The search for the Titanic tourist submersible came to a heartbreaking end Thursday when officials announced all five men aboard were presumed dead after debris near the site of the shipwreck was discovered.
On board were Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush.
He was a Cal graduate and the CEO of Oceangate Expeditions, the company that owns the sub.
For the past three years, Dawood has been on the board of the SETI Institute based in Mountain View.
Its CEO issued a statement Thursday saying in part, “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.”
Mike Reiss, a writer and former showrunner of “The Simpsons” was on that same sub last year to explore the sunken Titanic.
He was in that sub last year to explore the sunken titanic.
He remembers having to sign a long waiver – and says he knew the risks.
Reiss said he felt safe and never felt the pressure change as they dove 2.5 miles to the sea floor.
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He was holding onto hope this week, but admits he was expecting the worst.
Reiss said he was good friends with the Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush.
“He was one of the most charismatic, bigger than life people I’ve ever met in my life. He went out doing what he loved. It’s a cliché but it’s a cliché coined for instances like this,” said Reiss.
Not only did Rush, the man who developed and piloted the sub, have a great interest in the Titanic. His wife Wendy is actually a descendant of two of the wealthiest people to die on board the ocean liner.
According to the Straus Historical Society, Wendy Rush is the great, great granddaughter of Isidor and Ida Straus.
Titanic survivors say Isidor refused a seat on a lifeboat because women and children were still trying to escape, and Ida refused to leave her husband.
Their fate was portrayed in a famous scene in James Cameron's film. They were the elderly couple who chose to spend their last moments together in their cabin as water came rushing onboard.
