What happened to the Titan submersible in the deep ocean?

The five people inside a submersible that went missing Sunday are believed to be dead, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the company that operated the vessel.

- Gareth Vipers

The craft, called Titan and operated by OceanGate Expeditions, dived in an area about 900 miles off Massachusetts' Cape Cod on an expedition to visit the wreck of the Titanic. Titan lost contact with a research vessel on the surface about one hour and 45 minutes into the dive, kicking off a desperate, days-long search for the submersible and its passengers.

The Coast Guard said Thursday it found debris consistent with "the catastrophic loss" of the submersible's pressure chamber approximately 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic.

What's the latest update on the search?

The search uncovered five major pieces of debris that told investigators they had found the Titan's remains, including a nose cone and the front-end bell of the pressure hull, officials said at a news briefing Thursday.

The debris was found on the ocean floor in a smooth area without any debris from the Titanic shipwreck, said Carl Hartsfield of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which was helping with the search.

"The debris is consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber," said Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger, who has been leading the search. Experts previously said death would have been instantaneous in those circumstances.

Asked about the prospect of finding the passengers' bodies, Mauger said the operation took place in "an incredibly unforgiving environment."

"We'll continue to work and to search the area but I don't have an answer for prospects," he said.

Teams and equipment from around the world converged in a remote part of the North Atlantic to help with the search. They combed an area at least twice the size of Connecticut for the 22-foot-long Titan.