The U.S. Coast Guard has released audio captured from an underwater recorder that appears to include the sound of the Titan submersible imploding in the fatal accident that killed five people in 2023. It says the audio "records the suspected acoustic signature of the Titan submersible" being crushed by the pressure of the water above it.
The recorder captured the sound about 900 miles away from where the submersible imploded. On the recording, the sound is similar to an echoing roll of thunder.
The Titan submersible, owned by Washington-based OceanGate, disappeared on a dive to the wreck of the Titanic on June 18, 2023. The incident triggered a five-day search of the ocean floor that ended when authorities said they believed all aboard had died in an accident.
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OceanGate stopped operations the following month. The incident led to hearings in front of a Coast Guard panel, in which former employees testified to lapses in safety culture and malfunctions that plagued the private submersible. Owner Stockton Rush, who was aboard the submersible and died in the accident, had refused to permit independent safety checks of the vessel.
The Coast Guard is expected to release more details about the submersible in a final report once its investigation completes.
