James Cameron says Titan submersible was 'critically flawed'

Director and oceanographer James Cameron said Friday that the design of the imploded Titan submersible was "critically flawed," calling the construction of the vessel an "insidious" mistake.

Cameron, a nautical expert known for directing the film "Titanic" and also for voyaging to the deepest point in the world, Challenger Deep, told "Good Morning America" that it was "only a matter of time" before tragedy struck. The director's comments came after confirmation that the submersible, which disappeared last weekend during a deep-sea expedition to the wreck of the RMS Titanic, had suffered a total implosion, resulting in the deaths of all five passengers onboard.

The vessel was built by exploration company OceanGate, and the company's CEO, Stockton Rush, was among the victims. OceanGate was warned about potential dangers with Titan's design as far back as 2018, according to a report from The New York Times, and these issues were echoed by Cameron, who noted that "people in the deep submergence engineering community...warned the company that this could lead to catastrophic failure."

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Cameron, who has visited the wreck of the Titanic 33 times, also noted similarities between the Titan implosion and the sinking of the Titanic itself. "The warnings were not heeded [on Titanic]...Titanic's captain was handed multiple warnings about ice ahead, and steamed full ahead into a known ice field," Cameron said. With the case of Titan, Cameron added, "You have the people that were designing and operating this sub who were warned."

Cameron was joined in the interview by Robert Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985. While the Titan was not certified by any oceanic agency, Ballard said that the majority of the industry was "following the engineering practice. I've dove in numerous deep submersibles over the years and I never feared for the pressure vessel I was in."