Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Titan submersible, Titanic
Joe Yates
A mom has slammed late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush for his involvement in the Titan sub disaster, in which he died alongside her husband and son.
British-Pakistani businessman, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son Suleman were killed on June 18, 2023, after the vessel they had boarded imploded under the immense pressure of the water, while on an expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
Now, just shy of two years on from the tragedy, Shazada's wife Christine Dawood has spoken out, blaming two things that led to their deaths.
Speaking to the BBC, she claimed that her husband was fascinated with the Titanic and that 61-year-old Stockton had sweet-talked Shahzada into splashing out $500,000 to embark on the once-in-a-lifetime trip.
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"I guess the American way of talking and presenting themselves is very different to ours, so I just thought they are a lot more egocentric," she said.
"I mean, there is a lot of, 'we are awesome', and the American dream, and, 'we can do it'."
She then went on explain how she had been shocked by the lengthy investigation and questioned why the expedition was ever allowed to go ahead due to a number of safety issues that had been flagged prior to the trip.
Continuing, she blamed their deaths on 'ego and arrogance': "I wanted to hear the confidence of the person who built it, who ran the company, but also he surrounded himself with literal experts. I mean, one died with them. If you have an expert like this with you, I mean, you don't doubt.
"The arrogance of the people in charge when they think that they're above everything. That really gets to me.
"Why is ego and arrogance more important than safety? The irony is not lost on me that the Titanic sunk for exactly the same reasons."
Alongside the Dawoods and Stockton, 58-year-old British businessman Hamish Harding and 77-year-old former French navy diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, also died.
The submersible's implosion took place roughly an hour and 45 minutes into the two-and-a-half-hour descent.
However, at the time it was not known that the doomed vessel had been destroyed, and instead a frantic search was launched to help find those onboard - who were just deemed missing, while in reality they were instantly killed in the implosion.
It was thought that the five explorers had just 96 hours of oxygen onboard.
On June 19 2023, the US Coast Guard launched a large-scale search and rescue operation when the vessel failed to resurface or make contact almost 24 hours on.
Two days on from the Titan's disappearance on June 21, sonar crews taking part in the search picked up 'banging noises', giving false hope that the passengers were still alive.
At 1.00pm E.T. on June 22, the submersible's 96-hour oxygen supply was predicted to have run out, cementing fears for the crew onboard.
Four days on from its disappearance, the wreckage of the Titan sub was discovered on the ocean floor.