CBS reporter David Pogue was genuinely surprised to find OceanGate's Titan submersible was controlled by a gamepad when he joined the Titanic tourism company for an expedition last year.
Pogue was shown around the minivan sized sub by OceanGate chief executive Stockton Rush.
"This is not your grandfather's submersible," Rush told him as he pointed out the features.
"We only have one button and that's it, it should be like an elevator, it shouldn't take a lot of skill."
Rush also showed Pogue the small "toilet" which appeared to be a bottle in a container.
"I couldn't help noticing how many pieces of this sub seemed improvised," Pogue said as Rush pointed out a part repurposed from a campervan.
Pogue seemed truly shocked when Rush pulled out a console gamepad controller which was used to operate the submersible.
"We run this whole thing with this game controller," Rush said as Pogue laughed and put a hand to his face exclaiming "come on".
While he never went under the water in Titan during his trip, Pogue noticed issues from the surface vessel, with contact being lost with the submersible for hours and the mission not finding the Titanic wreck before surfacing.
The crew aboard the vessel, which went missing on Sunday (local time) have less than 35 hours of oxygen left — if they are still alive.
Its vanishing has sparked an international search covering around 25,000 sq kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean.
Pogue appeared on Breakfast this morning to elaborate on his experience with OceanGate.
What worried him most was that the Titan couldn't be opened from the inside — meaning that if it had surfaced, the crew could still suffocate in the airtight craft.
The missing submersible's plight has sparked an international search covering around 25,000 square kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean. (Source: Breakfast)
"That's the real nightmare scenario," he said.
"The odds are very low," he said, calling the lost crew's plight "heartbreaking".
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