Titanic submarine debris field discovered including rear cover & landing frame indicating catastrophic implosion with the US Coast Guard confirming the death of all five men on board the missing submersible.
The race against time, the improbable, the daring has this time come to a grizzly end.
Moments ago the US Coast Guard announced the discovery of a vast swath of ‘debris field’ in search of the missing Titanic sub, including the underwater vessel’s ‘rear cover and landing frame’ indicating likely ‘catastrophic implosion’.
A remotely operated underwater vehicle on the sea floor made the breakthrough – with the US Coast Guard and OceanGate Expeditions moments ago confirming the deaths of the five men on the missing Titan submersible, parts of which were discovered today on the ocean floor, 500 meters from the bow of the famous ship they died trying to see.
The implosion would have likely been in milliseconds
The landing frame and rear cover of the missing submersible were discovered today by a remote operated submarine in a devastating blow to any hope that the men may still be found alive.
It would mean the sub suffered a crack and imploded under the underwater pressure, instantly killing all five men on board. CNN reports that the two pieces of debris were found at 12,500ft underwater, 1,600ft from the famous shipwreck’s bow.
Offered David Mearns, a rescue expert via Sky News: ‘They don’t use phrases like ‘debris field’ unless there’s no chance of a recovery of the men alive.
‘A debris field implies a break-up of the submersible … that really sort of indicates what is the worst-case scenario, which is a catastrophic failure and generally that’s an implosion.
‘The only saving grace is that it would have been immediate – literally in milliseconds – and the men wouldn’t have known what was happening.’
The search expert said his ‘worst fears have now been realised’ – and he had been praying for a different outcome.
The Titanic claims five more lives more than 111 years on
Titan had disappeared on Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean – 435 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada – during an expedition dive to see the wreck of the Titanic.
Five men were on board – including Pakistan billionaire and son,Shahzada and Sulaiman Dawood, British millionaire and world-renowned explorer Hamish Harding, former French diver, Paul-Henry Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush.
The US Coast Guard had predicted that the air supply in the vessel would run out at 12.08pm UK time on Thursday.
Ships, planes and underwater craft from multiple countries were deployed to the area with rescuers searching a remote part of the Atlantic Ocean more than twice the size of the US state of Connecticut in waters as deep as 4,020m (13,200ft).
In a bitter irony, the Titanic which sank over 100 years ago in 1912 killing 1500 of the 2240 passengers and crew onboard — went on to claim five more lives, five lives the world had hoped would be spared.
