‘What Was That Bang?’: Newly Released Footage Shows OceanGate CEO’s Wife React To Fatal Submersible Implosion

The wife of the OceanGate CEO who perished in June 2023 reacted to the moment the Titan submersible he was aboard suffered a fatal implosion, according to newly released footage that appears in a BBC documentary.

Wendy Rush, wife of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, can be seen reacting to the implosion from the submersible’s support ship in footage from the documentary, “Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster,” the BBC reported Thursday. Rush, who is sitting in front of a computer that sends and receives text messages from the submersible, asks, “What was that bang?” following the implosion.

According to the same footage, Rush received a text message from the sub indicating it had “dropped two weights,” leading her to believe the dive was taking place as expected. Members of the U.S. Coast Guard reviewing the footage noted that the sound marked the implosion, however. The BBC stated the message about the sub having “dropped two weights” was probably sent before the implosion and took longer to reach the support ship.

Besides Rush’s husband, Hamish Harding, Paul Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, and his son, Suleman, died in the implosion.

An investigation conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard found the submersible’s carbon fiber shell had begun to break apart during a previous voyage, the New York Post reported. Carbon fiber is not known to withstand deep-sea exploration, according to experts.

Following the fatal sub implosion, OceanGate suspended all of its exploration and commercial operations. The submersible also reportedly aborted more dives than it completed as experts warned it risked disaster. (RELATED: US Navy Heard Titan Submersible Implode Days Ago: REPORT)

Joining the BBC documentary is a Netflix documentary called “TITAN: The OceanGate Disaster,” according to Newsweek.