21 Jun The Simpsons writer who went on Titanic sub says it was ‘extremely low tech’
THE Simpsons writer Mike Reiss, who visited the wreck of the Titanic on the same sub that has gone missing, has described the vessel as “extremely low tech”.
He told GB News that there were communication issues on the trip and that he fell asleep during the descent.
Mr Reiss said: “The very sub that’s in distress right now, I did take it to the bottom of the sea and I did see the Titanic from it. A lot of talk is going on about the safety of the vessel. It is a very, very risky proposition.
“Anyone who booked this trip knew that it was going to be risky. You sign a lengthy waiver that lists really 100 ways to die, things that could go wrong, so everyone walks into this with open arms, open eyes.
“It reminds me of the early space programme where people did everything to keep the astronauts safe, but things went wrong multiple times and you go on and you hope for the best and you’re prepared for the worst.”
In a discussion with Patrick Christys, he continued: “There was a real charm to it all, how simple it is. In a pinch, I knew how to steer the ship. I navigated this for a while.
“It just sinks to the bottom of the ocean by gravity and then when you’re done exploring, you release weights and you bob to the surface with buoyancy. It’s extremely low tech, which is what I liked about it.
“It was a beautiful experience and despite the fact that death was looming, and despite the fact that this is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done, I fell asleep on the way down.
“It was just so good. It was dimly lit. It was quiet. Everyone was calm, I actually didn’t stop until we hit the floor of the ocean.”
He added: “We took three separate dives…there were always communication issues. It’s not the fault of the sub or OceanGate, it’s the fault of very deep water that communication goes in and out.
“There was a little trouble connecting with them once we hit the ocean floor and then more than just communication, confusion, the idea that we’re trying to find the Titanic, they are giving us guidance from above and what they were saying was not connecting well with what we were seeing.
“And so it took a while just to find their stride and make sure we were all on the same page. And once they did that, yeah, we did find the Titanic.”
