OceanGate co-founder cautions rushing to judgment over catastrophic loss of submersible
Paul-Henri Nargeolet, director of a deep ocean research project dedicated to the Titanic, poses inside the new exhibition dedicated to the sunken ship, at 'Paris Expo', on May 31, 2013, in Paris, France. Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images
A friend of Paul Henri Nargeolet, who was aboard the Titan submersible that imploded over the weekend, described the explorer as an “incredibly talented iconic legendary – the greatest deep diver that the world has ever known."
Speaking to Anderson Cooper on CNN This Morning on Friday, Alfred Hagen recalled a previous trip on which he descended with Nargeolet in the Titan sub to the Titanic wreckage.
When descending, Hagen said the vessel is essentially in a “free fall” and when it reached the bottom, crewmembers had to “find the Titanic,” the bow and stern of which he describes are a “considerable distance apart."
The experience was like “flying almost blind in a world far beyond the reach of lights,” he said.
It was a “world of perpetual midnight, and then suddenly if you’re lucky you see the ship appear out of the darkness,” he added.
“I don’t regret going, I do regret that I won’t be able to go again with PH."
When they reached the bottom, he said, “PH would take over flying."
“As far as the safety concerns, of course you were concerned, we all understood the risk we were taking.”
“There was a moment when the current kind of pushed us in closer than we intended and we got stuck and PH was able to maneuver us out and of course at that moment the thought flashes through your mind of – if we don’t get loose this could be it, but I was – that’s a risk that you accept,” Hagen said.
“And I’m tired of people coming in now to insult the high achievers and disparage wealthy people that want to break trail for the rest of humanity.
“These are risk takers, risk takers have always driven humanity forward and taking risk is what distinguishes us as men, and it’s the divine spark."
As for Nargeolet, Hagen fondly recalled him being “equally at ease on the deck of a ship in a hurricane or sitting conversing in a Parisian café.”
Hagen said the loss of his friend had “broken my heart that a man of his dynamism will no longer shine his light in this world.”
Source: CNN
