Titan sub crew knew they were going to die before implosion: Lawsuit
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New York: A year after the Titan submersible imploded killing all crew members, who were heading towards the wreck of Titanic, a new lawsuit alleges ‘persistent carelessness, recklessness and negligence’, The Guardian reported.
The lawsuit, filed by the grieving family of the French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, claimed all those onboard were aware they were going to die before they died.
Paul-Henri Nargeolet, also known as “Mr Titanic”, who had previously participated 37 dives to Titanic wreckage, died when the submersible imploded in June 2023.
All five crew members including the British explorer Hamish Harding, the British Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, and the CEO of Oceangate, Stockton Rush died in the mishap.
Earlier this week, Nargeolet’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against OceanGate, the manufacturer of the submersible.
It is reported that OceanGate has since ceased operations.
The lawsuit accuses OceanGate and its CEO of Oceangate, Stockton Rush, who died in the implosion, of negligence alongside alleging that flaws and shortcomings of the vessel were concealed from Nargeolet.
The lawsuit, seeking at least $50m, states that the implosion that killed Nargeolet was due to the ‘persistent carelessness, recklessness and negligence’ of OceanGate, Rush and other defendants.
The suit claimed that crew members would have known the submersible was going to implode.
The lawsuit states that the exact cause of vessel’s implosion may never be found out but ‘experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening.’
It alleges that vessel’s vaunted ‘acoustic safety system’ might have alerted the crew about the cracking of carbon-fiber hull from extreme pressure, ‘prompting the pilot to release weight and attempt to abort’.
It stated that “Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.”
The spokesperson for OceanGate has not yet given any reaction to the media about the lawsuit.
