How the “Titan” Broke Apart (and What Was Left) After Deadly Implosion, According to New Photos
A government engineer testified that the pieces showed separation “within the hull’s adhesive, primarily through the carbon fiber composite”
NTSB
New photos released during an ongoing Coast Guard hearing on the deadly Titan implosion show an extensive debris field of the wreckage and depict some of where the submersible broke apart during a doomed dive to see the Titanic.
The images, released with testimony from Don Kramer, a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) engineer, depict the Titan wreckage after it was discovered on the ocean floor in June 2023.
While part of the vessel is believed to have instantly imploded, killing the five people aboard, officials have said, the new photos — along with images and video released earlier in the hearing — confirm that enough of the craft remained for authorities to find.
The Titan's aft dome, aft segment, top rails, side rails and the aft portion of its composite hull were located together, Kramer said in his testimony on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Meanwhile, the submersible's forward dome as well as the forward section and the tail section were each found by themselves, Kramer said.
“Much of the forward hull had fragmented into multiple pieces spread around the ocean floor,” he said. “One segment of the hull near the top of the vessel was intact nearly along its entire length and also stayed with the main wreckage.”
NTSB
Debris from the Titan submersibleAccording to another image, a single-layer piece — which was recovered and examined at an NTSB laboratory — was located about 350 feet from the main wreckage and had a piece of lead wedged in a crevice.
A separate photo shows a different view of the main wreckage, with two notable pieces visible: debris that extended nearly the length of the hull and another piece from the port side.
Kramer, who was unable to offer his own commentary due to the NTSB’s ongoing investigation, said that the pieces showed separation “within the hull’s adhesive, primarily through the carbon fiber composite.”
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“The hull encountered a significant amount of delamination [or breaking apart],” Kramer said in his testimony.
The Titan's engineering and its components have been an ongoing theme — and point of contention — during the two-week-long hearing.
Some experts and former employees have said that Titan designer and operator OceanGate, which has ceased operations and is cooperating with the Coast Guard, did not conform to industry norms.
The new debris photos are part of the latest imagery from the aftermath of the disaster last year. The Titan lost contact with the surface on June 18, 2023, more than an hour into its dive. Its wreckage was found four days later.
"Presumed human remains" were also located and "respectfully transported to shore" as part of the recovery work, the Coast Guard said at the hearing.
Authorities previously presented a photo taken by a remotely operated vehicle of the wreckage, featuring the Titan's tail cone embedded into the seabed more than 12,000 feet below the surface.
Officials have said in their presentation at the hearing that the ROV found the aft tail cone and additional debris during a search on June 22, 2023.
The five people aboard the submersible who died in the implosion were explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet; adventurer Hamish Harding; father and son Shahzada and Suleiman Dawood; and Stockton Rush, who co-founded OceanGate.
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