A father who gave up on a seat on the submersible that vanished on a mission to see the wreckage of the Titanic says the firm's CEO flew out to convince him to buy tickets.
But this raised enough concerns for Jay Bloom, a financier who had considered buying tickets for himself and son Sean, and confirmed his decision not to go on the trip.
OceanGate Expeditions CEO Stockton Rush, who coordinated the voyage, flew to Las Vegas to convince Mr Bloom aboard an "experimental plane".