This is a photo of them before boarding the Titanic submarine to explore the Titanic wreck area.
Shahzada Dawood, 58, and his son Suleman, 19, are pictured smiling before boarding a $250,000 submersible but died when the boat exploded.
Mr. Shahzada's wife, Ms. Christine Dawood, said: The father and son may have spent their final moments in total darkness listening to their favorite tunes. Together, they can observe bioluminescent creatures on the ocean floor.
Ms. Daoud recounted that three months ago, OceanGate's CEO, Stockton Rush, and his wife Wendy, flew from the US to London to meet with Dawood. Their purpose was to persuade them that the trip to the Titanic wreck was safe.
Mr. Rush believes taking the Titan deep into the Atlantic is "safer than crossing the road". He even spoke to them about the submersible's design and safety.
Just 12 weeks later, the Dawood family embarked on their fateful journey.
Those preparing to venture into the water are asked to wear thick socks and a hat, as the depths can be cold. They must adhere to a "low residue diet" the day before the dive. They were not allowed to eat or drink any coffee the morning before.
There are no toilets on board, just a bottle or camping-style toilet behind a curtain.
Passengers are asked to download their favorite tunes to their phones to play through Bluetooth speakers, but Rush bans country music.
He also warned them that it would be dark on the way down because their headlights were turned off when they reached the bottom to save battery.
However, they were told they might see bioluminescent creatures.
Mrs. Daoud said her husband was excited "like a little kid" as he prepared to travel. In 2012, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, they became fascinated by the Titanic after visiting an exhibition in Singapore.
In 2019, the family went to Greenland and was very interested in the glaciers surrounded by icebergs. She spotted an ad for OceanGate and had planned to go with her husband. However, their journey was delayed due to the pandemic, and by the time they were able to, Suleman was old enough to take her mother's place.
Carrying a Rubik's Cube, the teenager hopes to break the world record for completing the underwater Rubik's Cube challenge.
Mrs. Daoud and her 17-year-old daughter, Alina, stood aboard the Titan's mother ship, the Polar Prince, and waved to them as they embarked on their adventure. After all five crew members climbed aboard, divers closed the hatch.
The Titan began diving into the Titanic wreckage area at 8:00 am on June 18. Contact with the Titan submersible was lost an hour and forty-five minutes after being submerged in the ocean.
"It was a beautiful morning," Mrs. Daoud recalled. Later that morning, she overheard someone saying that contact with Titan had been lost.
She was told not to worry because if something went wrong, the mission would be aborted and the sub would release its own weight to the surface.
Five days later, Mrs. Daoud heard that the wreck of the submarine had been found on the mother ship. The wreckage of the submarine was found on the seabed 152.4 meters from the Titanic.
