“They knew they were going to die,” argued the family of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer who lost his life as a result of the infamous Titan submersible implosion, as they recently filed a lawsuit against OceanGate for more than $50 million. The family alleged the crew experienced “terror” before the disaster and accused the sub’s operator of gross negligence.
Highlights
- Family of French explorer alleges crew knew they were going to die before Titan submersible implosion.
- New lawsuit filed against OceanGate seeks over $50M, accusing the company of gross negligence.
- Titan submersible had safety vulnerabilities and used a $30 video game controller for navigation, as revealed by a 2021 videographer.
Nargeolet was a crew member of the Titan alongside four others: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and Shahzada's 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.
The new lawsuit appeals to “common sense” to deduce what might have happened in the few critical minutes before the implosion occurred.
“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 legal document read.
The family of a French explorer who lost his life in OceanGate’s Titan submarine implosion sues for $50 million
Image credits: logomakerr
The Titan, part of an ambitious project by OceanGate to monetize regular visits to the Titanic’s wreckage, went on its final dive on June 18, 2023, and the details surrounding the final hours of its passengers are a mystery to this day.
Naval reports indicate that communication with the surface vessel ceased 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent. This made it impossible to ascertain what the crew members might’ve talked about as the vessel failed.
Alarm bells rang when the submersible failed to resurface at the scheduled time. The U.S. Navy’s sonar systems detected an acoustic signature consistent with an implosion around the time communications were lost, suggesting that the pressure hull had failed catastrophically.
International teams then searched the wreckage for any indication of what might’ve happened, eventually finding the Titan’s debris on June 22, 2023.
The new court case comes more than a year after the incident. It states, “The crew lost communications and perhaps power as well. By experts’ reckoning, they would have continued to descend, in full knowledge of the vessel’s irreversible failures, experiencing mental anguish prior to the Titan ultimately imploding.”
According to CNN, OceanGate has declined to comment on the lawsuit, but it must respond to the complaint in the coming weeks.
Tony Buzbee, attorney for the case, explained that the case seeks to “get answers for the family as to exactly how this happened, who all were involved, and how those involved could allow this to happen.”
The Titan’s manufacturers ignored safety concerns, and the vessel presented vulnerabilities as far back as the year 2021
Image credits: logomakerr
Other elements of the suit include security concerns previously raised by Jaden Pan, a videographer who embarked on a dive aboard the Titan in July 2021.
Pan’s testimony, which came out a day after the debris was found, revealed that the vessel felt “unstable,” being controlled by a modified $30 Logitech F710 video game controller, and that communication with the surface ship, the MV Polar Prince, was intermittent.
The videographer’s account further revealed the carelessness of Stockton Rush, as eventually, the vessel experienced a critical battery failure, forcing Pan and the rest of the passengers to remain trapped in the submarine for 24 hours, waiting for its weights to dissolve naturally.
This account was directly referenced in the suit: “[The Titan] had a hip, contemporary, wireless electronics system, and states that none of the controller, controls or gauges would work without a constant source of power and a wireless signal.”
Image credits: MrDeified
Industry experts had already warned about the Titan’s safety, but OceanGate had not sought certification for the vessel, arguing that regulatory compliance hindered innovation.
Rush’s disdain for safety measures was evident from as early as 2022. “At some point, safety is just pure waste,” he argued in an interview. “I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything.”
The lawsuit ends by blaming the implosion on the “persistent carelessness, recklessness and negligence” of OceanGate, Rush, and others.
“Nargeolet may have died doing what he loved to do, but his death — and the deaths of the other Titan crew members — was wrongful.”