James Cameron noted a “similarity” between the OceanGate tourist underwater tragedy and the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
“I was struck by the analogy of the Titanic disaster, where the captain was repeatedly warned of the ice in front of his ship, and yet he plunged into the ice field at full speed on a moonless night,” said the director of Titanic. An interview with ABC News on Thursday.
“And a lot of people died as a result.”
Cameron, who has visited the historic wreck himself many times, described it as “surprising” that a “similar tragedy” occurred after the diver company’s owner, Stockton Rush, was warned not to dive.
In a televised interview, he recalled that “top players in the deep underwater engineering community” had written letters to the OceanGate CEO warning him of the dangers before the trip.
According to “Avatar” director 68, professionals told Rush that his submarine was “too experimental to carry passengers” and needed to be “approved” before it could take humans to the ocean floor.
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But on Sunday, Rush was plunged into darkness an hour and 45 minutes after he and four other wealthy adventurers embarked on the nearly 2.4-mile voyage to the ocean floor to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
The five people who lost their lives during the march were Rush (61), Hamish Harding (58), Paul-Henri Nargeolet (77), Shanzada Dawood (48) and his son, Solomon Dawood (19).
U.S. Coast Guard officials announced on Thursday, after an extensive search and rescue mission that lasted for days, that they concluded that the passengers were no longer alive.
Authorities have definitively determined that the wreckage on the ocean floor belongs to the Titan diver. The submarine was confirmed to explode at some point during landing.
“My deepest condolences to his family. I hope this discovery provides some solace at this difficult time,” said Rear Admiral John Mauger.