Fate of 2 Navy airmen remains a mystery after jet crashes near Washington’s Mount Rainier: Officials

(TUSKEGEE, Ala.) — The president of Tuskegee University in Alabama announced Monday that the school is being closed to outsiders and that its security chief has been fired in the wake of a mass shooting Sunday on campus.

The barrage of gunfire left a teenager dead and injured 16 other people attending an unsanctioned homecoming event, officials said.

Mark Brown, president and CEO of the historically black university, announced the changes as the investigation of the mass shooting continued Monday and the local sheriff warned those responsible for the shooting that “we are going to find you.”

“The Tuskegee University community is heartbroken by what happened on our campus Sunday morning,” Brown said during a news conference Monday afternoon.

Moving forward, no one will be allowed on the Tuskegee campus without authorized permission or a school-issued identification badge, he said.

“Tuskegee University is no longer an open campus,” Brown said. “Effective immediately, we require IDs for everyone to be displayed to enter campus and worn at all times while on campus.”

Earlier Monday, the university hired a new campus security leader “and relieved our previous security chief of his duties,” Brown said. He did not take questions or elaborate on why the security chief was being replaced.

“Our new campus security chief and ultimately his team will complete a full review, including all implementations of new security procedures,” Brown said.

He said Sunday’s shooting erupted at the event that was “not approved in advance and in no way was sanctioned by the university.”

“Nonetheless, it happened on our campus and we take full responsibility,” Brown said.

The deadly barrage of gunfire erupted between 11:30 p.m. Saturday and midnight Sunday in a parking lot that was packed with people on campus to celebrate the university’s 100th homecoming, Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson told ABC News.

The person killed in the shooting was identified as 18-year-old La’Tavion Johnson by the Macon County Coroner’s Office. University officials said Johnson was not a Tuskegee University student.

At least 16 other people, including students, were injured during the shooting, including 12 who suffered gunshot wounds, according to police.

Several videos posted on social media and verified by ABC News captured what sounded like automatic gunfire and showed people diving to the ground or taking cover in vehicles.

Brunson said numerous shots were fired during the incident.

“I would say that with the amount of shots that were fired, there’s going to be multiple shooters,” Brunson said.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which is leading the investigation, announced Sunday evening that one person had been arrested. Authorities said Jaquez Myrick, 25, of Montgomery, Alabama, was taken into custody while trying to leave the campus after the shooting and faces federal charges of possession of a handgun with a machine gun conversion device.

State police have yet to determine if Myrick was one of the gunmen who opened fire.

No suspect has been charged directly with the shooting.

“I want to say one thing to the people that were shooting: We’re going to make sure we find you. We’re not going to let them disrupt what we do here in Tuskegee.”

Brown said the shooting occurred despite numerous steps the university took before homecoming week to make the festivities safe, including hiring 70 additional law enforcement officers from throughout Alabama and Georgia to help campus and local law enforcement with crowd control.

Brown said efforts were made through social media and advertising to advise visitors that weapons and drugs are prohibited on campus and that visitors could only use clear bags to carry their possessions.

“We did entry checks at all officially sponsored events, some random and some 100% checks,” Brown said. “However, the general campus remained open and we did not, nor could we, have planned for security at an event that was not approved in advance or officially sanctioned by the university.”

Brunson said he and deputies from his department had been at the campus all day and into the night Saturday, assisting university police and the Tuskegee Police Department with security.

He said he was driving back to the school after taking a break when the shooting occurred.

“First of all, it was just chaotic,” Brunson said of what he observed when he arrived at the campus.

He said officers were told an active shooter was held up in a dorm and raced there, running past injured victims, only to learn there was no shooter at the dorm.

“We had to immediately go there. You have to take out the threat first and we found out that it wasn’t that case at that time,” Brunson said. “As we were running to that dorm, trying to get to the active shooter, we saw people hurt, we saw people laying down, people asking for help. But we had to tell them, we’ll be back.”

Brown said he eventually went back to help give first aid to injured victims, including those suffering from gunshot wounds.

