Search crews discovered "five different major pieces of debris" identified from the Titan submersible, according to Paul Hankins, the US Navy's director of salvage operations and ocean engineering.
The nose cone, located outside the pressure hull, was the first piece found, Hankins said at the US Coast Guard news conference Thursday. Then, they found "a large debris field," which had an end bell of the pressure hull.
"That was the first indication that there was a catastrophic event," the official said.
Crews found a second, smaller debris field within the first, where the other end of the pressure hull was located.
"We continue to map the debris field and, as the admiral said, we will do the best we can to fully map out what's down there," Hankins said.
