James Cameron, the famous director of the movie “Titanic”, spoke out about the search for a deep-sea tourist sub that turned into a “nightmarish charade” and caused agony for the families of passengers.

Cameron revealed in an interview with the BBC on Friday that he “felt in my bones” that the Titan submersible had been lost as soon as he heard it had lost contact with the surface during its descent to the wreckage of the ocean liner at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Cameron said that the media’s focus on the submersible having 96 hours of oxygen supply and banging noises being heard were a “prolonged and nightmarish charade.” He stated that he knew the truth on Monday morning, but the media’s coverage continued for four more days.

The Titan launched at 6 a.m. on Sunday and was reported overdue that afternoon about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Debris was found on the ocean bed on Thursday and authorities confirmed that all five people aboard the submersible died when the vessel imploded.

Cameron has made over 30 dives to the wreckage of the Titanic, and he knew that an “extreme catastrophic event” had happened as soon as he heard the submersible had lost navigation and communications during its descent.

“For me, there was no doubt.

I knew that sub was sitting exactly underneath its last known depth and position, and that’s exactly where they found it.

There was no search.

When they finally got an ROV down there that could make the depth, they found it within hours.

Probably within minutes,” he told the BBC.

Cameron expressed his disappointment about the preventable accident and how the same principles of not heeding warnings led to another wreck.

The filmmaker has been an oceanography enthusiast since childhood and has made dozens of deep-sea dives, including one to the deepest point on Earth — the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

Deep-sea explorers have raised concerns about the Titan submersible, saying it was too experimental to carry passengers.

OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Söhnlein told Times Radio that chief executive Stockton Rush, who was one of those onboard the Titan, was “extremely committed to safety” and “diligent about managing risks.”

The tragedy is a reminder of the dangers of deep-sea exploration and the importance of heeding warnings.

As Cameron said, “one of the saddest aspects of this is how preventable it really was.” The prolonged media coverage only added to the agony of the families of the passengers, and Cameron hopes that this tragedy will serve as a warning for future deep-sea explorations.