New details have emerged about the Titan submersible tragedy that occurred a little over a year ago.
On June 18 2023, Paul Henri-Nargeolet and five other crew members including the OceanGate's founder Stockton Rush and father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, set out to visit the infamous site of the Titanic wreckage. Sadly, the sub lost contact with the 'mothership' less than two hours into the journey and would never return.
After four days of panicked searching, it was discovered that the sub had been involved in a 'catastrophic implosion' which would have killed passengers instantly.
Now, relatives of one of the passengers on the Titan sub has claimed that they were all 'well aware' they were going to die before the implosion, according to a new lawsuit reports The Independent.
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The lawsuit sees the family of deceased passenger Henri-Nargeolet sue OceanGate and its founder Stockton Rush for more than $50 million in damages on account of wrongful death.
It accuses the company and its founder of gross negligence, pre-death pain, suffering and mental anguish amid other counts.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Washington State Court on Tuesday (6 August), also alleges that the implosion and subsequent deaths were 'directly due' to OceanGate's 'persistent carelessness, recklessness and negligence'.
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The suit highlights Rush specifically as being at fault, claiming that he prioritized his reputation as a 'disruptor' over the safety of his passengers. For example, using carbon fibre to construct the sub despite experts suggesting reliable titanium.
It's this composition that ultimately caused the implosion of the sub, as the previous few times it had descended to the wreck had weakened the 'carbon-fiber hull and/or the connections and seals between disparate types of material'.
The suit further states that Rush did consider the possibility of 'catastrophic failure where you have imperfections in the [carbon fiber] structure' as he installed a security system to detect any issues.
A further claim in the suit alleges that Rush was repeatedly warned of the safety issues but 'none of the warnings were heeded'.
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Crucially, the suit also claims that the Titan 'dropped weights' 90 minutes into its dive, indicating that the crew had attempted to abort the mission.
This suggests those on board knew there was an issue, and attempted to return to safety.
Tragically, the suit goes on to say: "Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying".
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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.”
The Coast Guard's investigation into the incident is ongoing and OceanGate has fully suspended all expeditions since the disaster, NBC News reports.
LADbible Group has contacted OceanGate for comment.