The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just released a clip of audio it says captured the moments leading up to the tragic fate of the Titan submersible, and all 5 occupants.
The incident happened in 2023 when the 5-man crew took a trip to the ocean depths in order to get a look at the wreckage of the Titanic.
The audio was captured from nearly 1,000 miles away from the site of the implosion by a U.S. Coast Guard underwater acoustic recorder.
Here’s the bone chilling audio:
The #TitanMBI releases the suspected acoustic signature of the Titan submersible implosion. Audio recording courtesy of NOAA/NPS Ocean Noise Reference Station Network) https://t.co/h3ySH0PhiA pic.twitter.com/dXC7C1hy4y
— USCG MaritimeCommons (@maritimecommons) February 8, 2025
The implosion occurred just a few hours into the decent, on June 18th of 2023.
The Titan was apparently exposed to the elements and did not undergo the proper inspections necessary to validate the integrity of its hull prior to the disaster, according to a report by Fox News:
The moored passive acoustic recorder was about 900 miles from the Titan submersible implosion site, according to the Department of Defense.
ADVERTISEMENTIn the audio recording, posted on defense websites on Friday, listeners can hear what sounds like static, followed by a loud roar of thunder.
After a few seconds of reverb, the audio goes silent.
Reports show the Titan was exposed to the elements for seven months prior to the disaster, and its hull was not reviewed by third parties.
The Coast Guard launched and investigation into the implosion, ultimately revealing that the structural flaws in the hull likely served as the primary precursor to the disaster.
Five people lost their lives in the tragic disaster, including the co-founder and CEO of OceanGate — the company which owned and operated the submersible.
NOAA releases hair-raising audio of moment doomed Titan submersible imploded https://t.co/xcXRnQ2ST0 pic.twitter.com/Fg2J4e4n7j
— New York Post (@nypost) February 12, 2025
The booming sound is the sub imploding prior to reaching the depth of the Titanic’s wreckage, according to a report by the New York Post:
The never-before-heard audio clip published online Friday captures staticky white noise followed by a loud boom and reverb — and then the static again.
Officials said the boom is the sound of the sub imploding before reaching the Titanic wreck site on the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean on June 18, 2023.
The US Coast Guard said the clip reveals “the suspected acoustic signature of the Titan submersible implosion.”
ADVERTISEMENTThe sub’s passengers — OceanGate co-founder and CEO Stockton Rush, UK billionaire Hammish Harding, French explorer Paul-Henry Nargeolet and father and son Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood — were all killed in the implosion.
The Titan’s mothership had lost communication with the small submersible less than two hours into the dive — sparking a frantic four-day search for the missing vessel before debris from the wreck was discovered on the ocean floor.
In September of last year, footage was released by the Coast Guard showing parts of the submersible on the ocean floor.
According to the Coast Guard, the debri in this clip was the tail cone of the Titan.
🚨#BREAKING: New haunting footage has been released by the U.S. Coast Guard, showing the tail cone of the Titan submersible after the fatal implosion that killed five people in June 2023. Their last messages from the doomed vessel were, ‘All good here… Dropped two [weights] pic.twitter.com/4Bbe6LmMrk
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) September 18, 2024
The mission to re-explore the wreckage of the Titanic is something that has captivated explorers for decades, long after the wreckage was first identified in 1985.
As a 3rd grader in 1988, I was able to remote pilot Alvin from a Science Museum in Fair Park in Dallas.
Handling a joystick and watching an early computer screen, I was able to scan back and forth for several minutes, controlling the amazing piece of equipment thousands of miles away, and nearly 13,000 feet below the North Atlantic.
On this day in 1964…
The Deep Sea Vessel (aka sub) "The Alvin" was commissioned. This DSV would explore hydrothermal vents beneath the ocean in the 1970s and the remains of the Titanic beneath the North Atlantic. pic.twitter.com/K7OMsjFaBY
— Today in History (@Lurnsumthingnu) June 5, 2020
There are a lot of things that should have been done differently that could have prevented the loss of life on Titan in 2023.
But there are those who say it is foolish and irresponsible to risk human life in order to see a 100+ year old pile of wreckage no matter how much attention you give to safety protocols.
I am not one of those people.
I firmly believe that to live is to risk, and to embrace adventure.
It’s easy to sit back and armchair quarterback what should have been done differently with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. And much of that hindsight is probably right.
But life is fraught with danger; some we mitigate, some we embrace.
Wisdom is knowing that the call is yours to make, and then making it.
Those five took a risk, and died in the middle of a grand adventure.
Not on a couch… not in bed… not in the easy chair.
I’m sure they would all have preferred to live, and may have even forgone the mission, had they known the ultimate results.
But I can’t fault them, knowing how many people and how easy it is to never step off, never take the leap, never risk the adventure.
Most never do. Those five did. I don’t want to die, until it’s my time. But I can’t help but envy them in some ways.
They didn’t die in the chair, and that’s not nothing.
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