Jaden Pan: Ex-passenger says OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush told crew to sleep in vessel when Titan's battery died
NEWFOUNDLAND, CANADA: Jaden Pan, a television professional, shared a chilling account of his expedition to the Titanic wreck in 2021. During an episode of the BBC's 'The Travel Show,' Pan revealed a harrowing incident that occurred when one of the submersible's batteries failed just two hours into their descent to the ocean floor.
According to him, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush allegedly suggested that the crew should spend the night in the sub on the ocean floor near the wreck site. Initially, Pan thought Rush's announcement was a joke.
'At first, I thought he was joking'
However, he was taken aback when Rush informed the passengers about the battery failure. The vessel was very close to the iconic shipwreck, just two football fields away. During the BBC documentary, Pan said, "At first, I thought he was joking because we were over two hours into our expedition and so close to the bottom." He further added, "But then he explained that one of the batteries went kaput, and we were having trouble using the electronic drops for the weights, so it would be hard for us to get back up to the surface."
Along with Pan, the dive also included Renata Rojas, an employee of a bank, Oisin Fanning, an oceanographer, and Scott Griffith, a submersible pilot as per the details in The Travel Show.
'We're down here for another 16 to 24 hours'
Rush allegedly proposed that the crew spend the night at the ocean's bottom, patiently waiting for the submersible's weights to dissolve over the course of 24 hours. Rush also stated, "We're down here for another 16 to 24 hours. We will drift down. We'll hit the bottom. We'll have communications. We can talk to them." Remarkably, some members of the crew, including Rush himself, seemed willing to accept this unsettling suggestion. However, others expressed their reservations about spending the night submerged in the depths of the ocean. Amidst the tension, Rush managed to utilize hydraulics to release the weights, allowing the Titan to safely ascend back to the surface. The relief was palpable as the vessel resurfaced with all passengers unharmed.
'Oh no! We have a problem'
While documenting the dive, as the sub hit the bottom, as Pan heard pilot Griffith say, "Oh no. We have a problem." There has been a problem with thrusters as Griffith told the crew, "When I'm thrusting forwards, one of the thrusters is thrusting backward. Now all I can do is a 360." Rush who tried to consider remapping Griffith's controller told the crew, "It's not going to be easy." Rojas said before adding," I thought, we're not going to make it!. We're 300m from Titanic and all we can do is go in circles."
Unfortunately, this incident has resurfaced following a recent dive into the Titanic wreck which claimed the lives of five passengers, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. The ill-fated voyage marked the final journey of the Titan submersible, as its pressure chamber imploded at the immense depths near the resting place of the Titanic, approximately 3,800 meters below sea level.