I was trapped under the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 2½ miles below the surface. The terrifying ordeal nearly claimed my life, but I managed to escape. Here’s how…
- Ex-ABC science editor Michael Guillen reveals terrifying experience in 2000
- Vessel was suddenly caught in strong current that pushed it towards propellers
A former TV journalist has told how he ‘almost died’ in a submersible that got stuck in the wreck of the Titanic – as a search continues today for five people who are missing 12,500ft under water.
British billionaire Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, 48, one of Pakistan’s richest men and a UK-based board member of the Prince’s Trust, and his son Sulaiman, 19, are among the group stuck in the 22ft underwater craft operated by OceanGate.
While efforts continue to find them before their oxygen runs out, ex-ABC science editor Michael Guillen revealed his own terrifying experience in 2000 when he became the first TV correspondent to visit the wreck in a sub two and half miles under the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland.
News footage shared by Dr Guillen told how the vessel was suddenly caught in a strong underwater current that pushed it towards the Titanic’s 21-ton propellers.
After becoming wedged under the stern, the crew tried to reverse out – at which point a bang was heard as chunks of debris were seen floating through the water.
Ex-ABC reporter Michael Guillen revealed his own terrifying experience when he became the first TV correspondent to visit the wreck (this is a still from news footage of the incident)
A current pushed the sub underneath the Titanic’s stern, as which point the crew began fiddling with the controls to try and reverse it out
‘So are we stuck or what?’ a voice can be heard asking in the footage.
The team eventually managed to free the sub and get it back to the surface, but Dr Guillen said the accident ‘almost claimed my life’.
READ MORE – Inside Titan, the cramped 22ft-long submersible that vanished over the Titanic
Dr Guillen was on a submersible called the Mir 1 which was built in 1987.
Writing in his 2021 book Believing is Seeing, Dr Guillen said: ‘It seemed to me we were heading toward it [the propeller] too fast – and, worse, accelerating.
‘Later, I learned that our sub accidentally got caught in a fast-moving, deep-underwater current. A split-second later, Mir 1 slammed into the Titanic’s propeller.
‘I felt the shock of the collision: rusty debris showered down on our submersible, obscuring my view through the porthole.’
Dr Guillen said 30 minutes passed and the team were trying to dislodge the vessel by ‘moving it forward and backward, forward and backward’ to ‘rock us out of our stuck position’.
At this point he started to think they would not make it out.
But he said he then suddenly felt as if an ‘invisible presence’ had entered the sub, and ‘shortly afterward everything went quiet’ before the engine ‘stopped roaring’ and it felt like they were floating again.
At this point a bang was heard as large chunks of debris were seen floating through the water
‘So are we stuck or what?’ a voice can be heard asking in the footage
The team had managed to free Mir 1 from the propeller but Dr Guillen admitted that even today he did not fully understand how he had survived the incident.
Dr Guillen, who is a Christian, also wrote how he ‘experienced God’s presence and peace right when I was resigned to kissing my life goodbye’.
OceanGate’s submersible, The Titan, is now the only five-person sub in the world capable of reaching the Titanic.
The vessel is controlled by a reinforced Playstation controller, though it doesn’t have a GPS system and is guided by text messages sent by a team above water.
CBS correspondent David Pogue, who has travelled onboard one of the submersibles, has said it would be impossible for those inside it now to escape without help.
Passengers were sealed inside the capsule by 17 bolts that were applied from the outside and could only be removed by an external crew, he told the BBC yesterday.
He told The Context programme that the craft had seven different functions to allow it to resurface and it was ‘really concerning’ none of these had worked.
A graphic showing the sub Dr Guillen was in becoming stuck under the Titanic’s stern
The team eventually managed to free the sub and get it back to the surface, but Dr Guillen said the accident ‘almost claimed my life’.
He added that these resurfacing capabilities would be irrelevant if the sub became trapped or sprang a leak.
READ MORE – How the many missions to explore sunken secrets of the ocean have ended in disaster
‘There’s no backup, there’s no escape pod – it’s get to the surface or die,’ Mr Pogue said.
Meanwhile, a writer who took the Titanic submersible trip last year said he is ‘not optimistic’ over the search for the missing OceanGate craft.
Mike Reiss told BBC Breakfast communication was also lost during his dive down to the Titanic.
Mr Reiss said: ‘I’m not optimistic just because I know the logistics of it. And I know really again, how vast the ocean is, and how very tiny the craft is.
He added: ‘So the idea is, if it’s down at the bottom, I don’t know how anyone’s going to be able to access it, much less bring it back up.
‘There is a hope that it’s at, or near, the surface. I did three separate dives. I did one dive to the Titanic and two more off the coast of New York.
Authorities are currently searching for OceanGate’s 22ft carbon fiber and titanium vessel called the Titan after it vanished on Sunday
The Boston Coast Guard is now looking for the missing vessel. The wreckage of the iconic ship sits 12,500ft underwater around 370 miles from Newfoundland, Canada
Authorities are currently searching for OceanGate’s 22ft carbon fiber and titanium vessel called the Titan after it vanished on Sunday
‘Every time they lost communication and again, this is not a shoddy ship or anything.’
The missing tourist submersible is understood to have last ‘pinged’ while it was directly above the Titanic.
Stockton Rush, chief executive of OceanGate – which organised the trip – is believed to be the fifth crew member.
It is believed the sub has enough oxygen to last underwater until 12pm on Thursday UK time (7am EST).
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