If you've been following the drama surrounding Titan . . . the missing Titanic tourist submersible . . . you've probably heard:
There won't be a miraculous rescue . . . it ended in tragedy.
1. Yesterday, the Coast Guard confirmed that a "debris field" was discovered on the sea floor . . . about 1,600 feet from the Titanic's bow. They identified the Titan's tail cone, and several other parts.
2. The Coast Guard said the debris shows there was a "catastrophic implosion of the vessel," likely caused by a pressure failure. It's unclear when it happened, but officials believe it occurred way back on Sunday . . . when contact with the Titan was originally lost.
The Coast Guard would've heard an implosion on sonar . . . so it must have happened before they were on the scene. This also means that the "banging sounds" that were picked up were NOT connected to the Titan.
3. There's also this: The U.S. Navy previously reviewed their acoustic data, and detected an "anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion" in the area of the Titan at the time communications were lost on Sunday.
They had shared that information with the Coast Guard, but it wasn't definitive enough to call off the search.
4. If there's any "good" news, it's that the five passengers weren't suffering for days without food, water, and depleting oxygen levels. Their deaths would've been instantaneous.
5. Again, the five passengers onboard were: Stockton Rush (the CEO of OceanGate, the company that created Titan) . . . the pilot Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who's a Titanic expert and a former French Navy Commander.
And three tourists who paid at least $250,000 to go: British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding . . . Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood . . . and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.
6. In light of the tragedy, there's plenty of criticism directed at OceanGate for these submersible missions.
But people who have done it in the past say everyone knows the risks, and that they make you sign a release that lists ALL the ways you could die.
7. "Titanic" director James Cameron did an interview where he talked about how he's been down to the Titanic "many times" . . . and has designed his own subs to do ocean dives. He said the safety record for the industry is the "gold standard," but this company skirted the guidelines, despite warnings.
He added, "I'm struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field . . . and for [this] tragedy where warnings went unheeded, to take place at the same exact site . . . it's surreal." (Here's video.)
8. It's unclear what happens next. The Coast Guard says they'll continue to gather information, and remotely operated vehicles will remain on the scene. One of the ROVs found the debris on the ocean floor.
(USA Today / NYT / ABC News / CNN)