The New York Times spoke about the last minutes of passengers before diving, referring to the story of the wife and mother of a businessman who died in a bathyscaphe and their son Christine Dawood.
How was the preparation
Kristin Dawood last saw her husband and son on June 18. She watched the Titan sink from the support ship.
Her 19-year-old son Suleiman took a Rubik’s cube with him, and the man had a Nikon camera, with which he wanted to photograph the seabed through the Titan’s only window.
“It was a good morning,” said Kristin Dawood.
The passengers of the Titan went on an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to their favorite music on the recommendation of the organizers. The crew was warned that the descent would be carried out in complete darkness, while it might be possible to observe bioluminescent underwater creatures.
Communication loss
According to Accident NovyiNi, on the same morning, the woman heard that communication with the Titan was lost. Specialists who watched the submersible’s slow descent informed her that if communication was not available in an hour, the dive would be terminated. Namely, the Titan would drop its weight and be able to return to the surface.
Late in the evening, it became known that no one knew where the Titan was and what happened to its passengers.
“I also looked at the ocean in case I could see them float to the surface,” she said.
Who was on board the Titan
- 48-year-old British-Pakistani businessman from one of the richest families in Pakistan, vice head of Engro Corporation Shahzada Dawood;
- his son, a 19-year-old student at the University of Strathclyde, Suleman Dawood;
- 77-year-old French scientist and world authority on the study of the Titanic disaster;
- 58-year-old British airline chief Gamish Harding;
- 61-year-old founder and CEO of OceanGate Stockton Rush.
The passengers who agreed to dive were “mission specialists,” so OceanGate, which handled the expeditions, was asked not to refer to them as “customers,” “tourists,” or “passengers.” They received shirts and jackets with their names and flags of their countries embroidered on them.
What was given to passengers
As you know, tourists should follow a diet low in “toxins” the day before diving and give up coffee on the morning of the dive. Also, OceanGate director Stockton Rush recommended bringing thick socks and a hat with you, as the temperature is low at depth.
In addition, divers received OceanGate suits, waterproof pants, the same orange jacket, boots, life jackets, and helmets.
After everything was ready, the crew that was on the support ship tightened the bolts for the dive.
“Titan” sank to the bottom at a speed of about 25 meters per minute. In the bathyscaphe itself, daylight was slowly dimming overhead. However, after a few minutes, the ship forever plunged into darkness.