OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:22 PM – Wednesday, August 7, 2024
The family of one of the individuals who died on the infamous OceanGate Titan submersible is now suing the company for gross negligence, claiming the crew experienced “terror and mental anguish” before succumbing to their death.
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The family of Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French Explorer who perished on the Titan submersible, is the family behind the $50 million lawsuit.
Nargeolet, known as “Mr. Titanic,” had participated in 37 dives to the Titanic shipwreck site, the most of any diver in the world. He was widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable in the world regarding the famous shipwreck, and was also a part of the first ever human expedition to visit the shipwreck site back in 1987.
The Titan submersible began its dive on the morning of June 18th, 2023, but lost all communication with its support vessel around two hours into the expedition.
After a highly publicized search and rescue mission, the remains of the submersible were later found on the ocean floor around 980 feet away from the Titanic wreck.
Attorneys on behalf of Nargeolet’s estate made a statement claiming the “doomed submersible” had a “troubled history.”
Nargeolet was considered a crew member of the submersible during the deadly voyage. However, “many of the particulars about the vessel’s flaws and shortcomings were not disclosed and were purposely concealed,” the attorneys stated.
“While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening,” the lawsuit stated. “Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.”
The lawsuit also criticized the “hip, contemporary, wireless electronics system” used to control the ship and other unconventional design choices.
Stockton Rush, the former CEO of OceanGate and the creator of the Titan submersible, was also criticized for his refusal to submit independent checks which are standard in the industry.
Rush was also one of the members on board during the fatal implosion.
The lawsuit continued to claim, “The crew may well have heard the carbon fiber’s crackling noise grow more intense as the weight of the water pressed on Titan’s hull. The crew lost communications and perhaps power as well. By experts’ reckoning, they would have continued to descend, in full knowledge of the vessel’s irreversible failures, experiencing terror and mental anguish prior to the Titan ultimately imploding.”
One of the major goals of the lawsuit is to “get answers for the family as to exactly how this happened, who all were involved, and how those involved could allow this to happen,” claimed Tony Buzbee, an attorney involved in the ongoing case.
A spokesperson for OceanGate declined to comment on the lawsuit.
“Decedent Nargeolet may have died doing what he loved to do, but his death – and the deaths of the other Titan crew members – was wrongful,” the suit stated.
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