Expert theories on what might have happened to the Titan Five
What DID happen to the Titan Five? All the experts’ theories about what really happened to the Titanic submersible – including faulty hatch bolts, flawed hull, a loss of propulsion or an onboard fire
- Experts say there are several possible reasons for tragic submersible implosion
- Problems with hatch bolts, the hull or propulsion system may have been cause
Experts believe there are several possible causes behind the tragic loss of five tourists when their Titan submersible imploded on a trip beneath the waves to visit the seabed wreck of the Titanic.
The undersea vehicle lost communications with its support vessel on Sunday June 18 during a descent to the wreck of the storied cruise lineer 12,500 feet beneath the surface.
Days later, its debris was recovered after officials said it suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’.
Tourists Hamish Harding, 58, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19, French Navy pilot Paul-Henry (PH) Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush all died on the submersible.
Now investigators are piecing together the evidence in a bid to explain the tragedy.
Here MailOnline looks at some of the theories provided by experts as to what could have happened.
Experts have offered different theories as to what could have happened on board the sub
Titan submersible which imploded killing five people onboard after it set off to see the wreck of the Titanic
Salvaged pieces of the Titan submersible from OceanGate are returned to St. John’s harbour in Newfoundland, Canada, on June 28
Five people had been on board, including British billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding (left) and Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who was just 19
French Navy veteran PH Nargeolet (left) was on the sub along with Stockton Rush (right), CEO of the OceanGate Expedition
Titanic Five knew their fate for a MINUTE before vessel ‘popped like balloon’, claims expert
Spanish submarine expert José Luis Martín suggested the submersible could have lost stability due to an electrical failure that left it without propulsion, causing it to fall toward the seabed ‘like an arrow vertically’ with its porthole facing down.
He estimated that the sub began freefalling at a depth of around 5,600 feet and fell ‘as if it were a stone and without any control’ for about 3,000 feet until at around 8,600 feet it ‘popped like a balloon’ due to the rapidly changing pressure.
Martin suggested the passengers would have been piled on top of each other in terrifying total darkness throughout the fall, which would have lasted between 48 and 71 seconds.
Martin offered his theory as to how the submersible failed during an interview with Spanish newspaper Nius.
‘The starting point is that the submarine is descending without any incident and in a horizontal plane until it reached about 1,700 meters (5,500 feet).
Spanish submarine expert José Luis Martín (pictured) said the Titan fell ‘like an arrow vertically’ due to a power failure and a loss of stability
Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier
‘At that point, there was an electrical failure. It was left without an engine and without propulsion. That’s when it lost communication with the Polar Prince,’ he told the newspaper.
He then suggested that the lack of propulsion would have caused it to lose stability and begin descending rapidly.
‘The Titan changed position and fell like an arrow vertically, because the 400 kilos of passengers that were in the porthole compromised the submarine. They all rushed and crowded on top of each other,’ Martín added.
‘Imagine the horror, the fear and the agony. It must have been like a horror movie.’
Due to the depth and the lack of both natural light and electricity, the group would have been in total darkness as they sank toward the bottom of the Atlantic, he said.
‘Bolts to the hatch failed – or pressure hull was fractured,’ former Royal Navy submarine captain believes
Former Royal Navy submarine captain Ryan Ramsey provided two possible theories on what could have happened.
He believes either the bolts to the hatch failed or the pressure hull was fractured.
‘Either the hatch with the 17 bolts they used to seal them in has had a failure, which has then caused the hull to collapse at pressure because there’s huge amounts of pressure, even halfway down,’ he told The Metro.
‘Or the pressure hull itself had a defect in it when they sailed and that’s fractured from the pressure, and caused the same result.
‘The only positive out of it is that it was instantaneous and they didn’t know anything.’
Former Royal Navy submarine captain Ryan Ramsey provided two possible theories on what could have happened
‘Something disturbed the pressure hull,’ expert believes
Chairman of the US-based Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee, William Kohnen, said the implosion of the Titan submersible was likely caused by ‘instability’.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Kohnen said: ‘Clearly, something disturbed the pressure hull.
‘If you’ve ever held a balloon and it just pops, if you just hold it lightly… something happened.
‘An implosion is just a reverse explosion, so it exploded inwards.’
Titan could have become tangled in the wreckage of the Titanic, expert says
One theory is that the Titan could have become stuck near the bottom of the ocean or become tangled in the wreckage of the Titanic.
Frank Owen, a retired Royal Australian Navy official and a project director for submarine escape and rescue, told The Guardian the wreckage on the ocean floor “is surrounded by debris from the disaster more than a century ago.”
“There are parts of it all over the place. It’s dangerous,” he said.
This prospect was unlikely, but not impossible, Williams told Insider.
Expert discussed possibility of a fire on board
Two days after the sub went missing, Professor Stefan Williams at the University of Sydney said it was possible there was a fire on board, for example from an electrical short circuit.
Writing for The Conversation, he said: ‘This could compromise the vehicle’s electronic systems which are used for navigation and control of the vessel.
‘Fires are a disastrous event in enclosed underwater environments, and can potentially incapacitate the crew and passengers.’
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