Video Footage Captures Oceangate CEO’s Wife Real-Time Reaction to Titan Sub’s Implosion: ‘What Was That Bang?'

In the vast oceans filled with unknown mysteries, the pursuit of discovery often treads a fine line with danger. When innovation collides with untested technology, tragedy can strike without warning. Recently revealed footage from the mother ship of OceanGate’s Titan submersible has brought new details regarding the haunting moments that preceded one of the most chilling disasters in modern exploration, as per BBC.

The footage, obtained by the U.S. Coast Guard and featured in the BBC documentary ‘Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster,’ captures the exact moment the sub met its deadly end, 90 minutes into its descent to the wreck of the Titanic on June 18, 2023. In the video, Wendy Rush, wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, is seen seated in front of a computer used to communicate with the sub. She suddenly hears a distinct loud sound. Confused with the situation, she asks, “What was that bang?” as per CNN. Unknown to her and the crew back then, that ‘bang’ was the fatal implosion of the Titan, occurring as the vessel plunged to depths of approximately 3,300 meters, as per the BBC.

Back then, Oceangate told the BBC, "We again offer our deepest condolences to the families of those who died on June 18, 2023, and to all those impacted by the tragic accident… Since the tragedy occurred, Oceangate permanently wound down its operations and focused its resources on fully cooperating with the investigations." Most importantly, the eerie part was that just seconds after the sound, a message arrived from the sub stating it had ‘dropped two weights,’ a normal procedure that suggested the dive was moving ahead without any glitch. As per the experts, the message was most probably sent just before the implosion but reached the ship after due to delays in underwater communication. Tragically, all five people aboard were killed instantly. Alongside Stockton Rush were British explorer Hamish Harding, renowned French diver Paul Henri Nargeolet, and British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood with his 19-year-old son, Suleman, as per the BBC.

An important point to note is that the story of its failure did not begin on that day. The Coast Guard’s two-year investigation revealed that delamination (where layers of carbon fiber separate) had already occurred during a dive in 2022. Lieutenant Commander Katie Williams from USCG revealed, "Delamination at dive 80 was the beginning of the end… And everyone that stepped onboard the Titan after dive 80 was risking their life." Despite a loud thud during that dive, Rush reportedly assured passengers it was simply the sub shifting. Unfortunately, Titan’s carbon fiber hull, a highly unconventional choice for deep-sea pressure, had never been certified by independent bodies, as per the BBC.

Sadly, OceanGate ignored repeated warnings, some from within their own team. Deep-sea explorer Victor Vescovo revealed, "I myself warned people away from getting into that submersible. I specifically told them that it was simply a matter of time before it failed catastrophically. I told Stockton Rush himself that I believed that," as per the BBC. Now, with pieces of the sub and personal belongings recovered from the seabed, the gravity of the tragedy and its preventability become more haunting.