Originally Posted by ruff

Personally, I think the vessel imploded when it lost contact the day it descended. A composite hull at those depths is an accident waiting to happen.

Even if it did not destroy itself, 5 people sitting on the bottom at that depth with temperatures right at freezing are not going to survive much past 24 hours.

But, hey, what do I know? You couldn't get me into one of those if you held a shotgun to my head.