What Was That Bang? New Footage Reveals Sound of Titan Sub’s Fatal Implosion

Newly released footage from the Marine Board of Investigation—the highest-level inquiry by the US Coast Guard—captures the haunting moment when the Titan submersible imploded in June 2023.

The video, recorded by cameras on the sub’s mother ship, shows Wendy Rush reacting to a sudden, faint cracking noise. Wendy, whose late husband Stockton Rush founded OceanGate (the company behind the ill-fated Titan), is heard asking, “What was that bang?” The sound resembled a car door slamming, coming just 90 minutes into the sub’s descent to the Titanic wreck, roughly 3,300 meters below the ocean surface.

Experts believe that “bang” was the terrifying moment the sub imploded.

Confusing Signals in the Seconds Before Disaster

Moments after the sound, the support crew on the mother ship received a puzzling message from the sub: it had dropped two weights. This signal may have given a false sense of normalcy, suggesting the vessel was still functioning properly.

Chris Roman, a professor at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, told CNN the timing of that message was likely just before the implosion—but due to communication delays underwater, it was only received after the catastrophe.

“Every underwater data transmission system has some inherent delay,” Roman explained. “If the ‘weights dropped’ message was sent just seconds before the implosion, it might not have appeared immediately on the receiving computer. The timing is tight but possible.”

According to investigators’ timelines, contact with the Titan was lost just six seconds after that message.

Tragic End to a High-Stakes Expedition

When the Titan failed to resurface, an intense international search and rescue mission was launched in the remote waters southeast of Newfoundland. Days later, authorities discovered the shattered remains of the sub resting on the North Atlantic seabed—just several hundred yards from the Titanic itself.

Five people lost their lives in the tragedy: Wendy Rush’s husband Stockton, businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, businessman Hamish Harding, and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Questions of Risk, Cost, and Accountability

The disaster has sparked fierce debate about the risks of deep-sea exploration—and the consequences of ambition unchecked by safety. During official hearings, troubling testimony painted a critical picture of OceanGate and Stockton Rush. Despite multiple warnings about the sub’s structural weaknesses, OceanGate charged passengers roughly $250,000 per dive.

The tragedy has since become a cautionary tale of hubris and greed in the pursuit of adventure.

Documentaries to Dig Deeper

Two documentaries, one from the BBC and another by Netflix, are scheduled for release soon. Both aim to investigate the causes behind the Titan sub’s implosion, shedding further light on one of the most tragic and mysterious underwater disasters of recent times.