'What was that bang?' Everyone on mothership heard Titan implode, but dismissed it, video shows

The moment the Titan submersible exploded in the sea was captured by the mother ship, the one from which it left for the wreckage of Titan. OceanGate Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, killing everyone on board, including the company's chief executive, Stockton Rush.

The US Coast Guard (USCG) carried out an investigation into the incident, and a footage showing Rush's wife, Wendy Rush, watching a monitor screen has been shown in a new BBC documentary. The video shows her listening to the sound of the implosion while onboard the the sub's support vessel. She can be heard asking, "What was that bang?"

Message from Titan came after the bang

The computer was sending and receiving text messages from Titan, when, about 90 minutes in from when the dive started, a bang was heard. The noise sounds like a door slamming when the submersible was at a depth of 3300 metres.

Also Read: Final moments of Titan passengers: A day of anticipation and dread

Wendy soon received a message from Titan informing the mother ship that the sub had dropped two weights. The message makes everyone assume that things are fine and the dive is going on normally. However, according to the USCG, the noise they heard was the sound of Titan imploding.

What really happened here is that the message sent before the implosion took longer to reach the mother ship. The sub had imploded when they heard the bang, but since the message reached them after the sound, no one doubted anything had gone wrong with the sub.

The disaster that shook everyone and led to a series of investigations, killed five people: Stockton Rush, businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood; businessman Hamish Harding; and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

After Titan lost contact with the mothership, concerns grew around its safety. An international search and rescue mission kicked off to look for the sub. A sudden implosion had occurred due to immense pressure in the depths of the sea.

Titan had wear and tear

The USCG initiated an investigation and found several faults with the sub, some of which had started showing over a year ago. In 2022, after the sub completed its 80th expedition, it had started showing signs of weakening. After returning to the surface, passengers on it heard a loud bang. Rush told them that the noise was caused by the shifting in the sub's frame.

However, USCG says the bang was caused by delamination. However, despite this, it continued to carry out more expeditions to the wreckage of the Titanic. A final report into the implosion is expected later this year.