The passengers were Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the company leading the expedition; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French maritime expert who was the director of underwater research for the company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic; Shahzada Dawood, a British-Pakistani businessman, and his 19-year-old-son, Suleman Dawood, who were members of one of Pakistan's wealthiest families; and Hamish Harding, a British billionaire who had previously visited space on a mission by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket company and holds a Guinness World Record for the longest time spent traversing the deepest part of the ocean in a single dive.

Passengers paid $250,000 each to tour the Titanic shipwreck, which is nearly 13,000 feet underwater and 400 miles off the nearest coast. The Titan submersible, owned by OceanGate Expeditions, first lost contact with its mothership Sunday about an hour and 45 minutes into its descent to the North Atlantic Ocean, setting off an expansive search operation for the vessel and any potential survivors before it would have run out of its 96-hour oxygen supply.

Banging noises reportedly heard Wednesday were not confirmed to have been coming from the Titan, and while it gave hope to some, many experts already believed the rescue missions were futile.

Operated by a $30 Logitech remote control, Titan has raised much controversy over its unapproved features and potential disregard for safety, as well as the extravagant nature of extreme tourism. 

Michigan State University students discussed the chilling situation and how such trips should be approached.

Human Biology junior Bella Johnson said she thinks many people haven't processed the danger involved in the expedition.

“Since the ocean is so large and the submersible had to go so far down, I’m guessing that an accident occurred and something was hit," Johnson said. "Or possibly a technical error where connection was lost and the submersible can no longer be located."

Johnson added that the situation seems different from a mission carried out by scientists to collect data. 

“I think this is very interesting,” she said. “I also heard that some of the passengers were very wealthy. Regardless of why they went down there, I think it is terrible they are missing and hope that they will be found. It sounds like they all went by choice, (but) that doesn’t mean they deserved to go missing or experience what they are currently going through.”

Political Science junior Rebekah Batu said a tourist trip like this should not have occurred to begin with. Paying a large sum of money to go in a submersible run by a game controller seems reckless.

But while some students feel the catastrophe may have been a result of poor planning and decision making, others suggested there may be information that remains undisclosed, though there is currently no evidence to suggest that.

“I feel like someone purposely sent down some of the most rich and powerful people on purpose because they know too much,” human biology sophomore Elyssa Haddad said. “I feel like (whoever) sent them down knew that the (submersible) was going to fail, especially because from what I’ve read (that) only certain submarines can even go to that depth of the ocean.”

Molecular biology and biochemistry sophomore Ava Hopko said qualified experts and company managers should have looked more closely at the expedition.

“The missing (submersible) is absolutely insane,” Hopko said. “I know there are many complications to underwater exploration, but with all the stuff coming out, it seems that this (submersible) wasn't that well equipped to handle this type of search.”

Some things, such as the Titanic, should be left alone, Hopko said.