“Being there and seeing the faces of the students, seeing the anger and the hurt, being afraid and all of that all into one, it was just a horrific scene,” Brunson said. “I sympathize with the students because you shouldn’t have seen anything like this.”

ABC News’ Faith Abubey and Matt Foster contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The storm surge, wind damage and inland flooding from Hurricane Helene have been catastrophic, flooding neighborhoods, stranding residents, destroying homes and toppling trees in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

Dozens have been killed.

Helene, which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region Thursday night as a massive Category 4 hurricane, was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Big Bend on record.

Here’s how the news is developing:

38 confirmed deaths in North Carolina, number expected to grow

There have been at least 38 deaths in North Carolina from Helene, Gov. Roy Cooper said in a briefing Wednesday afternoon, but he added he expects that number to grow.

Cooper spent Monday in western North Carolina and will be returning this afternoon, he said. First responders are continuing to rescue people and rush aid to the mountain communities.

More than 460,000 customers are without power down from a peak of more than a million, Cooper confirmed. There are more than 1,100 people being housed in 29 shelters and Cooper said he is still urging people to continue to stay off the roads.

“As heartbreaking as this damage has been, it’s encouraging to see the way people are working together,” Cooper said. “I talked with a number of first responders and medical workers and volunteers who have left their won families to take care of our communities.”

The National Guard currently have 800 guardsmen on duty with 275 vehicles. Almost 200,000 pounds of food and commodities were delivered out of the Asheville airport.

“I have committed to the governor that I will stay here until the event is stabilized and we will continue to bring in as many federal resources as needed, not just for the ongoing response, but as we move into recovery,” Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell said.

-ABC News’ Alex Faul

Kamala Harris to travel to Georgia on Wednesday

Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia on Wednesday to check out damage from Hurricane Helene, according to her office.

“Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia to survey the impacts of Hurricane Helene and receive an on-the-ground briefing about the continued recovery efforts that are occurring in communities across the state,” according to a statement.

The statement did not say exactly where Harris will visit. President Joe Biden is set to visit North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday as well.

Harris’ competitor in the presidential race, Donald Trump, visited Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday.

Helene’s death toll climbs to 139

At least 139 people have been killed by Hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

That includes at least 40 people in Buncombe County, North Carolina, which includes the city of Asheville, local officials said Monday.

Public health emergency declared in South Carolina, Tennessee

A public health emergency has been declared in South Carolina and Tennessee in the wake of Helene, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, following the same declarations in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

“We will do all we can to help officials in South Carolina and Tennessee respond to the health impacts of Hurricane Helene,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “We are working closely with state and local health authorities, as well as with our partners across the federal government, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support.”

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response deployed about 200 personnel to assist local officials with the storm’s impacts to hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities, according to HHS.

The government’s National Disaster Medical System has already deployed 29 trucks filled with equipment to help patients in health care facilities, many of which were totally knocked off the grid.

6,300 National Guardsmen mobilized for recovery efforts

There have been more than 6,300 members of the National Guard mobilized to “support ongoing disaster relief, rescue, and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene,” according to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

There will be guardsmen from 12 different states moving into the South to help, especially in North Carolina.

“We continue to stand by the people and communities of North Carolina and all those affected,” Austin added.

FEMA has delivered 1 million liters of water and 600K meals to North Carolina

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called the impact of Hurricane Helene on the state “absolutely catastrophic” in a statement Monday.

“This is an unprecedented response and an absolutely enormous coordinated effort by the state, federal and local partners,” Cooper said.

Cooper, who inspected the staging area at the Asheville airport Monday, said “Hundreds of thousands of pounds of supplies are being flown in, packed onto helicopters and flown into areas that can’t be reached by vehicles.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has delivered 1 million liters of water and 600,000 meals to people in North Carolina, Cooper said.

The governor added that there are 92 search and rescue teams working to help bring residents to safety.

Biden says he’ll travel to North Carolina on Wednesday

President Joe Biden told reporters from the Oval Office he will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to survey the damage.

He said he plans to land in Raleigh for a briefing and then do an aerial tour of Asheville to avoid straining on-the-ground resources.

