Reporter who survived submarine stuck under Titanic propeller ‘thought it was the end’

On Sky News, he revealed a horrifying incident under the wreckage that left him dying to close. Guillen, a physicist from Canada, also survived a chillingly similar ordeal on the submersible currently lost in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Canada. More than 20 years ago, Michael Guillen was the first correspondent to travel in a Russian submarine to the site of the Titanic wreckage. The stories of daredevils who have taken the 12,100-foot descent to the bottom of the ocean, detailing their experience of being seconds away from death and coming to the surface to view the Titanic, are also revealed.

In September 2000, Guillen, 63, left Halifax, Canada to embark on the descent to the ocean floor.

Guillen clarified, “we observed a moment of silence solely in honor of the victims present.” There were no issues during our tour of the bow. Upon reaching the seabed, the propeller was visible, fully exposed. Furthermore, the stern underwent a somersault. When the Titanic sank, the bow section descended vertically, resulting in it breaking into two separate pieces.

Michael Guillen survived a nearly fatal incident while in a submarine trapped under Titanic wreckage.
Michael Guillen survived a nearly fatal incident while in a submarine trapped under Titanic wreckage.

Guillen disclosed that witnessing the wreckage up close was extremely “solemn” and “extremely eerie.”

What occurred subsequently would remain in his memory for the remainder of his existence.

“He described the mosquito as being crushed by the propeller, stating that it was a massive propeller. He observed Guillen mentioning how it resembled the size of a submarine.”

I thought it was odd that we should start to decelerate, but I couldn’t help but notice that we were actually accelerating. I was completely mesmerized by the enormous propeller, and I couldn’t help but notice how the rest of the Titanic has remained intact without any corrosion, thanks to its brass composition. The remarkable shine of the propeller caught my attention, and I couldn’t help but comment on it to myself.

Blades the into right slam to submarine their forced that current underwater speed high very a in up caught being ended They.

“We also started falling down the huge piece of Titanic, but we didn’t only feel the collision, revealed Guillen. We became trapped behind the blades of the propeller. And we knew we were in trouble.”

Michael Guillen aboard a submarine heading to the Titanic wreckage.
Michael Guillen aboard a submarine heading to the Titanic wreckage.
Michael Guillen

Guillen swiftly became overwhelmed and started to believe that there was truly no escape from this situation.

‘This is how your journey will conclude,’ the phrases, ‘and those words will forever remain etched in my memory,’ were actually spoken to me, resonating within my mind.

Guillen expressed, “I dislike reminiscing about that encounter. I pondered about my spouse, fearing I would never lay eyes on her again… That was a difficult situation for me to accept. Moreover, as a journalist who had explored the Arctic and Antarctic, reported on the Persian Gulf conflict, and ventured into other perilous regions, I had consistently found a way to endure.”

Finally, I realized that I wasn’t succeeding at all with this brick wall. As we tried to jog it out, it took me a better part of an hour and a half to pilot our way through.

Michael Guillen in Kuwait.
Michael Guillen in Kuwait.
Michael Guillen
Michael Guillen astronaut training.
Michael Guillen astronaut training.
Michael Guillen

After an hour, they managed to wriggle free from the trap.

After nearly an hour, he managed to successfully free us, thanks to the expertise of our pilot, a former MiG pilot, and with the help of divine intervention.

But after that hour, they still had to think about getting back to the surface, which would take more than two hours.

“I’m just so sick to my stomach, I can’t bear to see all these people lost. Guillen said I’ll never forget that experience, it’s an unforgettable one. I’ll never forget that experience, it’s an unforgettable one, to think of those poor souls choking up.”

Stockton Rush, a 61-year-old CEO of OceanGate, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a 73-year-old expert on the Titanic from France, are accompanied by Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani entrepreneur, and his 19-year-old son, as they transport British billionaire Hamish Harding on the underwater vessel.

Meanwhile, a German adventurer who explored the Titanic wreckage on the same submersible that disappeared has labeled the voyage a “suicide mission.”.

“I was extremely fortunate back then,” Arthur Loibl, 60, shared with German outlet Bild about his thrilling underwater escapade.

He embarked on the dangerous underwater journey in August 2021.

The Bavarian businessperson exclaimed, “It was a self-destruction undertaking in those days!” Remembering his own descent into the deep, “The initial underwater vessel didn’t function, followed by an abortive attempt at diving to a depth of 1,600 meters.”

Loibl explained that the current crews’ predicament on Titan is due to suspects, for which he blames electrical issues, resulting in the late hours of their launch.

He stated, “I fastened the zipper with a reattached knot and ripped — underneath the equilibriums that — the bracket for stabilizing the tube, before the journey, on the right side but not on the left side.”

The confined circumstances on the Titan weren’t exactly comforting either.

"I was incredibly lucky back then," Arthur Loibl, 60, told German outlet Bild of his hair-raising aquatic adventure.
“I was extremely fortunate back then,” Arthur Loibl, 60, shared with German outlet Bild about his thrilling underwater escapade.
Facebook

The aquanaut, who has successfully navigated around the wreckage of the Titanic on two occasions in Titan, stated, “It is necessary to possess a resilient disposition, avoid claustrophobia, and be capable of maintaining a cross-legged sitting position for a duration of ten hours.”

The vessel has been missing since Sunday and the US Coast Guard reported on Tuesday that it has fewer than 41 hours of breathable oxygen left.

Maritime specialists claim that the debris is situated in a manner that will pose a challenging endeavor for the recovery mission.

Managed by OceanGate Expeditions, the underwater vehicle, called the Titan submersive, can accommodate a maximum of five individuals.

