A Las Vegas businessman who turned down seats on OceanGate's Titan submersible is speaking out after five people died during its final voyage to tour the Titanic wreckage.
Jay Bloom and his 20-year-old son Sean Bloom said they were invited on the excursion by late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, but ultimately declined after they "raised a lot of concerns" and ran into scheduling issues. They believe their spots were given to Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, who were killed alongside Stockton during the dive.
"I was just not comfortable with the kind of resources that he had to pull this off, that it could be done safely," Jay told NBC News on June 23. "Looking back, I'm very relieved and glad that my son and I did not go, just feel terrible for the people who did."
Another reason Jay said he and Sean opted not to go on the trip was that there was allegedly no real "escape plan if something goes wrong" with the watercraft, which had a hull made from carbon fiber material and a hatch that could only be opened from the outside.
"The more I stared to think about it, I was like, 'I don't think this is a good idea,'" Sean recalled. "It's really tragic. It's crazy that the two people that took our seats were in a very similar situation, father-son. I can't believe it happened."
Jay also shared some of the alleged texts he had sent to Stockton voicing his worries, particularly about "the danger" of the dive and "perceived threats to the vessel," in a June 22 Facebook post. In the screenshots, Stockton allegedly noted in his response that there is "obviously risk" in going on the trip, but "it's way safer than flying a helicopter or even scuba diving."
Another alleged text from Stockton offered to further discuss safety concerns with Sean, adding, "Curious what the uninformed would say the danger is and whether it's real or imagined."
Reflecting on the tragic outcome of the dive, Jay shared in his post that he thinks Stockton "really believed what he was saying."
"But he was very wrong," the real estate developer wrote. "He passionately believed in what he was doing."
E! News has reached out to OceanGate for comment on Jay's posts and safety concerns but hasn't heard back.
The Titan went missing less than two hours into its dive on June 18. After a four-day search for the sub, the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that they found debris from an external part of the submersible "consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel."
In a statement released on June 22, OceanGate said they believe all five passengers, including British billionaire Hamish Harding and French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, "have sadly been lost."
"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans," the statement read. "Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew."
For more details on the Titan passengers, keep reading.
On June 18, 2023, a deep-sea submersible Titan, operated by the U.S.-based company OceanGate Expeditions and carrying five people on a voyage to the wreck of the Titanic, was declared missing. Following a five-day search, the U.S. Coast Guard announced at a June 22 press conference that the vessel suffered a "catastrophic implosion" that killed all five passengers on board.
Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood, both British citizens, were also among the victims.
Their family is one of the wealthiest in Pakistan, with Shahzada Dawood serving as the vice chairman of Engro Corporation, per The New York Times. His son was studying at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
Shahzada's sister Azmeh Dawood told NBC News that Suleman had expressed reluctance about going on the voyage, informing a relative that he "wasn't very up for it" and felt "terrified" about the trip to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, but ultimately went to please his father, a Titanic fan, for Father's Day.
The Dawood Foundation mourned their deaths in a statement to the website, saying, "It is with profound grief that we announce the passing of Shahzada and Suleman Dawood. Our beloved sons were aboard OceanGagte's Titan submersible that perished underwater. Please continue to keep the departed souls and our family in your prayers during this difficult period of mourning."
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush was the pilot of the Titan. The entrepreneur—who founded the research company in 2009 in Everett, Wash.—had long been interested in exploration. Rush, 61, previously said he dreamed of becoming the first person on Mars and once said that he'd "like to be remembered as an innovator."
In addition to leading voyages to see the remnants of the Titanic, Rush had another surprising connection to the historic 1912 event: His wife Wendy Rush is the great-great-granddaughter of a couple who died on the Titanic, Ida and Isidor Straus.
British billionaire Hamish Harding confirmed he was a part of the mission in a June 17 Instagram post, a day before the submersible went into the water and disappeared.
"I am proud to finally announce that I joined @oceangateexped for their RMS TITANIC Mission as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic," he wrote. "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023. A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow."
Harding—the chairman of aircraft company Action Aviation—said the group had started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada and was planning to start dive operations around 4 a.m. on June 18. The 58-year-old added, "Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do."
His past explorations included traveling to the deepest part of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, telling Gulf News in 2021, "It was an incredibly hostile environment. To travel to parts of the Challenger Deep where no human had ever been before was truly remarkable."
The Dubai-based businessman also circumnavigated the Earth by plane with the One More Orbit project and, last year, took a trip to space on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. Harding shared his love for adventure with his son Giles, described as a "teen explorer" on his Instagram.
As for the fifth member, a representative for French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet told the New York Times that he was a passenger on the Titan, with Harding also referencing him on Instagram as a member of the team.
The Times described him as a maritime expert who was previously part of the French Navy. The 71-year-old was a bonafide Titanic specialist and has traveled to the wreckage 35 times before. Nargeolet served as the director of RMS Titanic, Inc., a company that researches, salvages and displays artifacts from the famed ship, per the outlet.
Alongside fellow passenger Hamish Harding, he was a member of The Explorers Club, founded in 1904.
As Harding noted in his post, the submersible—named Titan—was a part of an OceanGate Expeditions tour that explores the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, which infamously sank in 1912.
The company expressed its sympathies to the families of the victims. "These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans," OceanGate said in a statement. "Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time. We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew."