The tragic death of five people when the Titan submersible imploded during its descent to the wreck of the Titanic has led some to describe deep-diving submersibles as inherently risky. But their history shows that this is far from the case.
Bathyspheres were unpowered submersibles lowered into the sea on a cable and used for pioneering dives in the early 1930s. Since then, submersibles have taken many more people into the deep ocean than the number of humans who have been into space. None of those submersible dives have previously experienced a catastrophic hull failure. The investigation of the Titan will now seek to understand why it was an exception.
