It is what the expert we heard from earlier this week feared, that the Titan submersible collapsed under the intense pressure of 6,000 pounds per square inch at the depths of the Titanic. All passengers are feared dead:

NBC NEWS – All five people aboard the Titan submersible are believed to be dead, and debris discovered in the search area for the missing vessel was consistent with a “catastrophic implosion,” the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The debris was found off the bow of the sunken Titanic, officials said.

The search for the Titan, which went missing Sunday after embarking on a mission to survey the wreckage of the Titanic, had been focused on an area where Canadian aircraft detected “underwater noises” Tuesday and again yesterday.

U.S. Coast Guard officials had estimated the five passengers could run out of air just before 7:10 a.m. ET today, and the location of the missing vessel had remained a mystery even as the search intensified.

It sounds like the passengers have likely been dead since the sub went missing. It’s very tragic.

I know there is inherent risk with a deep sea expedition like this and I would imagine that each of the high paying passengers signed forms to that extent, but I’m sure there’s going to be lawsuits against the company who made the sub from the families of those involved.