The wife of Stockton Rush, the CEO of doomed Titanic submersible firm Oceangate, unknowingly heard the sound of the craft's implosion, a haunting new video has revealed.
Newly released US Coastguard footage shows the moment Wendy Rush heard the fatal implosion of the Titan submersible that killed her husband and four others aboard.
The video, which forms part of the ongoing investigation into the tragedy, shows Rush monitoring the sub's progress from a support ship during its descent to the Titanic wreckage in June 2023.
In the footage, she can be seen reacting to a noise that sounded like a "door slamming".
Wendy Rush can be seen reacting to a noise that sounded like a 'door slamming'
BBC/US COASTGUARD
She turns to a team member and asks "what was that bang?" before receiving a text message indicating the sub had dropped two weights.
While she initially assumed this meant the dive was proceeding normally, investigators now believe the "bang" she heard was actually the moment of the submersible's catastrophic implosion.
The message she received was likely sent just before the tragedy, with its arrival delayed due to the sound of the implosion.
All five people on board were instantly killed in the tragedy on 18 June 2023.
MORE ON THE OCEANGATE CALAMITY:
Wendy Rush and Stockton Rush, pictured before the latter's doomed Atlantic descent
OCEANGATE
The victims included OceanGate co-founder Rush, adventurer Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, as well as French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The passengers had paid to see the wreck of the Titanic, which lies some 3,700 metres below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
It is believed the vessel imploded around 90 minutes into its descent, with its wreckage later found 330 yards away from the bow of the ship.
The new video footage comes after the sub's final moments were also revealed earlier this year in a sound clip captured by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration device from around 900 miles away.
The wreck of the OceanGate Titan, as captured by US Coast Guard camerasUS COASTGUARD
All five people on board died in the horror implosionUS COASTGUARD
Following the tragedy, serious questions emerged about the Titan's safety, with industry leaders having warned Stockton Rush five years earlier that the company's "experimental" methods could end in "catastrophic" disaster.
At US Coastguard hearings, Karl Stanley, a submersible pilot, testified that Rush was more concerned with leaving "his mark on history" than passenger safety.
"I think that if it wasn't an accident, it then has to be some degree of crime," Stanley also told the hearing, suggesting Rush's desire to "leave his mark on history" was a key motivation behind the operation.
The US Coastguard investigation into the sub's catastrophic failure is expected to continue for two years.
