YIKES

Would-Be Passenger on Missing Titanic Sub Bailed Over Safety Concerns

Chris Brown, whose friend Hamish Harding was on board the doomed mission, backed out upon learning the vessel is steered with a cheap video game controller.

A multi-millionaire who planned to join the passengers of the submersible missing in the North Atlantic depths said he backed out after learning the vehicle is steered with a cheap video game controller. The Sun reported that 61-year-old Chris Brown had agreed to join Hamish Harding, one of the missing passengers, on the sub while the pair were vacationing on an island owned by Richard Branson. Brown, who reportedly met Harding on a trip to Antarctica in 2016, put down an 80,000 euro deposit, but backed out after learning more about the ship’s steering apparatus. “We decided the risks were too high in this instance, even though I’m not one to shy away from risk,” Brown said. As The Daily Beast has since reported, the sub didn’t even have a basic locator beacon, and the company behind it was previously warned about safety issues. Rescue teams are now searching desperately for the lost sub; banging sounds were detected in the search area on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.