SUBMARINE TRAGEDY - I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON BOARD

ONE BRITISH MAN GAVE UP HIS SEAT ON THE MISSING TITANIC TOURIST SUB

- Brigid Auchettl

More than 110 years since the Titanic sank, sending 1500 passengers to a watery grave, a frantic life-ordeath rescue mission was commenced last week when a five-man submarine expedition to view the wreckage suddenly vanished.

In the wake of the disaster, Briton Chris Brown came forward, revealing he forfeited a seat on the missing Titan submersible due to safety concerns.

"I found out they used old scaffolding poles for the sub's ballast - and its controls were based on computer game-style controllers," Chris, 61, told The Sun newspaper.

Chris, a marketing tycoon, had paid a deposit to join the dive with billionaire pal Hamish Harding, one of the missing men. However, Chris told the newspaper he ultimately decided the "risks were too high", citing issues with the materials used by tour company OceanGate Expeditions.