Jay Bloom, a Las Vegas investor and real estate developer, revealed that he and his son Sean gave up their seats on theTitansubmersible thatimplodedin the Atlantic Ocean during a trip to view the wreck of theTitanic,killing five peopleon board.
On Monday, Bloom shared onFacebookthat OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush – the company that operated theTitansubmersible – had invited him and his son to join a dive to theTitanicwreck site in May. They declined due to scheduling conflicts and safety concerns.
“So this is crazy… I got invited to go on this dive,” Bloom wrote. “If I accepted, I would’ve been one of the five onboard right now."
Denise Truscello/WireImage
He continued, “Stockton Rush has been trying to get me to go for a year now. I last saw him at Luxor when we went through the Titanic Exhibition together. I spoke with him a couple of weeks ago and he told me they had an opening on this dive. I hope they’re OK. But they’ve been down for 48 hours now with no communication. It’s supposed to be an eight hour dive.”
Titanic wreckage at the bottom of the ocean.Xavier DESMIER/Gamma-Rapho Getty
Xavier DESMIER/Gamma-Rapho Getty
It was revealed on Thursday that Rush — along with British billionaire Hamish Harding, FrenchTitanicexpert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman — died when the submersible imploded 1,600 feet from theTitanicwreckage.
In the texts, Rush was offered the seats at $150,000 each as a “last minute price” instead of the usual $250,000 fee.
“In February Stockton asked me and my son, Sean, to go with him on the dive toTitanicin May,” Bloom wrote. “Both May dives were postponed due to weather and the dive got delayed until June 18th, the date of this trip.”
When Bloom expressed safety concerns, he says Rush replied, “There hasn’t been even an injury in 35 years in a non-military subs.”
Bloom continued, “I am sure he really believed what he was saying. But he was very wrong. He passionately believed in what he was doing.”
Titan sub in the ocean.Ocean Gate / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ocean Gate / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Bloom further recalled more of his conversation when he last saw Rush on March 1 at the Titanic Exhibit at the Luxor in Las Vegas. There, they discussed the dive and its safety aspects over lunch in the food court
“He was absolutely convinced that it was safer than crossing the street,” Bloom wrote.
He also added, “I told him that due to scheduling we couldn’t go until next year. Our seats went to Shahzada Dawood and his 19 year old son, Suleman Dawood, two of the other three who lost their lives on this excursion (the fifth being Hamish Harding).”
“One last time.. RIP Stockton and crew,” Bloom said. “Tomorrow is never promised. Make the most of today.”
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Victims who died in the Titan implosion.JOEL SAGET,HANDOUT/Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat/AFP via Getty Images
JOEL SAGET,HANDOUT/Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat/AFP via Getty Images
Azmeh Dawood, the aunt of the youngest person to die in the dive, told NBC News that Suleman"wasn’t very up for it" and felt “terrified.“However, he went on the dive reluctantly since it was set to depart on Father’s Day.
Before the U.S. Coast Guard and OceanGateannounced their death, Azmeh revealed that she was anxiously awaiting answers about her relatives.
“I feel like I’ve been caught in a really bad film with a countdown, but you didn’t know what you’re counting down to,” she said. “I personally have found it kind of difficult to breathe thinking of them. I never thought I would have an issue with drawing breath. It’s been unlike any experience I’ve ever had.”
source: people.com
