A hearing about the deaths of five people who were killed when a submersible imploded while diving to the wreck of the Titanic will open on Monday.
British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood were killed on board the deep-sea vessel in June last year, alongside French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Stockton Rush, who was the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions – which ran the expedition – was also killed.
The deep-sea vessel was on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage around 435 miles south of St John’s, Newfoundland, when it lost contact with the tour operator an hour and 45 minutes into the two-hour descent, with the vessel reported missing eight hours after communication was lost.
After days of searching, wreckage from the submersible was recovered from the ocean floor near the Titanic.
On Monday, a marine board of investigation hearing into the tragedy will open in Charleston, South Carolina.
The investigation will hear from 24 witnesses over two weeks, including former executives of OceanGate.
Jason Neubauer, chairman of the Titan Marine Board of Investigation, held a press conference on Sunday ahead of the hearing.
“Over the past 15 months, our team has worked continuously, in close co-ordination with multiple federal agencies, international partners and industry experts to uncover the facts surrounding this incident,” he said.
He said the upcoming hearing would allow them to hear key evidence from expert witnesses.
“These proceedings are not just a formality,” he said.
“They are a critical step in our mission to understand the contributing factors that led to the incident and, more importantly, the actions needed to prevent a similar occurrence.”
He said the purpose of the hearing was to uncover the facts, but if they find evidence of a criminal act then they will present those findings to the US Department of Justice.
“We are charged to also detect misconduct or negligence by credentialed mariners, and if there’s any detection of a criminal act, we can make a recommendation to the Department of Justice,” he said.
