(NewsNation) — Friends and family are remembering the five people presumed dead on board the Titan submersible.
The U.S. coast guard confirmed the watercraft suffered a “catastrophic implosion” about 1,600 feet away from the Titanic wreck.
Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman were among the five passengers. A shared interest in science is reason they embarked on the expedition, according to friend and colleague Bill Diamond, CEO of the SETI Institute.
Shahzada sat on the board of the SETI institute, a nonprofit dedicated to the “search and understanding of life beyond Earth.”
“He was a very humble, kind and thoughtful individual,” Diamond said. “A loving father, and he was so excited about the opportunity to bring Suleman on this adventure with him.”
Diamond told NewsNation that a fellow board member was in been in direct contact with the Dawood family. Diamond said the family remained “stoic and brave” after learning that the submerible was lost.
To our friends, followers and community of the SETI Institute, it is with great sadness that we learned of the loss of our dear friend and Trustee, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, both of whom were aboard the Titan submersible that lost contact with its surface vessel on Sunday. The submersible suffered a catastrophic failure on the descent to the Titanic shipwreck site, and all on board perished instantly.
Our hearts go out to Shahzada and Suleman’s family and friends and to the other three passengers, Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who were also on board.
Shahzada was passionately curious and an enthusiastic supporter of the SETI Institute and our mission, being directly involved in philanthropic programs in education, research and public outreach. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him, especially his fellow Trustees and the leadership of the SETI Institute.
SETI Institute statement
Although these dives are “inevitable,” Diamond said there needs to be investigation into why this happened. “We really can’t afford to have entrepreneurs just go about these kind of endeavors, and particularly, taking other people on board and putting other lives at risk in dangerous environments without more oversight,” he said.
Diamond wants the world to know that it was Shahzada’s passion about science and exploration that led him to the expedition.
“It wasn’t about anything along the lines of being a daredevil or taking risks. This was something much deeper and more meaningful to him than that” Diamond added. “He was a thoroughly engaged trustee completely immersed in the work of the institute and our mission, and I think he’d like to be remembered in that way as well.”