Talk to someone who rode on the Titan submersible, and theyre likely to mention a technological glitch: the propulsion system failed or communications with people on the surface cut out. Maybe there were problems balancing weights on board.

They are also likely to mention Stockton Rush, the OceanGate Expeditions CEO who died on the fatal trip this week. He has been described by past passengers as both a meticulous planner and an overconfident pioneer.

In the wake of the Titans fatal implosion near the Titanic shipwreck on Sunday, some people who embarked on the companys deep-sea expeditions described experiences that foreshadowed the tragedy and look back on their decision to dive as a bit naive.

But others expressed confidence and said that they felt they were in good hands nearly 13,000 feet (3,962 meters) below the oceans surface.

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I 100% knew this was going to happen, said Brian Weed, a camera operator for the Discovery Channels Expedition Unknown show, who has felt sick to his stomach since the subs disappearance Sunday.

Weed went on a Titan test dive in May 2021 in Washington states Puget Sound as it prepared for its first expeditions to the sunken Titanic. Weed and his colleagues were preparing to join OceanGate Expeditions to film the famous shipwreck later that summer.

They quickly encountered problems: The propulsion system stopped working. The computers failed to respond. Communications shut down.

Rush, the OceanGate CEO, tried rebooting and troubleshooting the vessel on its touch screens.

You could tell that he was flustered and not really happy with the performance, Weed said. But he was trying to make light of it, trying to make excuses.

They were barely 100 feet (30 meters) deep in calm water, which begged the question: How is this thing going to go to 12,500 feet and do we want to be on board? Weed said.

Following the aborted trip, the production company hired a consultant with the U.S. Navy to vet the Titan.

He provided a mostly favorable report, but warned that there wasnt enough research on the Titans carbon-fiber hull, Weed said. There also was an engineering concern that the hull would not maintain its effectiveness over the course of multiple dives.

Weed said Rush was a charismatic salesman who really believed in the submersibles technology and was willing to put his life on the line for it.