Two years after the Titan submersible imploded, Titan: The OceanGate Disaster goes behind the scenes to reveal the events leading up to this moment. As director Mark Monroe said, “The greatest tragedy is how this disaster was completely avoidable.”
The Titan sub went missing on June 18, 2023, hours after it set out to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to explore the Titanic wreck. Though it sparked conspiracy theories across the globe, former employees knew exactly what had happened – it was a case of if not when.
In the Netflix documentary, they build up a picture of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush as a man overrun by ego. Consistently ignoring safety warnings and pushing anyone who dared to disagree to the side, the truth is that Titan was a disaster waiting to happen.
Despite court hearings and lawsuits emerging in the years that followed, there’s still one major mystery surrounding the tragedy: what was it really like for the five passengers on board before their lives were cut short?
Since the submersible imploded and all passengers died, there’s no way of truly knowing. However, Titan: The OceanGate Disaster does share video clips from previous test runs, giving us the closest idea of what the atmosphere would have been like.
In test number 39, Stockton Rush traveled down 3,938 meters alone. The footage shows him in a cramped, dark space, but most concerning are the popping sounds that intensify the deeper he goes.
Stockton assured former OceanGate employee Emily Hammermeister that this was just “carbon fiber seasoning,” referring to the experimental material used to build the vessel – but his jokes did little to quell concerns.
Tony Nissen, who previously worked as the firm’s engineering director, set up an acoustic monitoring system to capture the popping sounds, which he claims made Stockton “angry.” He garnered the same response when Tony refused to sign off on a commercial voyage in 2019.
Four months after the solo dive, Stockton did another deep-sea test, only this time he was joined by three other passengers, including submersible expert, Karl Stanley. They set out in April 2019, traveling down more than 3,600 meters.
This gives an even more accurate picture of what the conditions were like. With more people on board, you can see in the documentary that it’s dark, cramped, and eerie. Once again, the popping sounds can be heard getting louder and more frequent the deeper they travel down.
“The cracking sounds would amplify when you got deeper,” said Karl, who later sent an email to Stockton highlighting his concerns.
The OceanGate CEO brushed him off and was planning for another journey when one of the crew discovered a crack in the hull. Shockingly, Stockton tried to make sure this information wasn’t released, and confronted Tony about it.
Tony explained that he’d already warned and reported about the issue but nothing was done. Rather than stalling operations to ensure it was appropriately dealt with, Stockton fired Tony.
Titan: The OceanGate Disaster sparks strong reaction
NetflixWhat’s clear is that there were so many opportunities for these issues to be addressed, and all of them were ignored. Tragically, this resulted in the deaths of Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, and Stockton.
Speaking about the footage, one person wrote, “Those scenes showing the amplifying cracking sounds scared the hell out of me. A cautionary tale of an unchecked ego.”
Another said, “I don’t understand why anyone would’ve not yelled at Stockton to ‘STOP AND LET ME OFF’ at the first pops and bangs they heard as that submarine descended.”
A third added, “Watching people being bolted into that inferior sub with no other escape route makes you feel physically sick.”
Although the footage indicates a hellish environment for the passengers, experts have said that their deaths would have been instant.
NetflixFor the family members, however, this information is far from comforting. Christine Dawood, who lost both her husband and son that day, spoke in a different OceanGate documentary, Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster.
“They’re never going to come back. Their voices are still in the house, their memories are in the house. No matter what the investigation is, the rooms are still empty,” she said.
“This arrogance of the people in charge – when they think they’re above everything, that really gets to me,” Christine continued.
“Like why is ego and arrogance more important than safety? The irony is not lost on me that the Titanic sunk for exactly the same reason. History repeats itself.”
Titan: The OceanGate Disaster is streaming on Netflix now. You can also read about where Stockton’s wife Wendy Weil Rush is now and find more documentaries releasing this month.