He said he will visit Georgia and Florida “as soon as possible after that.”

Asked by ABC News’ Karen Travers how Americans can help out, Biden recommended people reach out to the Red Cross — and gear up for a long recovery.

“There is a lot to do, and this is just beginning,” Biden said. “We’ve been through this before, but not — not like this. This is the worst ever.”

Harris to impacted communities: ‘Our nation is with you’

Vice President Kamala Harris called the storm damage throughout the Southeast the “worst destruction and devastation that we have seen in quite some time” during remarks from FEMA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon.

“In coordination with state and local officials, President Biden and I will continue to make sure that communities have the support and the resources that they need — not only to respond to this storm and its immediate aftermath, but also the resources they will need to recover,” Harris said.

Harris said more than 3,300 federal personnel are on the ground to assist with recovery efforts, including deploying food, water and generators as well as helping to restore water and power.

“To everyone who has been impacted by this storm, and to all of those of you who are rightly feeling overwhelmed by the destruction and the loss, our nation is with you,” she said. “We will continue to do everything we can to help you recover and to help you rebuild. No matter how long it takes.”

Harris said she has spoken to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and plans to be “on the ground as soon as possible” without disrupting any emergency response operations.

Storm ‘unprecedented’ for western North Carolina

Helene is “an unprecedented storm” for western North Carolina, requiring an “unprecedented response,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday.

“We’re dealing with a situation that is unlike anybody’s ever seen in western North Carolina,” he said.

The damage is “extensive and devastating” and is “going to require significant resources, both in the short-term and the long-term,” the governor said.

Ninety-two rescue teams are out conducting search and rescues right now, Cooper said.

More than 300 roads are closed and some bridges have been destroyed, officials said.

Over 7,000 North Carolina residents have registered for FEMA individual assistance and that money is already flowing in, according to Will Ray, director of North Carolina Emergency Management.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell promised that the agency will “be here as long as it takes to finish this response and continue through the recovery.”

“We have the resources here in North Carolina to help,” Criswell said. “We will continue to send additional resources in.”

Full extent of damage still unclear: Homeland security adviser

Homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood Randall said the full extent of the damage from the hurricane is still unclear.

“It probably will take several more days, as communities begin to be opened up by the debris clearance on the roads, and we can get in, and really understand what’s happened to them,” she said.

Sherwood-Randall said about 600 people are unaccounted for.

“We’re very hopeful that some of those people just don’t have cellphones working and actually are alive,” she said.

Sherwood-Randall said 3,500 federal response personnel have been deployed to the region and additional personnel is expected to arrive in the coming days.

With communication remaining a major challenge, Sherwood-Randall said, “Today, FEMA will install 30 Starlink receivers in western North Carolina to provide immediate connectivity for those in greatest need.”

She also highlighted that in states that have received major disaster declarations, FEMA is working to distribute serious needs assistance, which gives “an immediate $750 direct payment to eligible households, to allow them to pay for essential items like food, baby formula, water, medications and other emergency supplies.”

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Sen. Rick Scott calls for Senate to reconvene to pass emergency aid

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is calling upon the Senate to reconvene to approve an emergency aid package for victims of Hurricane Helene.

“While I know from my experience with previous hurricanes that FEMA and [Small Business Administration] damage assessments take time, I am today urging Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to immediately reconvene the U.S. Senate when those assessments are completed so that we can pass the clean supplemental disaster funding bill and other disaster relief legislation, like my Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act, needed to ensure the full recovery of families in all impacted communities,” Scott said in a statement Monday.

Any additional funding, beyond the funding approved by President Joe Biden and able to be drawn down from FEMA, would need to be approved by both chambers of Congress.

The Senate let out on Wednesday after approving a stopgap funding bill to keep the government funded through Dec. 20. The Senate is not scheduled to return until Nov. 12. The House is also out of session and would need to return to approve any aid.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

How to help

Click here for a list of charities and organizations that are supporting relief efforts, including the Red Cross and Americares.

