As you likely recall, just over a year ago a commercial submersible vessel carrying five passengers attempted to dive to the famous wreckage of the Titanic on the floor of the North Atlantic. As it approached its destination, the Titan submersible imploded, killing everyone aboard. The world was understandably horrified, wondering what it must have been like inside the vessel during their final moments. But now, the family of one of the doomed crew members, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, has filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the submersible's operator, OceanGate, claiming gross negligence. I'm sure the family is understandably distressed over the loss of a loved one, but is this really an appropriate response to the tragedy? (NY Post)

The family of a Titanic explorer who was among those killed in last year’s submersible implosion has now slapped a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the doomed sub’s operator.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, was one of five people onboard the Titan submersible when it suddenly imploded en route to the famed wreck site at the bottom of the North Atlantic in June 2023.

His family filed the wrongful death suit in Washington state on Tuesday against the submersible’s owner, OceanGate, alleging gross negligence.

Attorneys for his estate argue the “doomed submersible” had a “troubled history” and that OceanGate failed to disclose key facts about the vessel and its durability.

This type of lawsuit is expected when negligence on the part of an operator leads to an unanticipated disaster. If you go to Disneyland and go on the "Small World" ride, nobody expects the animatronic pirates to come to life and start beheading the passengers of your boat. If that happens, your family would be fully justified in bringing a lawsuit against Disney. But that wasn't the case with Nargeolet.

First of all, this lawsuit almost certainly isn't about the money. Paul-Henri Nargeolet was quite well off in that regard. He also was not some sort of "accidental tourist." He was a career deepwater diver who had previously visited the wreck of the Titanic 37 times. He had served as a "deep water interventionist" in the French Navy and worked clearing mines during wartime. He knew what he was getting into.

I did some searching online but was unable to locate the specific liability waiver that Nargeolet consented to before that dive, but there obviously must have been one. When I was younger, I actually paid people good money to fly me a couple of miles into the air so I could jump out of their airplane. On my second-to-last jump, I came within five or six seconds of dying. Before I even began training, I was required to sign a liability waiver that was many pages long. Boiled down to layman's language, it essentially said, 'I understand that I'm paying your company to allow me to do something incredibly stupid and I may well be killed in the process, but I want to do it anyway, damn it!' I am completely confident that Paul-Henri Nargeolet signed a similar document.

Any dive to that depth is insanely dangerous by nature. There is still some debate over whether or not the passengers in the submersible knew that their vessel was failing and were waiting in the darkness for the bitter end or if it came upon them unexpectedly in an instant. For their sake, I pray it was the latter. But nobody aboard the Titan that day could have possibly climbed into the vessel knowing that a terrible catastrophe was possible. It's fair to ask questions about the maintenance that was done on the vessel and determine if they can improve their safety record in the future, but this type of lawsuit seems inappropriate. Anyone is free to play with fire if they wish, but they should do so knowing that they may well be burned.