Record-Setting Aviator Dies on Titanic-Seeking Sub

The U.S. Coast Guard announced  the discovery of debris consistent with the implosion of the submersible had been located about 1,600 meters from the wreckage of the Titanic. The submersible was launched on Sunday to view the remains of the famous ocean liner but lost contact with its support ship during the dive.

Harding, 58, was the chairman of Action Aviation, a sales and aircraft acquisition company based in Dubai. The holder of an airline transport pilot certificate, he was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation in 2022. He also holds three Guinness World Records, including the fastest circumnavigation of Earth via both the geographic poles by plane, and previously went to space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket as a commercial astronaut (NS-21 Mission).

Action Aviation released a statement from managing director Mark Butler upon Harding’s death:

“Today, we are united in grief with the other families who have also lost their loved ones on the Titan submersible. Hamish Harding was a loving husband to his wife and a dedicated father to his two sons, whom he loved deeply. To his team in Action Aviation, he was a guide, an inspiration, a support, and a Living Legend. He was one of a kind and we adored him. He was a passionate explorer—whatever the terrain—who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure. What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it’s that we lost him doing what he loved. He will leave a gap in our lives that can never be filled. We know that Hamish would have been immensely proud to see how nations, experts, industry colleagues and friends came together for the search and we extend our heartfelt thanks for all their efforts. On behalf of the Harding family and Action Aviation, we would like to politely request privacy at this incredibly difficult time.” 

The submersible was piloted by Stockton Rush, the founder and chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, an Everett, Washington-based company that builds submersible vehicles for underwater exploration. 

According to multiple interviews of Rush by national media, as a child, Rush wanted to be an astronaut. He earned an aerospace degree from Princeton University in 1984 and worked as a commercial pilot. 

According to CNN, Rush's eyesight was not good enough to be an astronaut so he focused on aerospace engineering, moving to Seattle after college to work for the McDonnell Douglas Corp. as a flight test engineer on the F-15 program. After Richard Branson launched the first commercial aircraft into space, Rush's dream evolved into exploration, and in 2009 he founded OceanGate with the mission of "increasing access to the deep ocean through innovation."

The June 18 trip was Titan’s third expedition on the Titanic. According to The New York Times, Rush's wife, Wendy, is the great-great granddaughter of Isidor and Ida Straus, who chose to remain on board the sinking Titanic in 1912. According to USA Today, the Strauses were first-class passengers as Isidor Straus was the co-owner of Macy's department store. Isidor Straus was offered a place in a lifeboat but refused to leave until all women and children had been removed. Ida Straus was also offered a lifeboat seat but refused to leave her husband.

Also lost in the submersible accident was French maritime and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Nargeolet was the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic Inc., an American company that owns the salvage rights to the wreck. The company retrieved and displayed artifacts from the ship. Nargeolet had made 35 dives to the Titanic.

Also on board were Shahzda Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman Dawood, 19,  members of one of Pakistan's wealthiest families. The elder Dawood served on the board of trustees for the Search of Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, known as the SETI Institute. The younger Dawood was a student.

The massive ocean liner was lost the night of April 15, 1912, after it collided with an iceberg and sank. Of the 2,200 people on board, only 702 survived, including 214 crew members. The wreckage remained hidden beneath the waves until 1985 when an underwater salvage company found the ship split in two parts some 13,000 feet below the surface, southeast of Newfoundland. Experts note it is slowly disintegrating due to metal-eating bacteria.