Prior Dives Did Not Go Well
On Thursday, the Daily Beast reported on a slew of previous dives that OceanGate conducted, many of which were allegedly plagued by “electrical and communication failures.” The outlet writes:
Scores of former passengers who have ridden on board the Titan, the submersible that disappeared Sunday with five on board while en route to the wreckage site of the Titanic, have described in detail the chilling flaws they encountered during their trips—with one passenger calling the voyage a “suicide mission.”
In one particular instance, a former participant, Arthur Loibl, referred to the dive as a “suicide mission,” and describes a series of failures on the way to what would eventually be a successful dive.
the submersible he was scheduled to dive with initially became inoperable. became inoperable. Then, once aboard the Titan, a second attempted dive was abandoned at 1,600 meters because of equipment failures and electrical problems.
Loibl said he eventually began his successful dive five hours behind schedule, but said the ordeal was the most terrifying experience of his life
Yikes.
