Underwater expert and engineer Jose Luis Martin said that the passengers on the doomed Titan submersible probably had just enough time to realize what was happening before the unthinkable occurred.
Martin likened the scene to something out of a “horror movie,” saying that he believed the craft probably nose-dived after an electrical fault, causing them to plummet — in complete darkness – toward the sea floor. During that time, The New York Post reported, the passengers would have been thrown against each other — in free fall for 48-71 seconds before the submersible could no longer withstand the pressure.
“During the controlled immersion of the Titan, there must have been an electrical fault, which left the craft without thrust,” Martin told Spanish news outlet NIUS. “Without thrust, the weight of the passengers and the pilot (about 400 kilograms), which was focused on the front end close to the view port, would have disrupted the Titan’s longitudinal stability.”
“At this point, the submersible begins to fall headlong towards the seafloor, and with control and safety functions damaged, it can no longer be maneuvered,” Martin continued, noting that would also make it impossible for Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush to drop weights and make an emergency return to the surface.
Once the submersible had been thrown off balance, there would have been nothing anyone onboard could do to correct it, Martin argued.
“The Titan changes position and falls like an arrow vertically because the 400 kilos (880 pounds) of passengers that were at the porthole unbalance the submersible. Everyone rushes and crowds on top of each other. Imagine the horror, the fear, and the agony,” he said. “It had to be like a horror movie.”
”In that period of time, they are realizing everything,” Martin added, saying that he believed the entire sequence of events likely played out over about 48-71 seconds. “And what’s more, in complete darkness. It’s difficult to get an idea of what they experienced in those moments … After those 48 seconds, or one minute, the implosion and instantaneous sudden death occurs.”