“While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening,” the complaint says. “Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.”
The family of a French man who died aboard the submersible “Titan” has filed a lawsuit $50 million lawsuit against OceanGate.
According to The Associated Press, Paul-Henri Nargeolet was one of five people who died aboard the vessel, which imploded while diving to the site of the Titanic’s wreck. None of Nargeolet’s fellow passengers survived.
Nargeolet, notes The Associated Press, had a longstanding reputation as “Mr. Titanic.” He had visited the ship’s resting place more than three-dozen times, more than any other diver in the world.
Attorneys for the Nargeolet family now say that OceanGate, the Washington-based company that owned and operated the submersible, knew that Titan had a “troubled history” yet failed to disclose key facts about its safety and potential durability.
The lawsuit alleges that Titan “dropped weights” about 90 minutes into its voyage, indicating that its team had either aborted or attempted to abort the dive.
“While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening,” the complaint says. “Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.”
“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 suggests. “The crew lost communications and perhaps power as well. By experts’ reckoning, they would have continued to descend, in full knowledge of the vessel’s irreversible failures, experiencing terror and mental anguish prior to the Titan ultimately imploding.”
Attorneys also tore into what they described as Titan’s “hip, contemporary, wireless electronics system,” arguing that “none of the controller, controls, or gauges would work without a constant source of power and a wireless signal.”
Although OceanGate considered Nargeolet a member of Titan’s crew, the lawsuit claims that “many of the particulars about the vessel’s flaws and shortcomings were not disclosed [to Nargeolet] and were purposely concealed.”
Before working with OceanGate, Nargeolet was director of underwater research for the RMS Titanic. He visited the ship’s site in 1987, shortly after its discovery, and supervised the salvage of various features and artifacts.
Tony Buzbee, the founder of the Houston-based Buzbee Law Firm and one of the attorneys litigating the claim, said that the lawsuit seeks “answers for the family as to exactly how this happened, who all were involved, and how those involved could allow this to happen.”
“Decedent Nargeolet may have died doing what he loved to do,” the complaint states, “but his death—and the deaths of the other Titan crew members—was wrongful.”
Sources
Crew of Titan sub knew they were going to die before implosion, according to more than $50M lawsuit
Titan sub crew were aware of imminent death before implosion, lawsuit alleges
Titan Submersible Crew Member’s Family Files a $50 Million Lawsuit
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