Titan submersible ‘malfunctioned days before fatal dive’, science director says
The Titan submersible that imploded on its way to the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five people on board, had malfunctioned just days before last year’s fatal dive, the company’s scientific director has said.
Stephen Ross told a US Coast Guard panel investigating the tragedy on Thursday that a platform issue earlier in June 2023 caused passengers to “tumble about” and left one “hanging upside down”.
Days later, the Titan submersible, owned by underwater tourism company, OceanGate Expeditions, imploded en route to the wreck site in the North Atlantic Ocean.
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Titan ‘malfunctioned’ days before its fatal dive
All five passengers on the Titan perished
British adventurer Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, OceanGate Expeditions’ CEO Stockton Rush, and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet all died.
Mr Ross told the hearing it took an hour to get the passengers out of the water after the earlier malfunction which left “one passenger hanging upside down” while “the other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap”.
Mr Rush, who was piloting the submersible, crashed into bulkheading, and, though no one was injured, it was uncomfortable, he added.
He said he didn’t know if a safety assessment of the Titan or an inspection of its hull was carried out afterwards.
The Titanic wreck site is about 370 nautical miles (690 km) south-southeast of Newfoundland, Canada, at a depth of about 12,500 feet (3,800m).
Earlier, investigators heard from OceanGate’s mission specialist, who said some of the company’s staff were “very hard-working individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true”.
Salvaged pieces of the Titan submersible in St John’s in Canada in 2023. Pic: Reuters
Renata Rojas said she was “learning a lot and working with amazing people” at OceanGate.
Video footage of the submersible on the ocean floor was also published on Thursday.
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Titan sub final message revealed
Ms Rojas’s comments contrasted sharply with previous evidence, in which Mr Rush, the CEO, was described as volatile and short-tempered by other staff.
On Wednesday, former operations director David Lochridge called the vessel “an abomination” and said the company was committed only to making money.
Along with other witnesses, Mr Lochridge painted a picture of a company led by people who were impatient to get the unconventionally designed craft into the water.
Read more from Sky News:
The stories of the Titan submersible crew
What happened to the Titan?
When the submersible was reported missing, rescuers rushed ships, planes, and other equipment to an area about 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland.
Four days later, the wreckage of the Titan was found on the ocean floor about 300 metres off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.
The experimental Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site since 2021.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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Israeli pilots’ letter reveals deepening rift
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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