YouTuber Scuba Jake Cries Remembering Chance to Be on Titan Sub (Exclusive)

After the Titan imploded on June 18, 2023, killing all five people on board, Jake Koehler watched the dome of the submersible being pulled out of the Atlantic Ocean.

He’d had his feet propped on it just days before — and realized he could easily have been on that fatal expedition, too, he says.

“I’m just thinking like, ‘Damn, you know, what if that was me?’ ” says the 33-year-old scuba diving influencer as he brushes away tears in Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster, a documentary which premiered on Netflix on Wednesday, June 11. “It was a bit … tough.” 

Two years ago, the vessel — designed for the exploration company OceanGate and made partially of carbon fiber instead of the standard titanium or steel, which investigators now suspect was a key flaw — disappeared off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, as it headed 12,500 feet beneath the surface of the ocean to see the Titanic.

The company’s co-founder, Stockton Rush, 61, was piloting the submersible and had four wealthy and notable people with him. But a sudden implosion resulted in their deaths.

Now, an upcoming final report from the U.S. Coast Guard and insight from experts and former employees are providing answers to what went wrong, even as other haunting questions persist.

“It comes down to Stockton Rush. The decisions he made led to this,” says Mark Monroe, director of the documentary, in an exclusive interview featured in this week’s issue of PEOPLE. “It was a cult of personality. If you went against him, you were likely to be out.”

Coast Guard officials believe Rush’s determination to make history with underwater tourism, even at the expense of safety, cost people their lives — including his own.

Koehler says he could have been one of them.

The certified diver gained popularity for his treasure hunting adventures on his YouTube channel, DALLMYD (with 13 million subscribers and counting) and decided to take thrill-seeking to another level when he learned about OceanGate. 

“Every year we’re always like, how do we make these treasure hunts bigger and badder?” says Koehler, who admits his “eyes lit up” when he heard about the company.

He reached out, even though he couldn’t afford the $250,000 price tag, and was invited to come along in the spring of 2003 with his girlfriend, Kyndall Johnson.

Since they weren’t paying customers, there was no guarantee they’d be able to dive, but Koehler says he was excited at the opportunity. 

The couple was on the submersible’s support ship, Polar Prince, for about seven days when Koehler began struggling with seasickness, but he pushed through and attended the meetings that Rush led every morning, so the crew could review the goals for the day.

The leader was a “busy man,” overseeing a large crew and what looked like “a multi-million-dollar operation,” says Koehler. When he first arrived on the Polar Prince, crew members were working on Titan.

“It looked like it had some aesthetic damage, is what I believe they told me,” recalls Koehler. “It looked like a little plastic or piece on the side, it looked like it was broke, maybe from the waves or something.” But he didn’t press the issue because he trusted Rush and the crew. 

“Who am I to question these people? You know, it’d be like me questioning, you know, Elon Musk,” he says, referencing the billionaire’s investment in space tourism. 

Despite feeling ill, Koehler was looking forward to the possibility of diving.

According to the documentary, after nine days at sea OceanGate canceled its dives to the historic Titanic site amid bad weather. But Rush then decided to do a dive closer to home, when they reached the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

Koehler was able to spend a couple of hours in Titan, about 33 feet below the ocean’s surface. Then the fog rolled in, so they returned to the ship deck. 

“We’re about to go off of a platform, and the fog just didn’t lift, and they canceled it,” says Koehler. “So, who knows, maybe the fog saved my life.”

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“Obviously, anyone wishes they could go back in time and maybe say, ‘Hey, don’t do this,’ ” says Koehler, who adds that his “heart is heavy” for the families of the victims. 

“But, you know, that’s the name of the game when you’re pushing the limits.”