Trump visits hard-hit Valdosta, Georgia

Former President Donald Trump visited hard-hit Valdosta in southern Georgia on Monday to distribute supplies and “stand in complete solidarity with … all of those suffering in the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Helene.”

“Valdosta has been ravaged,” Trump said. “The town is, very, very badly hurting, and many thousands are without power. They’re running low on food and fuel. We brought a lot of it down with us.”

“We’ll continue to help until you’re bigger, better, stronger than ever before,” Trump said.

The former president held a “moment of silence and prayer” for those killed in the storm.

Twenty-five people in Georgia have died in the storm, Gov. Brian Kemp said.

Trump said he’ll also visit North Carolina as the state works to recover from Helene.

Biden plans to visit storm zone Wednesday or Thursday

President Joe Biden said Monday that Helene is “not just a catastrophic storm — it’s a historic, history-making storm.”

Biden said he will travel to the impact zone as soon as possible, ideally Wednesday or Thursday. He said he’s been told it’d be disruptive to visit immediately, and he does not want to interfere with these areas accessing the relief they desperately need.

“Communities are devastated. Loved ones waiting, not sure if their loved ones are OK, and they can’t contact them because there’s no cellphone connections. Many more folks displaced have no idea when they’ll be able to be return to their home, if ever, if there’s a home to return to,” he said.

“There’s nothing like wondering, ‘Is my husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father, alive?’ And many more who remain without electricity, water, food and communications,” he said.

Biden said he’s directed his team “to provide every available resource as fast as possible.”

Biden vowed, “We’re not leaving until the job is done.”

Helene ‘spared no one’ in Georgia, governor says

Hurricane Helene “literally spared no one” in Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday.

Twenty-five people in Georgia have died in the storm, Kemp said. The victims include: a 27-year-old mother and her 1-month-old twin boys, who died when a tree fell on their home; Leon Davis, an assistant fire chief from Blackshear, who died when a tree fell on his car while he was responding to a call; and a 7-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl who died when a tree fell on their burning house, he said.

More than 500,000 customers in Georgia remain without power after Helene damaged over 5,000 poles, the governor said. Kemp said Georgia Power officials are calling Helene the most devastating storm they’ve faced.

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit hard-hit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday.

35 dead, hundreds unaccounted for in hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina

Thirty-five people are dead and 600 people remain unaccounted for in hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina, which encompasses Asheville, according to county officials.

County officials said people will go door-to-door to check on those who have been reported missing.

Shelters are at capacity, officials said.

The city of Asheville has partnered with Verizon to establish a temporary cellphone tower, officials said.

-ABC News’ Alex Faul and Jessica Gorman

600 people still unaccounted for in hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina

Six-hundred people remain unaccounted for in hard-hit Buncombe County, North Carolina, which encompasses Asheville, according to county officials.

County officials said people will go door-to-door to check on those who have been reported missing.

Thirty people in Buncombe County have been confirmed dead from the hurricane, the sheriff said Sunday.

Buncombe County remains under a state of emergency.

-ABC News’ Jessica Gorman

Helene remnants move into mid-Atlantic

After dumping more than 30 inches of rain on North Carolina and producing the biggest local flood in recorded history, the remnants of Helene are forecast to move on Monday into the mid-Atlantic.

As southeastern United States worked to clean up from Helene, some of its remnants are moving into Mid-Atlantic today with heavy rain forecast for West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.

There is an elevated flood threat on Monday in Virginia and West Virginia, where the already saturated ground could get additional 1 to 2 inches of rain, which could produce flash flooding.

-ABC News’ Max Golembo

Harris planning visit to communities impacted by Helene

Vice President Kamala Harris intends to communities impacted by Hurricane Helene “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations,” according to a White House official.

Harris, who was briefed by FEMA on the federal response to the hurricane, reached out to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

At a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, Harris addressed those who were impacted by the hurricane by sending her “thoughts and prayers” and thanking first responders.

