The head of the company responsible for deploying the deep-sea robot that discovered the debris of the doomed Titan submersible fought back tears while recounting the mission to reporters. “We were always conscious of the crew of the Titan,” Ed Cassano, CEO of Pelagic Research Services, revealed at a news conference. “Plain and simple, we were focused on rescue.” Pelagic deployed Odysseus 6K, a remotely operated vehicle, which took about 90 minutes to reach the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, where the Titanic wreckage lay. But once Odysseus discovered the Titan’s debris, all hopes of a rescue were crushed. “By 12 o’clock, sadly, a rescue turned into a recovery,” Cassano said. Large chunks of the submersible’s mangled wreckage were hauled onto land on Wednesday days after the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed a “catastrophic implosion” killed all five passengers on board. “I have to apologize, we are still demobilizing, there’s a lot of emotions, people are tired,” Cassano shared, getting teary-eyed. He wants people to “recognize the seriousness of the event and respect the death and range of emotions” experienced by those involved.
