Audio of Titan submersible's final moments before implosion released by Coast Guard
A new audio recording released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration appears to have captured the 2023 implosion of the Titan Submersible.
In the 23-second-long clip released by the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday, listeners can hear a static-like sound grow louder and then a rolling boom. The audio goes silent seconds later. Officials called the noise the "suspected acoustic signature" of the implosion.
The sounds were recorded by a monitor moored approximately 900 miles from the Titan’s implosion site, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. NOAA typically uses the devices to track ocean sounds, including large whales.
The Titan Submersible was on a tourist expedition to explore the remains of the Titanic when it imploded on June 18, 2023, killing all passengers on board. Wreckage of the vessel was later found scattered across the ocean floor, 330 yards away from the bow of the Titanic, the infamous liner that sank in 1912.
Five people on board the submersible included OceanGate's founder and CEO Stockton Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French maritime expert Paul-Henri-Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood.
The Coast Guard held a series of hearings last year on the implosion as part of its ongoing investigation into the causes of the disaster. In one of the most chilling moments, officials revealed one of the final messages the crew of the vessel sent before it was crushed by ocean pressure: “All good here.”
A lawsuit filed by the family of one of the victims alleges that all five passengers on board likely experienced “terror and anguish” in their final moments.
“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 lawsuit said.
The Coast Guard is expected to release a final report on the implosion as part of its investigation.
Contributing: Elizabeth Weise, John Bacon, Kayla Jimenez, Jorge L. Ortiz and Jeanine Santucci; Paste BN