Loved ones of the explorer nicknamed “Mr. Titanic” have alleged in a lawsuit that those on the doomed OceanGate submersible knew they were going to die before it imploded.
The lawsuit alleged that’s because the Titan submarine “dropped weights” prior to its implosion, indicating that those on board knew their dive to the deep was in trouble about 90 minutes after they hit the water.
“While the exact cause of failure may never be determined, experts agree that the Titan’s crew would have realized exactly what was happening,” the lawsuit stated. “Common sense dictates that the crew were well aware they were going to die, before dying.”
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Now the loved ones of Paul-Henri Nargeolet want OceanGate to pay up to the tune of $50 million.
Nargeolet, 77, was among the five people who died aboard the Titan last summer. A French historian living in New York, Nargeolet was the oldest member of the failed expedition. He was hired to deliver commentary about the ill-fated vessel to the three passengers who paid $250,000 each to be on board. It was his 37th Titanic dive.
The historian’s family claimed in a wrongful death lawsuit that Nargeolet was kept in the dark about the Titan’s issues before his “doomed” trip to the deep. They wrote that the Titan had a “troubled history” that included design failures that were “purposely concealed.”
Had Nargeolet known of the nature of the design flaws, his loved ones said he would’ve never stepped inside the sub.
Nargeolet’s family filed their lawsuit Tuesday, demanding that those still around at OceanGate, which has since ceased operations, shell out millions to them over the company’s alleged negligence.
OceanGate’s founder and former CEO, Stockton Rush, was among those killed in the implosion. The loved ones of others on board—the British adventurer Hamish Harding and a Pakistani father and son, Shahzada and Suleman Dawood—were not included in Tuesday’s lawsuit.
A spokesperson for OceanGate declined to comment on the lawsuit to CBS News. The lawsuit was brought forward in Seattle, with Nargeolet’s family hiring the bombastic Texas attorney Tony Buzbee—who famously defended Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial last year—to represent them.