“I know that everyone here sends their thoughts and prayers for folks who have been so devastated in Florida, in Georgia, the Carolinas and other impacted states. And we know that so many have been impacted. Some have died, but I want to thank everyone for doing everything you can to think about them,” Harris said. “Send them your thoughts and your prayers. I want to thank the first responders who have done so much. I stand with these communities for as long as it takes to make sure that they are able to recover and rebuild.”

-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie

Gov. DeSantis says power restored to all but 111K in Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared a major update on power restoration progress in the state on Sunday.

DeSantis said a post on X that most customers who lost power after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area last week, have had their electricity restored.

The governor said power was back for 2.3 million customers, and 99% of the state has power.

He added that power remains out for 111,000 customers.

Biden intends to visit hurricane zone this week

President Joe Biden spent his Sunday evening receiving briefings on the damage from Hurricane Helene, and speaking to local officials from the impacted areas.

In a statement, the White House said Biden intends to travel to the impacted areas this week, “as soon as it will not disrupt emergency operations.”

Additionally, Biden spoke by phone Sunday with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Valdosta, Georgia, Mayor Scott Matheson and Taylor County, Florida, emergency management director John Louk, according to the White House.

The president also reached out to additional officials across North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina.

“In each conversation, the President received updates on response and recovery efforts, and he shared how the Biden-Administration will continue providing support to impacted communities – for as long as it takes,” the White House said in the statement.

-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky

Trump to visit Valdosta, Georgia

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to receive a briefing on the damage caused by Hurricane Helene, help distribute supplies and deliver remarks, his campaign said.

President Joe Biden said Sunday that the photographs showing Hurricane Helene’s damage are “stunning.”

When asked by reporters about his message to the victims, Biden said, “It’s tragic.”

“My FEMA advisor is on the ground in Florida right now. … We’re working hard,” Biden said.

Asked by ABC News if there are more resources the federal government could be providing, Biden responded, “No, we’ve given them. We have pre-planned a significant amount, even though they didn’t ask for it yet — hadn’t asked for it yet.”

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart

25 dead in South Carolina

Hurricane Helene’s impact on South Carolina has been “devastating,” and the storm has claimed the lives of 25 people in the state, Gov. Henry McMaster said Sunday.

“We don’t want to lose any more,” McMaster said.

Nearly 1.3 million customers lost power in South Carolina at Helene’s peak. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 800,000 customers remain in the dark.

The governor emphasized that power companies are working around the clock to restore electricity. Thousands of workers are on the ground, but downed trees tangled in power lines are delaying efforts, he said.

-ABC News’ Jason Volack

FEMA sending more search and rescue teams to North Carolina

FEMA Director Deanne Criswell said the agency is sending more search and rescue teams to western North Carolina, where residents are facing “historic” flooding from Hurricane Helene.

“I don’t know that anybody could be fully prepared for the amount of flooding and landslides that they are experiencing right now. But we have had teams in there for several days. We’re sending more search and rescue teams in there,” Criswell told CBS’ Face the Nation.

Gov. Roy Cooper described Hurricane Helene’s damage in western North Carolina as “catastrophic.”

“This unprecedented storm dropped from 10 to 29 inches of rain across the mountains, leading to life-threatening floods and landslides,” he said Sunday.

Water systems have been impacted and some roads have washed away, hampering the ability for officials to set up food and water distribution sites.

“We have sent bottled water in, but we also have the Army Corps of Engineers that’s getting ready to start assessments today to see what we can do to help get those water systems back online quickly,” Criswell said.

“We’re also moving in satellite communications, Starlink satellites, into the area to help facilitate the lack of communication that part of the state is experiencing,” Criswell added.

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart and Jason Volack

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The co-founder and former CEO of OceanGate said the company originally never planned to build its own submersibles while testifying during a hearing on the deadly implosion of its Titan sub.

Guillermo Sohnlein co-founded OceanGate in 2009 with Stockton Rush, who was one of the five people killed in a catastrophic implosion while on a deep-sea voyage to see the Titanic wreckage in June 2023. He left the company in 2013, years before OceanGate began conducting dives to the Titanic with the Titan, an experimental, unclassified vessel.

