A leaked transcript and accompanying audio footage of the final moments before the Titan submersible reportedly imploded have been circulated on social media platforms, including Reddit and Facebook. The incident, which is believed to have instantly killed all five passengers on board, occurred on June 18. In the days following the catastrophe, unsuccessful rescue efforts were carried out to find and save the passengers before their oxygen supply depleted. The incident has been the focus of widespread public interest and the surfacing of the supposed transcript and audio footage has raised concerns about the dissemination of potential misinformation.
The spread of videos that allegedly contain audio recordings of the Titan’s last moments has heightened the fear of misinformation regarding the disastrous incident.
On the morning of June 18, the Titan, a submarine designed for tourism by the private company OceanGate, lost contact with the Polar Prince during its descent to the Titanic wreckage site. Emergency teams tried to locate and rescue the submersible’s occupants before they ran out of oxygen, but sadly on June 22, it was reported that all on board had probably perished instantly when the submersible imploded.
Read the leaked transcript below:
[07:52:34] [POLAR PRINCE] clear for descent. Enjoy the ride
[07:54:07] [TITAN] Descending now
[07:58:16] [TITAN] Launch sequence complete, rdy?
[0800:39] [POLAR PRINCE] all clear
[08:01:11] [TITAN] Proceeding.
[08:03:09] [POLAR PRINCE] Enjoy the dive gentlemen.
[08:19:53] [POLAR PRINCE] you’re 15 minutes into the dive, current depth. Systems check, please.
[08:21:28] [TITAN] Systems check complete, all in order. All lights are green. We are 756, proceeding.
[08:22:41] [POLAR PRINCE] Thank you. Proceed.
[08:34:02] [POLAR PRINCE] 30 minutes in, update please.
[08:34:57] [TITAN] All systems are functioning normally. We’re in good shape. Continuing our descent as planned.
[08:36:05] [POLAR PRINCE] Superb, proceed.
[08:49:10] [POLAR PRINCE] Over 45 minute mark. Current depth? Confirm status.
[08:51:30] [TITAN] Depth at 1934. All systems stable and descent continuing as planned. Happy crew.
[08:52:28] [POLAR PRINCE] Excellent!
[09:01:46] [POLAR PRINCE] You’re at the hour mark.
[09:02:13] [TITAN] All is smooth sailing here.
[09:15:21] [POLAR PRINCE] You are at 75 minutes, depth? Status? Do you need to adjust velocity?
[09:17:50] [TITAN] All under control. At 2960. No adjustments needed. We’re enjoying the ride.
[09:19:03] [POLAR PRINCE] Understood
[09:28:16] [TITAN] we’re noting an alarm from the rtm (Real-Time Monitoring System)
[09:28:35] [TITAN] reducing velocity descent depth 3433
[09:28:47] [POLAR PRINCE] Understood. Do you need to ascend?
[09:30:55] [TITAN] no change with thrust the rate of descent is increasing. At 35. Going to release the ballast now. Standby.
[09:30:55] [POLAR PRINCE] Yes, agree. Release the ballast.
[09:32:12] [TITAN] No improvement. Preparing to jettison the frame.
[09:33:00] [POLAR PRINCE] Affirmative. Update when able. RTM indicator status?
[09:35:48] [TITAN] frame jettisoned multiple attempts needed. But starting the ascent now.
[09:36:33] [POLAR PRINCE] Multiple attempts? What is your status? RTM indicators? Depth?
[09:37:38] [POLAR PRINCE] Update please when able.
*[09:38:09] [TITAN] crackling sound at aft
[09:38:44] [POLAR PRINCE] Can you identify source? RTM indicators status?
[09:40:12] [TITAN] neg
[09:40:40] [POLAR PRINCE] RTM status?
[09:42:12] [TITAN] trying to run diagnostics. Ascending now. But very slow. Sounds have subsided. Global RTM alert active all red.
[09:42:57] [POLAR PRINCE] Understood. Any codes? Depth? Ascent rate?
[09:43:16] [POLAR PRINCE] Updates when able please.
[09:42:42] [TITAN] slow ascent in progress. quarter predicted. Unclear why rate is small. No indicator. At 3476. Aiming for the surface.
[09:44:03] [POLAR PRINCE] We are talking it over with the engineer, standby.
[09:45:11] [POLAR PRINCE Depth and status please. What’s the wattage on upwards thrust?
[09:46:37] [TITAN] reading red on the A power bus. I switched to B. at 3457m more sounds aft.
[09:47:19] [POLAR PRINCE] Understood, continue ascent. Talking to Carlos about power bus situation right now. Standby.
[09:48:49] [POLAR PRINCE] We are activating recovery procedures. Carlos is requesting wattage output from bus B. Status update please. Velocity of ascent?
[09:50:09] [POLAR PRINCE] We’re not receiving you. Update please.
[09:51:16] [POLAR PRINCE] Status and depth report.
[09:53:08] [POLAR PRINCE] We need you to respond with status and depth. Carlos is requesting wattage update on thrusters.
[09:55:01] [POLAR PRINCE] We are unable to read you. We are moving to recovery coordinates. Report if you read.
[09:57:22] [POLAR PRINCE] Please respond if you’re able.
The validity of the so-called “transcript” remains ambiguous, with investigations unable to definitively prove its authenticity. OceanGate, the company operating the submersible, has been approached for comment by Newsweek. Recently, the company announced that all explorations and commercial activities have been put on hold.
