‘Sounded bad on its face’: James Cameron points out flaws in Titan submersible’s design

Renowned film director James Cameron, who immortalised the 1912 Titanic tragedy in the form of mainstream cinema, has expressed his regret for not flagging the Titanic shipwreck exploration mission, which he thought was a ‘horrible idea’, earlier. In an interview to the New York Times, Cameron pointed out several flaws in the submersible which may have resulted in its implosion.

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From the design of the vessel to the material used, the filmmaker, who has dived several times including plunging in a self-designed craft to the bottom of the planet's deepest recess, has highlighted a couple of anomalies in the vessel which he thought would have been figured out by someone. He pointed out that among other fatalities in the past at this kind of depth, implosion was not among one of them. Implosion of a vessel which is big enough to carry five people is synonymous to ‘10 cases of dynamite going off’.

While talking to Reuters, he said he was skeptical with the use of composite carbon fiber used to make the submersible along with a titanium hull. He added the technology used in its making ‘sounded bad on its face’.

"I thought it was a horrible idea. I wish I'd spoken up, but I assumed somebody was smarter than me, you know, because I never experimented with that technology, but it just sounded bad on its face," he said.

Carbon-fiber composites are widely used in aerospace industries because of its light-weight characteristic, although stronger than steel and aluminium. However, the same material cannot prove useful in making an undersea vehicle which would experience extreme strength of compression as it dives deeper into the abyss due to the surge in water pressure.

Cameron also criticised the owner and CEO of OceanGate Stocton Rush, also the pilot of the vessel, for certifying the submersible as safe when ‘you’re putting paying customers’ in it ‘who trust you and your statements’.

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