The titan began its nearly 13,000-foot descent but the vessel and its five person crew vanished
in less than two hours. This is not the first time a mission to the "Titanic" shipwreck has
gone awry. 20 years ago science editor was sent on assignment all the way down to the
"Titanic" in a submersible when he got stuck. >> I felt a little bit of a boom, didn't you?
>> Yeah. >> Oh, my gosh.
>> Look at the side. >> Are we stuck or what?
>> Reporter: We appear to be wedged alongside the propeller beneath
the wreck of the upside-down stern. >> Luckily there was a three-person
crew and they were able to break free, a moment captured and camera. Watch this. >>
>> Reporter: After half an hour Victor's piloting skills and cool-headed attitude win the day. We're
out? >>
Joining us now is the scientist, the journalist and author. Thank you for being with us. When
I read your account I was so shocked because you don't even like going under the water at all. And
so when you got this offer as a journalist at ABC news you felt you had to take it because of what
you felt you would see, and then you get stuck in the propeller. You have a perspective almost no
one on Earth has of what it is like to go down. Can you tell us about that experience given what
we're going through looking for this right now? >> Yes. Good morning. That's right. I have a
deathly fear of water. When I was invited to be the first TV correspondent to report
from the "Titanic," my impulse was, oh, god, no. Of all things I don't want to do that.
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that. But then I had to do my job. When we got stuck down there, two and a half miles beneath
the surface, it was the sense of being buried alive under that much water. And I can't even
begin to tell you how terrifying that is because when we first collided, there was just a sense
of orientation. When you're driving and it's a beautiful, sunny day, on top of the world, you're
thinking everything is going great. And then suddenly, some other car comes out of nowhere and
slams into you. There's that moment of confusion what just happened. Once we realized this was
a serious thing, the sub felt silent because neither I or my driving buddy wanted to disturb
the pilot on the edge of his seat monitoring the situation, speaking in Russian to the mothership
above us. We thought, wow, how are we going to get out of this? My scientific brain started
My scientific brain started ticking off all the ways we could get out.
You realize there is no way out. You're in the middle of the north atlantic at the bottom. You
can't call aaa to tow you out. I experienced enormous sadness. The only way to describe it
as if the weight of the ocean came down on me. I thought of my wife, we were newlyweds. It was my
anniversary. I ultimately experienced a sense of peace. All three these 72 hours thinking of
these souls down there and I know what they're experiencing. I wonder if they're still alive.
We're hearing noises, but we can't tell what those noises are. We're past the point where
they're running out of oxygen. Noise travels very well in water, much better than in the
water, much better than in the air, and we've been listening for it.
It might just be a piece of metal or a part of the ship banging together. We may never know. We may
never recover this vessel. >> Let me ask,
what are you -- a lot of people point to the people on the submersible and said some of
them have a lot of experience. They've done -- they would know what to do in a
situation like this. You make a great point. There's nothing you can do to some degree
when you are watching the captain of your ship operate, are there things he was prepared for,
protocols or is it make noise and pray? >> When we were prepping for the dive,
the captain put us through orientation and told us stories about people in that situation when
they panic and immediately they want to go to the escape hatch which is, of course, a
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hatch which is, of course, a death sentence, because when you panic you're not thinking.
So I knew that when we collided, that's the thing I didn't want to do. I wanted to make sure nobody
else in the sub was and I would gang tackle anyone who even looked at that escape hatch.
For every problem there's an optimal solution. I've drummed that into my son's head for every
problem there's an optimal solution. It is the most terrifying thing coming to the conclusion,
no, there ain't a solution. There is no solution, period. There's just no one around, and
I imagine that at some point in these five folks on the titan,
they came to that realization. You could have all the experience in the world,
but at the end of the day there's only so much you can do. No amount of technology, no
No amount of technology, no number of planes, rovs, sonars, nothing,
nothing can come to your rescue. If you're at the bottom of the ocean two and a half miles down,
you don't just go down there and reach in even with a cable or grappling hook. Pressures are
enormous, bone crushing, it's cold down there. I just feel -- I've been feeling
for the last 72 hours this kinship. It's utterly dark, no light. You don't want to
light a candle and use up the oxygen. This had to have been a catastrophic failure.