A chilling transcript detailing the final moments of the Titan submersible crew during their Titanic expedition was exposed as a hoax, according to The New York Times. Released last year, the log described a dramatic struggle for survival, raising doubts about its authenticity. After a year-long investigation, officials confirmed the transcript was entirely fabricated. The crew had no warning of the impending disaster.
According to The NYT, the US federal government team investigating the disaster said that the entire transcript is fiction. After nearly a year of investigation, the group has found no signs that the five voyagers aboard the Titan had any warning of the catastrophic implosion that was to take their lives. Two miles down, where seawater exerts vast pressure, an implosion would have made the violent collapse of the vehicle's hull instantaneous.
"I'm confident it's a false transcript," said Captain Jason D Neubauer, who retired from the US Coast Guard and serves as chairman of the Marine Board of Investigation, the agency's highest level of inquiry. "It was made up." Its authorship is not known.
For a number of reasons, the federal team saw through the charade, even if the journal had an air of authenticity. Notably, the recordings of the actual contacts between the submersible and its mother ship were made available to Mr Neubauer's team; these communications are still a secret component of the federal investigation.
He said that his team, aided by investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, had "found no evidence" that Titan's voyagers had any awareness of the imminent implosion or their fate.
