A new BBC documentary on the OceanGate Titan sub disaster has uncovered the disturbing response an engineer received after raising concerns about a loud cracking sound during a test dive.
Stream the 90-Minute Documentary, “Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster” Outside the UK for free
It explores the tragic incident where the Titan submersible vanished during a mission to explore the Titanic wreck deep in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Roughly 90 minutes into its descent, the sub is believed to have imploded—though this wasn’t confirmed until four days later, when debris from the vessel was discovered on the ocean floor. The documentary includes exclusive access to the US Coast Guard’s ongoing investigation and features interviews with an engineer who flagged multiple design issues with the sub before the fatal dive.
‘Loud cracking noise’ during Titan sub test run
The documentary revisits a test dive known as Dive 80, during which the Titan sub descended to view the Titanic wreckage. An OceanGate employee featured in the film recalls the sub taking two hours to resurface and describes hearing a loud “crack” that, in their words, “sounded like the ship breaking apart.”
Antonella Wilby, a contractor who worked with OceanGate, shared her concern and surprise upon hearing the noise. She says she spoke with a crew member from the ‘Arctic Horizon’—a search and rescue vessel on the surface—who claimed they also heard the sound from above the water.
The documentary then cuts to footage of the late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who states that during testing, “almost every” deep-diving sub will make a noise at some point. Wilby says she was further alarmed by Rush’s seemingly casual response to the loud bang, as he described it as something “incredibly common.”
My initial reaction was ‘hold on’, if you heard your car make that noise you’d probably go ‘wait a second we need to see what happened here’.
She said
Response to the cracking noise by Oceangate
Lieutenant Commander Katie Williams of the US Coast Guard presented data from the test dive, explaining that the acoustic sensor readings from the loud bang should have triggered an “all stop, do not continue” order to ensure the hull’s integrity.
Wilby agreed that the incident warranted immediate investigation. Her concerns were later validated by company data, which showed changes in the carbon fiber hull—yet her warnings were reportedly dismissed.
In the documentary, Williams referred to this test as the “beginning of the end,” stating that anyone who entered the sub afterward was putting their life at risk.
Wilby also testified during the Coast Guard’s hearing into the implosion, saying she had approached OceanGate’s Director of Administration, Amber Bay, and told her she was “really concerned” the dives would continue. Wilby claimed that Amber Bay responded to her concerns by saying:
Yes, people are concerned about you too, you don’t have an explorer mindset.
She went on to describe how she also shared her worries with Head of Engineering, Phil Brooks, who told her the sub would be checked after the next test dive. Wilby said she was shocked by this response and decided to resign as a result. Despite the concerns raised, the Titan sub went on to carry three more groups of passengers after Dive 80.
In the documentary’s epilogue, Amber Bay denied this version of events, stating that she had reported her concerns to “OceanGate’s Director of Engineering, Director of Operations, or to Stockton Rush.” Phil Brooks also claimed he had no recollection of Wilby raising concerns about the hull.
Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Source: Ladbible