An Idaho lawyer was supposed to be on the submersible dive to the Titanic wreck site that ended in tragedy.
"As I posted last week I was supposed to be on this expedition and, indeed, on this dive, but I had to cancel to attend to another urgent client matter," wrote David Concannon, in a Facebook post Monday.
Concannon, who is based in Sun Valley, Idaho, is the founder and principal of the law firm Concannon & Charles. The firm's website describes Concannon as an expert in legal issues affecting exploration. In 2002, he founded Explorer Consulting, a consulting practice that advises clients on "the business of exploration," according to its website.
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Since Sunday, the world's attention has been focused on the massive North Atlantic search for the missing sub and its five crew members. On Thursday, officials said that debris from the sub has been discovered on the seafloor about 1,600 feet from Titanic's bow.
The debris is "consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vessel," said U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, in a press conference Thursday. "I offer my deepest condolences to the families," he said. "I can only imagine what this has been like for them and I hope that this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time."
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, OceanGate Expeditions wrote that the travel company's CEO and submersible pilot Stockton Rush and four passengers have been killed. The passengers were British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, British billionaire businessman Hamish Harding, and Titanic specialist Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
Also read: OceanGate believes all 5 passengers on Titanic exploration sub 'have sadly been lost'
"We now believe that our CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, have sadly been lost," said OceanGate Expeditions, in a statement. "Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time."
Harding and Nargeolet were also members of the Explorers Club. Headquartered in New York, the club, which is was incorporated in 1905, supports scientific expeditions.
"We're heartbroken for the families, friends and colleagues of those who were lost," said Richard Garriott de Cayeux, president of the Explorers Club, in a statement Thursday. "Their memories will be a blessing and will continue to inspire us in the name of science and exploration."
Additional reporting by Nicole Lyn Pesce.