Dody
Contributor
I am a bit sad about all some of the comments and the blame, even from James Cameron who himself went to Challenger Deep (way deeper) with an experimental vessel that had less previous dives than Titan (28 people dove to the Titanic with Titan). Of course, the big difference is that he was only risking his own life and did not have 4 passengers who signed a waiver stating that dying was a possibility and that the company would hold no responsibility. I am not knowledgeable enough to judge the metal vs composite thing but as techniques evolve I would not be surprised to see reliable and safe carbon fiber hulls in a few years or decades. Anyway, I have watched a lot of videos of the pilot those last 4 days and I think that we should acknowledge a few things. He never said that the vessel was safe as a commercial airplane or even a standard submarine. He was a pioneer and as such he might have made some mistakes, taken some shortcuts, been a risk taker but he was a true explorer. It is wrong to say that he wanted to launch a tourist business. He built the sub for research and exploration purposes and taking paying passengers was a way to finance that. Someone said that only those who don’t do anything don’t make mistakes. Stockton Rush probably made some mistakes. Lethal mistakes. He brought four people in death with him. He is not the first explorer and won’t be the last to push the envelope. Some have gotten away with it and are celebrated. Others died or caused death. The guy was flawed but he was an explorer, not a criminal.
