Hollywood director James Cameron reveals his theory on the doomed Titan submersible and slams Coast Guard investigation
James Cameron has revealed that the US Coast Guard investigation into the doomed Titan submarine has still not spoken to him, despite him volunteering as an expert witness a year ago.
Cameron, who directed the 1997 hit Titanic has made 33 dives to the wreck of the famous ship in the North Atlantic Ocean, near the site where OceanGate’s Titan vessel imploded in June 2023 with five people on board.
Mr Cameron made the comments in a 60 minutes interview on Sunday and said he has been left out of the ongoing investigation by U.S. Coast Guard officials.
“I volunteered for the Coast Guard investigative committee,” he said.
‘They should invite me, but they don’t. Why listen to a scientist?’ he said.
“I think they want to do things their way and to be honest I think they kind of have egg on their faces and don’t want outside opinions.
“That’s just my interpretation.”
Film director James Cameron (pictured) said the OceanGate mission should never have happened
Mr Cameron said rescuers would never find the men who died in the submarine and said false hopes had been raised that there would be survivors (photo of debris recovered from Titan submarine)
The Titan submarine disappeared two hours into its journey to the wreck of the Titanic.
On board were OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his teenage son Suleman, and legendary Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who is also Cameron’s friend.
Cameron said the entire OceanGate mission should never have happened in the first place.
“These guys broke the rules,” Cameron told 60 Minutes on Sunday.
‘It’s so simple. Legally, they should not have been allowed to carry passengers.”
Despite several investigations, the victims’ families still do not know how the tragedy happened.
Mr Cameron said OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush (pictured) should have heeded the safety warnings before deploying the submarine
The disappearance of the submarine led to a large-scale, multi-day search by the US Coast Guard with the assistance of Canadian authorities.
Remains of the submarine, including the tail cone, were found about 490 meters from the Titanic’s hull on June 22, and the suspected human remains were recovered days later.
Mr Cameron said that, rather than relying on his expertise, researchers appear reluctant to consult the knowledge he gained from visiting the shipwreck 33 times.
Mr Cameron slammed the response when the submarine lost contact, and has revealed his theory that an ‘implosion event’ heard at the outset before the multinational ‘rescue’ operation had confirmed those on board were already dead.
“I mean, my jaw literally dropped wider and wider every day because they never warned everyone,” he said.
‘Everyone was running around with their hair on fire when we knew where the submarine was.
‘But no one could admit that they didn’t have the means to look down.
“So they ran across the entire surface and the whole world waited with bated breath, talking about 96 hours of oxygen.
‘We all knew they were dead.
“We had already raised a glass on Monday evening, you know, a toast to our fallen comrades.”
The tourist submarine bound for the Titanic (photo) had only 96 hours of life support installed
Mr Cameron said he was not consulted by investigators to help with their investigation even after he volunteered (photo of the submarine’s debris, recovered after it was found on the ocean floor)
Cameron said he does not believe the Coast Guard was dishonest about their search efforts, but that they “unnecessarily” withheld information from the families involved.
“I don’t think they lied,” he said.
“I think they followed a procedure that was torturous for the family.
“They just haven’t announced it. They were informed by naval intelligence that an implosion had occurred to the coordinate of the Titanic wreck site.”
Cameron said he believed charges should be filed, but he believes the person primarily responsible died in the underwater disaster.
“I think there need to be some changes,” he said.
“They had no classification. Theoretically, they should not have been legally allowed to carry passengers.
“Yes, I think the tragedy is that (Mr. Rush) took others with him.
‘HI should have listened to the warnings.’
Cameron said he plans to honor his late friend Nargeolet by returning to the Titanic one more time.
“We have plans to build a submarine that can go up to 4,000 meters deep, and we will do that, and I might even go back to the Titanic in that submarine, just to prove that if it’s done right, it can also be done safely,” he said. .
A coveted spot on the doomed voyage to the Titanic cost the passengers $250,000 each.