The leader of the search team which found the remains of the Titan submersible has shared the moment he knew the five missing passengers onboard were dead.
Pelagic Research Services CEO Ed Cassano became emotional as he described how their rescue effort soon became a recovery operation.
All five on board the sub were killed following a "catastrophic implosion" near the bottom of the Atlantic ocean just an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged.
During a news conference, Cassano said: "Throughout the entire evolution of this response… we had the same fundamental focus... during the urgency of the rescue at hand, we are always conscious of the safety of all the responders. We were prepared to arrive on site and rescue those aboard."
British billionaire Hamish Harding and British businessman Shehzada Dawood were among those who died
OceanGate/ Twitter/ SetiIt comes after suspected human remains were found in wreckage which was located around 1,600ft from the wreckage of the Titanic.
While holding back tears, Cassano added: "Shortly after arriving on the seafloor, we discovered the debris of the Titan submersible...by 12 o'clock, a rescue turned into a recovery.
"Our plan of rescue was to - immediately upon finding Titan - to latch onto her as quickly as possible and begin recovery."
Experts suggest the victims - which included three Britons, billionaire Hamish Harding, businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman - would have died within milliseconds.
Also among the victims were 77-year-old French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, which operates the Titanic tours.
Speaking about the moment he heard the sub had gone missing, Cassano added: "We wish the call never came, but we wanted to be ready when it did."
His team and equipment, which includes a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV which was able to perform the deep-sea salvage mission, arrived at the scene following the news.
The search leader said "there's a lot of emotion" from his team a week on from the discovery but added: "I can't say enough about the professionalism and preparation for the entire response that allowed us to come in as primary and have that waiting for us."
Suspected human remains were found in wreckage which was located around 1,600ft from the wreckage of the Titanic
Reuters
Around ten pieces of the sub were taken off a Horizon Arctic ship and were quickly covered in large tarpaulins before being lifted by cranes onto lorries.
The US coastguard said that US medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis of the presumed human remains.
Experts have suggested the process of finding the cause of the implosion could take up to six months.