While testifying on Monday during the U.S. Coast Guard’s two-week hearing on the implosion, Sohnlein said when they founded the company, “developing our own subs was not in the original plans.”

He said their vision was to acquire a fleet of deep-diving submersibles that could carry five people up to 6,000 meters that would be available for charter. They didn’t want the subs to require a dedicated mothership or support ship so that they could easily go anywhere in the world and operate off any ship.

He said most active commercial submersibles dive relatively shallow — less than 1,000 meters — limiting how much of the ocean can be explored.

“We wanted to change that,” Sohnlein said. “We wanted to give humanity greater access to the ocean — and specifically the deep ocean, anything deeper than 1,000 meters.”

OceanGate pivots to building own submersible using carbon fiber

Sohnlein said they eventually realized they would need to build their own submersible to achieve that business model.

“If you think about our business requirements of being able to carry five people 6,000 meters without a dedicated mothership deployable anywhere in the world — none of the sub builders could really do that,” he said. “Then, if you did factor in the cost, yeah, it was going to be ridiculously expensive.”

Sohnlein said Rush “convinced ourselves that it’d be possible to build a sub that would meet all of our business requirements.”

Sohnlein said they started looking at carbon fiber as a potential alternative for a pressure hull.

“That’s not a novel idea,” he said. “It wasn’t innovative, it was just something that we started looking at while I was still there.”

Roy Thomas — an engineer with the American Bureau of Shipping, which classifies submersibles — testified during the hearing on Monday that under ABS underwater rules, carbon fiber pressure hulls are “not acceptable materials for submersibles.”

“They have very low resistance to impact loads, and the hull is susceptible to deformation under applied external loading,” he said.

Rush became CEO of OceanGate in 2013, as the company shifted to developing its own submersibles.

“We were transitioning from an operations phase to an engineering phase, and that was really his strength and not mine,” Sohnlein said of Rush. “It made sense for him to take the reins of the company.”

Sohnlein said he made the “difficult decision” to leave the company at that point because there wasn’t going to be much for him to do in terms of operations.

Sohnlein said he still retains approximately 500,000 common shares in OceanGate but has “basically resigned myself to the fact that I’m probably never going to see anything out of that equity stake.”

OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial operations after the deadly implosion.

OceanGate co-founder never went on Titan

Sohnlein said he was offered “many times” to go on dives on the Titan, though he never did.

“As a shareholder, I didn’t want to take up room in the sub. I wanted to make that available for the people that the dive was intended for,” he said, people for whom seeing the Titanic was their “life dream.”

He also said he just wasn’t interested in going to the Titanic.

“Neither Stockton nor I were ever driven by tourism,” he said. “We were never motivated by going somewhere that people had already been before. The reason we got into this was because we both wanted to explore. We wanted to not only explore ourselves, but create the technologies that would allow us to explore the ocean.”

“So going to see a shipwreck that had already been well-documented, and that a bunch of people had already gone to, that didn’t excite me. It didn’t excite Stockton,” he continued.

Sohnlein reflected on a conversation when Rush told him he did want to conduct the first test dive of Titan down to 4,000 meters solo. He said Rush told him, “I don’t want anybody else in the sub. If anything happens, I want it to only impact me. It’s my design. I believe in it. I trust it. I don’t want to risk anybody else, and I’m going to go by myself.”

In addition to Rush, those killed in the Titan implosion included French explorer Paul Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman.

The hearing into the implosion is scheduled to run through Friday.

In his closing remarks, Sohnlein said he doesn’t know what happened but he hopes they find “valuable lessons learned.”

“This was not supposed to happen,” he said. “This shouldn’t have happened, five people should not have lost their lives.”

He also said he hopes others are inspired by his and Rush’s mission.

“This can’t be the end of deep ocean exploration. This can’t be the end of deep-diving submersibles, and I don’t believe that it will be,” he said. “But I hope that someday, in the near future, we’ll look back on this time as a major turning point in human history — when the global, general public finally took an active interest in all of our efforts, everything that all of us do to explore the deep oceans, to study them and to preserve them.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.