Former Rear Admiral Chris Parry expressed his concerns during an interview on Sky News, stating, “The location of the wreck is quite remote. At present, we are uncertain about its potential entanglement with the remains of the Titanic. This situation is indeed a cause for significant distress.”

“The only hope one has is that the mothership will have a standby craft that can investigate immediately what is going on.”.

G. Michael Harris, the head of the Titanic exploration, opines that the passengers on the vessel had already come face to face with their fates long before.

“Worst situation is… Something happened to the hull… And our fear is, it imploded at around 3,200 meters,” Harris told Fox News.

When questioned about the current capabilities of the Navy, Harris promptly replied “negative.”.

Harris said, “I can’t see anything that can happen if you point this. There have been more people who have been to outer space than the depth of this ocean. When you talk about 6,000 pounds per square inch, it is a hazardous environment.”

Shahzada Dawood and his son Sulaiman Dawood are aboard the vessel.
Family Handout

The vessel, equipped with a surface ship, experienced a loss of radio communication in the region where the recently identified “banging” occurred every half an hour during the search for the Canadian aircraft that was headed towards the Titanic and was submerged underwater.

A Tuesday email acquired by the outlet from the Explorers Club, of which one of the passengers aboard the submersible is a member, mentioned that it suggests the crew might be alive and signaling. The “tapping sounds” were identified at approximately 2 a.M. In the local time.

“RCC Halifax deployed a P8, Poseidon, that possesses aerial capabilities to detect underwater objects,” stated the email updates forwarded to DHS.

The Coast Guard reported that the search efforts have yielded no results thus far, but due to this development, the remotely operated underwater vehicle was redirected to the area where the sounds were detected.

The Coast Guard has shared with our U.S. Navy experts the data from the P-3 aircraft, which will be considered for further analysis in the future plans of the search. This update was posted on Twitter.

In the depths of the sea, the Titan submarine achieved a global achievement in 2019 as the initial civilian-crewed in an advanced five-person underwater vehicle to transport a team of four divers to a depth of 3,760 meters (12,336 feet).

Titan on platform awaiting signal to commence dive.
Titan on platform awaiting signal to commence its dive.
Becky Kagan Schott / OceanGate Expeditions
Titan vessel launched from the platform.
Titan vessel launched from the platform.
Becky Kagan Schott / OceanGate Expeditions
Crew inside the Titan submarine.
Crew inside the Titan submarine.
OceanGate Expeditions
CEO and founder Stockton Rush leading the Titan submarine to the Titanic wreck in 2021.
CEO and founder Stockton Rush, who is also on the latest expedition attempt, leading the Titan submarine to the Titanic wreck in 2021.
OceanGate Expeditions

On Saturday, Harding shared on Facebook, revealing his intentions to participate in the journey.

I am finally proud to announce that I joined Expeditions OceanGate as a specialist on the submersible mission named Mission TITANIC RMS, where we will be going down to the Titanic.

“Until that time, we have numerous arrangements and informative sessions to complete,” Harding remarked. “We commenced our journey from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and intend to initiate dive operations at approximately 4am the following morning. A favorable weather opportunity has recently arisen, and we will endeavor to conduct a dive tomorrow. Given the severe winter conditions in Newfoundland, which haven’t been witnessed in four decades, this mission is expected to be the sole manned expedition to the Titanic in 2023.”

A photo of Hamish Harding right before he is about to embark on the submarine journey to the Titanic wreckage.
A photo of Hamish Harding right before embarking on the submarine journey to the Titanic wreckage.
Hamish Harding/Facebook
Titan and crew undergoing through rough sea state enroute to dive location.
Titan and crew en route to dive location.
OceanGate Expeditions

Cruises can endure for up to 10 hours each, and travelers receive a slightly larger area inside than in customary ships.

The caption on a social media post states that the interior of the Titan, a traditional deep-diving submersible, is spacious compared to other submersibles. The crew members have plenty of room to work together and document the Titanic wreck site, according to the social media post.

As per the company, Titan is specifically crafted to accommodate a maximum of five individuals to reach depths of 4,000 meters (equivalent to 13,123 feet). Moreover, it is characterized by its reduced weight and enhanced cost-effectiveness.

The most significant innovation during the construction of the submersible is its real time hull health monitoring system, according to the company.

The most significant innovation during the construction of the submersible is its real time hull health monitoring system, according to the company.

titan
Titan launched underwater.
Becky Kagan Schott / OceanGate Expeditions
Crew inside the Titan vessel.
A photo from 2021 of crew inside the Titan vessel.
OceanGate Expeditions
The vessel is made with carbon fiber.
The vessel is made with carbon fiber.
OceanGate Expeditions

The Time Real Monitoring Health Hull system onboard the vessel provides unparalleled safety features that assess the integrity of the hull throughout every dive. It utilizes strain gauges and acoustic sensors that are co-located to analyze the effects of changing pressure as the vessel goes deeper. This system also provides early warning detection for the pilot, allowing enough time to safely return to the surface and arrest the descent.

The submersible was built unlike anything else before, Rush, the CEO and founder of OceanGate said in a 2022 interview with Dan.Org.

Rush stated, “The difference is that vessel pressure is made of titanium and carbon fiber. Although it hadn’t been applied yet, people have successfully used crewed submersibles. There has been a lot of change in the past 50 years. We now have a lot of knowledge about testing and manufacturing composites. We are now sure about how to test and manufacture them.”

The Titanic, known as the largest steamship in the world at the time, was on its maiden voyage from the United Kingdom across the Atlantic to New York. On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg, with more than 1,400 passengers on board.