Titan Sub Disaster | Warning Signs
4/14/202638 min
Two years later than scheduled, Titan finally takes its first paying passengers to the wreck of the Titanic. But amid the crushing pressure of delivering on his business plan, Stockton Rush ignores red flags about his submersible’s safety, and his dream of deep-sea exploration ends in tragedy.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLindsay Graham· Host0:00
American Scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research. [tense music] It's June thirtieth, two thousand twenty-one in the North Atlantic Ocean. Aboard the Horizon Arctic support ship, an OceanGate engineer flicks a switch, and a winch motor roars to life. A steel cable dripping seawater begins to pull the Titan submersible and its launch platform up a ramp and out of the cold, gray Atlantic. Earlier today, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush led a pre-dive briefing ahead of Titan's first ever attempt to reach the wreck of the Titanic. After years of development, he was confident that the company's flagship submersible was finally ready, but the dive has not gone to plan. Titan made it just twenty-three feet below the surface before encountering technical issues. Rush, who was piloting the sub, made the call to abort, and now all the morning's optimism has drained away. The Titan platform seesaws at the top of the ramp. Just a few more feet, and it'll be secure. But the Horizon Arctic moves suddenly in the swell, and the sub rocks forward, slamming hard against the ramp. [metal clanking] An engineer flinches as sounds like gunshots echo across the deck, and the domed titanium