NTSB releases report on cause of Titan implosion: What did it say?

(NewsNation) – The Titan submersible did not meet manufacturing safety standards, according to a Wednesday report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The report faulted OceanGate’s “inadequate engineering process," which resulted in a disaster that killed five people during a voyage to view the wreckage of the Titanic.

“(OceanGate) failed to establish the actual strength and durability of the Titan pressure vessel and resulted in the company operating a carbon fiber composite vessel that sustained delamination damage that was subsequently exacerbated by additional damage of unknown origin, resulting in a damaged internal structure that subsequently led to a local buckling failure of the pressure vessel,” the report said.

The agency recommended enhanced regulations for small vessels such as the Titan submersible.

The NTSB report echoes that of the Coast Guard, which was released in August.

The Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation report found OceanGate had safety procedures that were “critically flawed,” noting that the core of the failures inside the company came down to “glaring disparities” between their safety protocols and actual practices.

The disappearance of the Titan off Canada on June 18, 2023, led to a search that garnered worldwide attention, and the Coast Guard deployed its highest level of investigation in the aftermath.

The Titan lost contact with its support vessel 1 hour and 45 minutes into the dive, at approximately 12,000 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Officials searched for the submersible for four days until evidence of an implosion was found on the ocean floor.

OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush was among the five who died. Other victims included Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood.

After the implosion, Washington state-based OceanGate suspended its operations.

NewsNation's Taylor Delandro contributed to this report.