A year after the Titan submersible implosion, investigators still don't have answers
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
It's been exactly a year since a deep-sea submersible imploded on its way to view the wreck of the Titanic. All five people on board were killed, and authorities still can't say for sure exactly what went wrong. A U.S. Coast Guard investigation was supposed to take 12 months, but officials now say they need more time. Well, NPR's Rachel Treisman has been covering this story since the beginning. She's here now. Hey, Rachel.
RACHEL TREISMAN, BYLINE: Hi there.
KELLY: So to refresh people's memory of what unfolded on this day one year ago - so June 18, 2023 - it began with the OceanGate Titan submersible setting out in the North Atlantic. And what happened?
TREISMAN: That's right. So there were five people on board, OceanGate's CEO, who was piloting the vessel and four paying passengers, including a father-son duo. So they were on this submersible, which lost contact with its support ship less than two hours into its descent. At that point, it was about 900 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. And once it was reported missing later that day, it sparked this frantic search and round-the-clock media coverage, as I'm sure you remember.
KELLY: Yeah.
TREISMAN: Teams from multiple countries searched an area more than twice the size of Connecticut, and they were racing against the clock since the vessel started out with only 96 hours' worth of oxygen. The story really captivated a lot of people's attention, especially since there were hopes that the passengers might still be alive. At one point, officials even said that they had detected noises underwater. But five days later, a team found debris on the ocean floor that officials say was consistent with a catastrophic implosion that likely happened that very first day.
KELLY: And I do remember how closely so many people were paying attention and hoping against hope that these people would be rescued. You've just given us a fair amount of detail. What is it that investigators are trying to determine?
TREISMAN: Right. The Coast Guard put together a panel last June to look into all of this. Essentially, they're trying to figure out what caused the implosion, whether there was any misconduct involved and also whether there's any evidence of possible criminal acts. They're also supposed to make recommendations about whether any laws need to be changed or created to prevent something like this from happening again.
It's worth noting that the deep-sea submersible industry does have pretty strict regulations, but several former OceanGate passengers and employees had flagged some pretty serious concerns about the company's safety practices going as far back as 2018. The company started its Titanic project in 2021, and a lot of its test dives were scrapped or otherwise unsuccessful. And it got a lot of criticism for not being certified by an independent agency and also for steering with a video game controller. So there's a lot to be suspicious about, but it's ultimately up to the Coast Guard and a few other partner agencies to make that final call.
KELLY: And, Rachel, what's the explanation for why this investigation is taking so long - a year and counting now?
TREISMAN: So we just learned from the investigation board on Friday that the probe will take longer than the 12 months they expected, and they blamed a couple of factors. For one, crews needed to dive not once but twice to retrieve debris and human remains from the sea floor last year, and they need those in order to run forensic testing. I reached out to the Coast Guard to ask if they have a new expected completion date, and they said there's no timeline. But part of the fact-finding phase will include a public hearing, and investigators have said they intend for that to happen by the end of this year. So it will be at least a few more months until family members get their answers.
KELLY: NPR's Rachel Treisman. Thank you.
TREISMAN: Thank you.
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