Horror moment Titanic sub explorers ‘heard hull crack & knew they'd die'

The $50 million lawsuit against OceanGate, the operator of the Titanic subversive that imploded last year, stated that the explorers trapped inside knew they were going to die after hearing a large cracking noise.

The suit claims that deceased CEO Stockton Rush and marine exploration company, OceanGate, withheld key facts about the vessel's durability and ‘troubled’ history. Rush was one of the five voyagers who died when the submersible imploded underwater. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood were also killed on June 18, 2023.

The lawsuit claimed that the voyagers would have known their death was imminent after hearing the sound of a crack.

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It says: "While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan's crew would have realized what was happening. Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.

The crew may well have heard the carbon fiber's crackling noise grow more intense as the weight of the water pressed on Titan's hull. The crew lost communications and perhaps power as well."

It continues: "By experts' reckoning, they would have continued to descend, in full knowledge of the vessel's irreversible failures, experiencing terror and mental anguish prior to the Titan ultimately imploding."

Though Paul-Henri Nargeolet voluntarily participated in the voyage, his estate attorney’s are alleging that OceanGate "purposefully concealed" information about the vessel.

The submersible lost contact with its support ship just two hours after beginning its journey. The story was followed all over the world as efforts to track the missing travelers failed. Two days later, debris was discovered indicating that the sub had imploded. Filmmaker James Cameron who directed the original Titanic film criticized the crew who led the hopeful two day search, insisting they already knew everyone inside the sub was dead.

"Everybody running around with their hair on fire, when we knew right where the sub was," he said. "Nobody could admit that they didn't have the means to go down and look. So they were running all over the surface and the entire world [was] waiting with bated breath. We all knew they were dead. We'd already hoisted a toast to our fallen comrades on [the] Monday night."

OceanGate has suspended operations since the incident.

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