“The View” host Joy Behar pointed out both the “irony” and “hubris” of the missing submersible that disappeared en route to exploring the ruins of the once-mighty Titanic.
“They say that the … submersible has been certified to withstand the pressure of 4,265 feet of depth, but the Titanic wreck wreckage is 12,500 feet of depth,” Behar, 80, said in Wednesday’s episode. “So that’s a tip-off right there.
“It’s interesting because the Titanic itself went down because of human incompetence and stupidity on the part of — according to the movies — hubris,” continued the host. “Same with this. That’s the irony of it. They’re going to see the same thing that’s happening to them. It’s very sad and scary.”
Several of Behar’s co-hosts jumped into her monologue to express their own thoughts.
“I think there’s kind of parallels to the original Titanic fascination … It’s kind of man vs. nature,” said Alyssa Farah Griffin, 34. “You can be the wealthiest person on the Titanic but at the end of the day, you hit an iceberg and money’s not saving you.”
“We don’t know so much about the depths of the ocean. This is what I find fascinating,” continued Griffin. “We think about sonar. We have these things that can do whatever, but there are parts we haven’t seen or explored. It’s sort of horrifying.”
The small submersible, owned by OceanGate Expeditions and only carrying about four days’ worth of oxygen, reportedly vanished about an hour and 45 minutes into the trip on Sunday.
Since then, rescue teams have been working around the clock in an attempt to rescue the five passengers onboard.
According to recent reports, this is not the first time an OceanGate sub has gotten lost.
In 2022, a $250,000 experience went dark for a few hours after it lost the signal from the ship that was guiding it.
A member of the first expedition to the 1912 ruins of the Titanic commented that if something bad were to take place in the darkest depths of the ocean, “you’re dead before you realize that something is happening, so it’s just not a problem.”
As of Wednesday, rescue workers revealed that they have detected banging in the area where the submersible was last seen.
“When I first heard about the [submersible-search] banging, I said, ‘Oh, no, here we go again,’ ” said expert David Gallo, referring to the failed recovery of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in 2014.
“In [the search for the] Malaysia Airlines [flight], we heard banging quite often, and it always turned out to be something different.”
Since the sub’s disappearance, several people have begun to question the safety of OceanGate’s vehicles.
In 2018, the group faced “quality control and safety” problems after the former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, said that he raised an issue with the company’s handling of the submersible.
Lochridge claimed that he found a “lack of non-destructive testing performed on the hull of the Titan,” and when he raised the issues with OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush, he was wrongfully terminated, according to a lawsuit he filed that year.