‘Landing Frame and Rear Cover of Missing Titan Submersible’ Found On Ocean Floor

The landing frame and rear cover of the missing Titan submersible have been discovered on the ocean floor, according to experts involved in the search.

According to these experts, the discovery points to the vessel suffering a ‘catastrophic implosion’ that will have claimed all five of the lives on board.

The US Coast Guard announced on Twitter that the ‘debris field’ had been found on Thursday.

UPDATE: Five Titan Submersible Passengers Confirmed Dead After ‘Catastrophic Implosion’

They are yet to confirm what exactly was discovered, but Richard Garriott, President of the Explorers’ Club, tells DailyMail.com his understanding from the teams involved in the search is that key components of the sub were among the items. It would mean the sub suffered a crack and imploded under the underwater pressure, instantly killing all five men on board.

‘This is an unconventional submarine, that rear cover is the pointy end of it and the landing frame is the little frame that it seems to sit on. It means the hull hasn’t yet been found but two very important parts of the whole system have been discovered and that would not be found unless its fragmented.

“That really indicates what is the worst case scenario which is a catastrophic failure, an implosion. The only saving grace is that it would have been immediate, literally in milliseconds and the men would have no idea what was happening,’ David Mearns, a friend of two of the men on board, said during an appearance on Sky News in the UK this evening.

He added: “My worst fears have now been realized.”

A press conference has been scheduled for 3pm EST (10pm BST) where the Coast Guard said it would discuss the ‘findings’.

It brings a devastating development to the search, which had been emphatically categorized as rescue effort – and not a recovery mission – by US officials.

The submersible’s oxygen theoretically should have run out at 8am EST (1pm BST) Thursday, according to the 96 hours limit listed on OceanGate’s specs of the ship.

Those stuck onboard the sub include British billionaire Hamish Harding, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French navy veteran PH Nargeolet and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, who is just 19 and a student at Strathclyde University.

UPDATE: The U.S Coast Guard press conference confirmed the five Titan passengers dead – read more at the link!

Source: Daily Mail