Titan submersible passenger Stockton Rush “knew it was going to end like this”, a friend and expert has claimed.
OceanGate CEO Stockton was one of five killed on board the submersible when it travelled down to see the wreckage of the Titanic on June 18. The sub imploded in the ocean after losing connection one hour and 45 minutes into the journey. It’s believed they didn’t get to see the wreckage of the Titanic.
Now, Karl Stanley, a friend of Stockton and a tourist submarine operator, has spoken about the tragedy and once being a passenger on the sub.
Titan submersible tragedy
Speaking on 60 Minutes Australia, Karl claimed: “He definitely knew it was going to end like this. He quite literally and figuratively went out with the biggest bang in human history that you can go out with. I think Stockton was designing a mousetrap for billionaires.”
The interviewer later asked if Karl thinks Rush had a “death wish”.
Karl alleged: “The only question in my mind is when [he had a death wish]. He was risking his life, and his customers’ lives, to go down in history. He’s more famous now than anything he’s ever done.”
Karl also spoke about the test dive he once endured on the Titan sub. He explained: “I would say every three to four minutes there were loud gunshot-like noises. It’s a heck of a sound to hear when you’re that far under the ocean and a craft that has only been down that deep once before.”
Five people died on board the Titan sub last month. Stockton, Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood and Paul-Henri Nargeolet lost their lives.
An expert recently claimed that the passengers may have felt “horror, fear and agony” for a minute before it imploded.
Titan passengers
Spanish submarine expert José Luis Martín told newspaper Nius: “The starting point is that the submarine is descending without any incident and in a horizontal plane until it reached about 1,700 meters (5,500 feet). At that point, there was an electrical failure. It was left without an engine and without propulsion. That’s when it lost communication with the Polar Prince.”
Read more: Titan sub passengers’ heartbreaking final moments before implosion
Meanwhile, he added: “The Titan changed position and fell like an arrow vertically, because the 400 kilos of passengers that were in the porthole compromised the submarine. They all rushed and crowded on top of each other. Imagine the horror, the fear and the agony. It must have been like a horror movie.”
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