5 critical Titanic submarine errors that added up to deadly ‘implosion’ disaster

An investigation is now underway to determine what went wrong with the Titanic tourist submarine owned by OceanGate Exploration.

The vessel went missing on Sunday, around one hour and 45 minutes into its journey to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean to see the wreckage of the famed Titanic ship.

However, having sent pings to the surface every 15 minutes, it suddenly stopped and a search-and-rescue operation for the vessel and its five crew members was launched.

READ MORE: Titanic sub's teen passenger was 'terrified' who 'only went to please billionaire dad'

Sadly, yesterday (Thursday, June 22) it was confirmed that all five on-board – including a British explorer and two British residents – were dead as the wreckage was found in two debris fields around 1,600 feet from the Titanic site.

And while many wonder what happened, others are looking at why this happened.

Banned in the waters of the United States and Canada

The area where the Titanic cruise-liner sank was in international waters, not under the jurisdiction of either the United States or Canada.

CBS Sunday Morning reporter David Pogue went on the trip a few years ago and recalled how he had to sign a waiver because of the experimental nature of the trip.

He said that the wording on the waiver read: “This experimental vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body, and could result in physical injury, emotional trauma, or death."

And speaking to Sky News, search and rescue expert David Mearns confirmed last night that it was banned from being used in waters manned by the United States or Canada.

It was being controlled with a dodgy remote control used for gaming in 2011

When news broke of the disappearance, it quickly became public knowledge that the submarine was actually controlled with a Logitech F710 gamepad, which was first on sale in 2011.

The controller is currently on sale on Amazon for £40.04, and it has seen its listing targeted by sick pranksters in recent days.

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News of it being controlled by such ageing technology rather than hi-tech equipment has been a cause of confusion and ridicule since it first emerged.

One review is titled: “Really useful and versatile, bought it to play some videogames, but i now use it to run a submarine.”

The review states: “It works well on high pressure environments, no complaints so far. And it really helps in navigating around a sunken ship known for being a lesson about hubris.

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“I can even let my clients who paid a quarter million dollars play with the controller a bit, hopefully no one throws a tantrum and breaks it.”

Parts were “falling off” during previous trips

Arthur Loibl, 60, went on a trip in 2021, and he has called it a “suicide mission”.

“It was a suicide mission back then," he told German news outlet BILD.

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"The first submarine didn't work, then a dive at 1,600 metres had to be abandoned.

“My mission was the fifth, but we also went into the water five hours late due to electrical problems.”

Once in the water, the vessel fared even worse, as a tube used to provide balance to it actually fell off . . . but it was reattached with zip ties.

He was on the same vessel, named Titan, that “catastrophically imploded” this week. 

“I was incredibly lucky back then,” he said. 

Submarine door bolted shut from the outside

When speculation was mounting over the crew's fate, it was revealed that the 22ft-long vessel's door was bolted shut from the outside in.

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It was contemplated that the vessel could have been bobbing on the water's surface – but they would have been able to get out.

They were, essentially, trapped inside the machine.

Sadly, this was not the case, as it “catastrophically imploded” several thousand feet under the ocean.

Experts are divided on OceanGate Exploration's choice of having it bolted from the outside, rather than being able to open it from the inside out, which has led to calls for more safety regulations being introduced with the commercial deep sea sector.

The vessel was not approved to dive so deep

The Titan submarine had to dive around 12,5000 feet to get to the Titanic shipwreck.

But the vessel only had approval to descend to 9,800 feet.

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However, as previously stated, the wreckage is in international waters, so essentially its regulation meant nothing when it came down to it.

Speaking with Times Radio, one of the company's co-founders, Guillermo Sohnlein denied that the submarine was unsafe and said that “pressure is the hardest thing to manage” when it comes to deep sea diving missions.

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