An OceanGate submersible.Photo:Ocean Gate / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ocean Gate / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
In the wake of thetragic submersible implosionthatkilled five passengers, people who previously had the opportunity to boardTitanand explore the famous ship wreckage are now sharing why they ended up not following through.
Read these six close call stories from people who almost embarked on the dangerous mission but ultimately bowed out.
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Jay and Sean Bloom
Jay and Sean Bloom.Jay Bloom
Jay Bloom
Despite his enthusiasm for theTitanic’s tragic history, Sean Bloomrefused to join his dad, Jay Bloom, on the dive inside theTitansubmersible. The 20-year-old told PEOPLE that his instinctual safety concerns grew when he and a friend looked further into the ocean’s dangers at such an extreme depth.
“I was worried because I didn’t think the submarine could withstand that kind of pressure and it wasn’t meant to go that far," said Sean, noting that the size of the vessel added to his doubt. “It just felt super unsafe. Something was telling me this was not the move.”
Ultimately, Sean and his financier father both passed on the “bucket list” trip with OceanGate Expeditions – despite the fact that the company’s CEO,Stockton Rush, offered them tickets at a $100,000 discount.
A few months before theTitanwent missing, Jay and Rush – whodied with four other passengersaboard the vessel last week – discussed the expedition’ssafety issues. Rush assured Jay of the mission’s safety, dismissing Sean’s concerns. At one point, Jay remembers Rush claiming the mission was “safer than crossing the street.”
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MrBeast
YouTube Star MrBeast.Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
YouTuber James Stephen Donaldson, better known asMrBeast, also admitted to havingturned down an opportunityto explore theTitanic’s debris field with OceanGate Expeditions.
“I was invited earlier this month to ride the Titanic submarine, I said no. Kind of scary that I could have been on it,“he tweeted, shortly after the company confirmed the missingTitanpassengers had died.
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Christine Dawood
Shahzada Dawood with his 19-year-old son Suleman.HANDOUT/DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFP
HANDOUT/DAWOOD HERCULES CORPORATION/AFP
Christine Dawood was originally meant to join her husband Shahzada Dawood on the catastrophic trip aboard theTitansubmersible. Instead, shegave her seat to their 19-year-old son, Suleman. According to his mother, the teenager “really wanted to go” on the expedition (despitean earlier account from Suleman’s aunt, who claimed he expressed fear and hesitancy). Both Suleman and Shahzada were among the passengers who died when the vessel imploded.
Speaking to theBBCafter officials confirmed the accident, Christine explained that she and Shahzada planned to view theTitanic’s wreckage together, but the trip was canceled due to theCOVID-19pandemic. When the next opportunity came up again, she gave her seat to her son.
“I was really happy for them, they really wanted to do that for a very long time,” said Christine. “They really wanted to do that for a very long time.”
04of 06Jake KoehlerYouTuber Jake Koehler, best known as DALLMYD,shared footage from his canceled tripto see theTitanic’ssunken wreckage. The dive was called off due to poor weather and malfunctions withTitan’s operation. Koehler was meant to travel alongside two of the passengers who died in the tragic implosion: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush andTitanicexpertPaul-Henri Nargeolet.“With the whole world watching the rescue efforts of the missing submarine around theTitanic, I thought I’d share my experience of Mission III just a few weeks ago,” Koehler said in theopening of the video. “And if my dive wasn’t canceled, it could have been me inside that submarine today.“Throughout the video, Koehler contextualizes some of the lighter scenes captured on camera, explaining that they weren’t aware of the grim voyage that took place weeks later. “Please keep in mind we’re all just trying to have a good time and I had no idea what the future had in store for everyone,” he said.Koehler maintained he isn’t sure the issues that suspended his journey correlate with the fatal accident.“Long story short, every day they did have some problems and we tried to fix every little thing to make sure everything was perfect for our opportunity to dive on theTitanic,” he said. “It seems weird now, but at the time it just seemed like an everyday thing in my opinion.”
04of 06
Jake Koehler
YouTuber Jake Koehler, best known as DALLMYD,shared footage from his canceled tripto see theTitanic’ssunken wreckage. The dive was called off due to poor weather and malfunctions withTitan’s operation. Koehler was meant to travel alongside two of the passengers who died in the tragic implosion: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush andTitanicexpertPaul-Henri Nargeolet.
“With the whole world watching the rescue efforts of the missing submarine around theTitanic, I thought I’d share my experience of Mission III just a few weeks ago,” Koehler said in theopening of the video. “And if my dive wasn’t canceled, it could have been me inside that submarine today.”
Throughout the video, Koehler contextualizes some of the lighter scenes captured on camera, explaining that they weren’t aware of the grim voyage that took place weeks later. “Please keep in mind we’re all just trying to have a good time and I had no idea what the future had in store for everyone,” he said.
Koehler maintained he isn’t sure the issues that suspended his journey correlate with the fatal accident.
“Long story short, every day they did have some problems and we tried to fix every little thing to make sure everything was perfect for our opportunity to dive on theTitanic,” he said. “It seems weird now, but at the time it just seemed like an everyday thing in my opinion.”
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Arnie Weissmann
Arnie Weissmann.Cindy Ord/Getty
Cindy Ord/Getty
Travel Weeklyeditor-in-chief Arnie Weissmann wasscheduled to view the miles-deep remnantsof theTitanicwith OceanGate Expeditions one month before the tragedy. Weissmann told PEOPLE that his trip was also canceled due to bad weather, though he didn’t think the problem-riddenTitanitself was ready to take the plunge.
“There just seemed like there was one thing after another,” the editor said. On the fourth day, he woke up to see “the whole front of the platform and sub were underwater.”
During a conversation with Rush, Weissmann learned that the vessel was made of carbon fiber that was not certified to be used on aircraft — and that Rush had acquired it at a discounted price. The implication, Weissmann explained, was that airplane requirements were “very, very stringent,” and the material “was perfectly good even though it was no longer qualified to be used in an airplane.”
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Monica Adorno
EyePress News/Shutterstock
Monica Adorno’s 2021 journey to theTitanicwreckage was another expedition canceled due to bad weather. However, other ongoing issues with theTitanplanted seeds of skepticism in her mind. TheConnecticut Postreported that the trip before Adorno’s was plagued with problems, including delays due to uncharged batteries, a power failure and a mid-dive loss of communication.
After recent news broke about the missing submersible, Adorno remembered how Rush gave unconvincing explanations for the mishaps. The retired Connecticut local said she was told the battery faltered because someone tripped on an extension cord.
Adorno decided not to board theTitanaltogether.
source: people.com
