Faulty engineering led to the implosion of an experimental submersible that killed five people on the way to the wreck of the Titanic, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded in a report released Wednesday.
The NTSB’s final report examined the hull failure and catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible in June 2023. Everyone on board — including the vessel’s pilot — died instantly in the North Atlantic when the Titan imploded while descending toward the Titanic wreck.
According to the report, faulty engineering “resulted in the construction of a carbon fiber composite pressure vessel that contained multiple anomalies and failed to meet necessary strength and durability requirements.” Additionally, the report highlighted that OceanGate, the owner of the Titan, failed to adequately test the submersible and was unaware of its true durability.
The NTSB also noted that the wreckage of the Titan likely would have been found sooner if OceanGate had followed standard emergency response guidance. While rescue was impossible in this case, adhering to proper protocols could have saved “time and resources.”
These findings align with a Coast Guard report published in August, which described the Titan implosion as preventable. The Coast Guard determined that OceanGate’s safety procedures were “critically flawed” and identified “glaring disparities” between written safety protocols and actual practices.
Following the tragedy, OceanGate suspended operations in July 2023 and began winding down the company. A spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday. However, after the Coast Guard report’s release in August, a company representative expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.
The implosion claimed the lives of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French underwater explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet — known as “Mr. Titanic” — British adventurer Hamish Harding, and two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood.
In response to the incident, the NTSB report recommends that the Coast Guard commission a panel of experts to study submersibles and other pressure vessels designed for human occupancy. It also urges the implementation of regulations informed by this study.
The report states that existing regulations for small passenger vessels “enabled OceanGate’s operation of the Titan in an unsafe manner.” It further calls on the Coast Guard to “disseminate findings of the study to the industry,” which has expanded in recent years amid increased privately financed deep-sea exploration.
Prior to the implosion, the company was aware of potential Coast Guard regulations. The report sheds light on OceanGate’s corporate culture, including an operations technician who quit after raising concerns about referring to paying passengers as “mission specialists.” According to the report, the company’s CEO responded that “if the Coast Guard became a problem… he would buy himself a congressman and make it go away.”
The Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic site since 2021. Its final dive began on the morning of June 18, 2023. About two hours later, the submersible lost contact with its support vessel and was reported overdue that afternoon.
A large-scale search involving ships, planes, and specialized equipment was launched approximately 435 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The multiday search for survivors made international headlines, but it soon became clear there were no survivors. Authorities, including the Coast Guard, commenced thorough investigations into the tragedy.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/16/us-news/faulty-engineering-led-to-implosion-of-titan-submersible-headed-to-titanic-wreckage-ntsb-concludes/
