[Cherie]

The owner and pilot of the Titan submersible that imploded in the Atlantic Ocean this week, sparking a massive search and rescue mission, attempted to sell two tickets to the trip at a significantly-reduced price and dismissed safety concerns raised by the prospective customer, leaked text messages have shown.

Las Vegas financier Jay Bloom, who said he was considering the underwater voyage for him and his son, was offered a "last minute price" of £120,000 per person, a discount on the usual £195,000 fee, by Stockton Rush.

When Mr Bloom hesitated, he was assured by Mr Rush that a mission on the Titan submersible was "safer than crossing the street", reports Daily Mail.

Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, who was just 19, ended up replacing Mr Bloom and his own son, and the financier issued a statement expressing his condolences to their family, as well as Mr Rush's.

In a Facebook post he said: "I expressed safety concerns and Stockton told me: 'While there's obviously risk - it's way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving'.

"He was absolutely convinced that it was safer than crossing the street. I am sure he really believed what he was saying. But he was very wrong."

In February this year Stockton Rush repotedly asked Mr Bloom and his son Sean to go on the dive to Titanic in May. Both May dives were postponed due to weather and the dive got delayed until June 18, the date of the ill-fated trip.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/tech...93a2c350c&ei=8

another father and son declined to go and the Dawoods took their place