YouTuber’s 'scary' trip in Titan submersible just days before implosion: ‘It could’ve been me’
'I wish I could go back in time and tell them not to do it.'
A popular YouTuber who travelled in the Titan submersible just days before it’s doomed trip believes he could’ve died if bad weather hadn’t prevented the vessel from making the journey to the ocean floor.
Jake Koehler, who has 13.5 million subscribers on his channel, filmed his entire experience on ‘Mission 3’ with OceanGate Expeditions.
The submersible’s final trip – Mission 5 – was last Sunday. The vessel lost contact with the tour operator an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent to the wreckage of the Titanic.
On Thursday, local time, debris from the submersible was found, confirming fears it had suffered a catastrophic implosion around the time it lost contact, killing all five passengers onboard.
Victims of Titan implosion appear in video
In his 26-minute video, Jake shows himself and his girlfriend, Kyndall, boarding a larger ship for the nine-day expedition. Staying in a cabin opposite them was French oceanographer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who died in the tragedy.
When they neared the site of the Titanic, the weather was too rough for the dive, so they attempted to “wait it out” for several days on the surface above.
“Lo and behold, the weather did not clear up, it got worse and worse and Stockton decided to call it," Jake told his followers, referring to OceanGate founder Stockton Rush who also perished in the implosion.
“It's crazy to think, but if the weather cleared up and the conditions were perfect, and Stockton looked up at me and said, 'there's a spot on the submarine, do you wanna go?' Looking back, I would've done it, I would’ve been on that submarine and my fate could've been just like the five who had lost their lives just recently on Mission 5.”
On their trip back to land, the weather finally cleared up and Mr Rush offered Jake a spot on a test dive at a depth of 3000 feet, instead of the 13,000ft dive to the Titanic.
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'No way to escape'
Images show Jake getting weighed with his belongings – a camera, a pillow, a peanut butter sandwich and some cookies.
“I’m a little nervous,” he said before boarding, adding that if anyone suffers from claustrophobia, “this is not the sport for you”.
“I think the anxiety comes from, when you go in the submarine, someone on the outside literally bolts you shut. Yeh, it’s scary,” he said.
“There’s no way of escaping. There’s no quick hatch to open.”
In an eerie moment, Jake filmed the entrance being bolted shut, showing the last sliver of sunshine disappearing.
Inside the vessel, the space was so confined all five passengers were forced to sit. Mr Rush was seated at the head of the submersible, holding the famed gaming controller that operated it. The men can see the ocean out of a porthole, located opposite Mr Rush.
"I feel like I dodged a bullet, but I also feel very bad for the families who lost loved ones," Jake said later on. "Like I said before, I didn’t know these people too well but they treated me very nicely and I lost a few friends as well.
"In this case scenario, five people lost their lives in this exact same submersible that I was going to go down to the Titanic in. I think this is a big reminder not only to myself but everyone that life is very precious and it can go away very quickly," he said.
"If the weather permitted and it was beautiful out, and Stockton asked me if I wanted a spot on that submarine, I would’ve said yes and it could’ve been me.
"I wish I could go back in time and tell them not to do it, but this is real life."
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