in the UK on BBC Two at 9pm BST and on iPlayer, and in the US on the Discovery Channel at 9pm Eastern
