Hamish Harding.Photo:Dirty Dozen Productions/AFP via Getty ImagesHamish Harding,a jet-pilot, deep-sea explorer, and space adventurer, had one place he’d always wanted to visit: theTitanic.According to his longtime friend, fellow explorer Victor Vescovo, it was something Harding dreamed of, which is why he went on OceanGate’sdoomed Titansubmersible, even though he was aware of the inherent risks — which Vescovo says friendPaul-Henri Nargeolet, who also died, knew of too.“I warned Hamish and PH Nargeolet about the dangers of OceanGate, and they nodded and agreed, but that was the only submersible operation that was visiting Titanic,” Vescovo tells PEOPLE. “PH loved diving theTitanic, and Hamish very, very much wanted to seeTitanic. He actually asked me in the past if I could take him there, but that’s not what my submersibles were designed for.”On June 22, it was confirmed that the billionaire Harding, the Chairman of Action Aviation, perished on the submersible along with four other passengers.“Like me, he was a fellow jet pilot,” Vescovo says of Harding. “In his soul, he was an explorer and an adventurer, but with a charming British personality. He was always smiling, always had a positive attitude. But he also had that pilot sensibility of calm and kind of unflappableness, which you kind of have to be as a jet pilot.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The two became close when they went to the bottom of Challenger Deep together (the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean), as part of Vescovo’sFive Deeps Expedition.“Hamish was willing to help sponsor some of the science on my expeditions, and so I took him down to the bottom of Challenger Deep,” Vescovo says. “He really wanted to push the limits, and so on our dive together, we set a record, for whatever that’s worth, to have the longest period of time ever at the bottom of the ocean and make the longest lateral distance ever achieved at the Challenger Deep. And he was really happy to do that.““It took a lot of planning and there was some risk involved, but we pushed the submarine that we were in to the limits of its capability. Still, we knew it was safe,” he adds. “There was never any fear.”Last June, the two friends became the only duo to have every visited the deep ocean and space together, when they went on the suborbital Blue Origin NS-21 mission in June 2022.“One day I’m sitting in my office and I get a call from Hamish, who says, ‘Do you still want to go into space?’” Vescovo recalls. “I was like yes Hamish, we talked about this when we were on the sub. He says, ‘Right, how much do you weigh?’ I told him 190 lbs., and he says, ‘Right, can you get it down to 185?’”Vescovo says Harding hung up, and then called him right back to say he had two seats on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin flight.“So we did it together. In fact, we’re the only crew to ever go to the bottom of the ocean together and go into space together. No other duo has ever done that, and I feel very happy about that. He’s British, I’m American, and that’s kind of a manifestation of this special relationship that exists between our countries.”He adds that beyond exploring together, he’ll also miss Harding as a friend.“The experiences you have with these people, they’re very intense. And so these are very, very strong bonds. And Hamish, he was just a guy’s guy with two wonderful sons, who was wonderful to hang out with and have a drink and talk about adventuring. We were planning to go into orbit together with Blue Origin next,” Vescovo says. “But that’s not going to happen now.”
Hamish Harding.Photo:Dirty Dozen Productions/AFP via Getty Images
Dirty Dozen Productions/AFP via Getty Images
Hamish Harding,a jet-pilot, deep-sea explorer, and space adventurer, had one place he’d always wanted to visit: theTitanic.According to his longtime friend, fellow explorer Victor Vescovo, it was something Harding dreamed of, which is why he went on OceanGate’sdoomed Titansubmersible, even though he was aware of the inherent risks — which Vescovo says friendPaul-Henri Nargeolet, who also died, knew of too.“I warned Hamish and PH Nargeolet about the dangers of OceanGate, and they nodded and agreed, but that was the only submersible operation that was visiting Titanic,” Vescovo tells PEOPLE. “PH loved diving theTitanic, and Hamish very, very much wanted to seeTitanic. He actually asked me in the past if I could take him there, but that’s not what my submersibles were designed for.”On June 22, it was confirmed that the billionaire Harding, the Chairman of Action Aviation, perished on the submersible along with four other passengers.“Like me, he was a fellow jet pilot,” Vescovo says of Harding. “In his soul, he was an explorer and an adventurer, but with a charming British personality. He was always smiling, always had a positive attitude. But he also had that pilot sensibility of calm and kind of unflappableness, which you kind of have to be as a jet pilot.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The two became close when they went to the bottom of Challenger Deep together (the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean), as part of Vescovo’sFive Deeps Expedition.“Hamish was willing to help sponsor some of the science on my expeditions, and so I took him down to the bottom of Challenger Deep,” Vescovo says. “He really wanted to push the limits, and so on our dive together, we set a record, for whatever that’s worth, to have the longest period of time ever at the bottom of the ocean and make the longest lateral distance ever achieved at the Challenger Deep. And he was really happy to do that.““It took a lot of planning and there was some risk involved, but we pushed the submarine that we were in to the limits of its capability. Still, we knew it was safe,” he adds. “There was never any fear.”Last June, the two friends became the only duo to have every visited the deep ocean and space together, when they went on the suborbital Blue Origin NS-21 mission in June 2022.“One day I’m sitting in my office and I get a call from Hamish, who says, ‘Do you still want to go into space?’” Vescovo recalls. “I was like yes Hamish, we talked about this when we were on the sub. He says, ‘Right, how much do you weigh?’ I told him 190 lbs., and he says, ‘Right, can you get it down to 185?’”Vescovo says Harding hung up, and then called him right back to say he had two seats on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin flight.“So we did it together. In fact, we’re the only crew to ever go to the bottom of the ocean together and go into space together. No other duo has ever done that, and I feel very happy about that. He’s British, I’m American, and that’s kind of a manifestation of this special relationship that exists between our countries.”He adds that beyond exploring together, he’ll also miss Harding as a friend.“The experiences you have with these people, they’re very intense. And so these are very, very strong bonds. And Hamish, he was just a guy’s guy with two wonderful sons, who was wonderful to hang out with and have a drink and talk about adventuring. We were planning to go into orbit together with Blue Origin next,” Vescovo says. “But that’s not going to happen now.”
Hamish Harding,a jet-pilot, deep-sea explorer, and space adventurer, had one place he’d always wanted to visit: theTitanic.
According to his longtime friend, fellow explorer Victor Vescovo, it was something Harding dreamed of, which is why he went on OceanGate’sdoomed Titansubmersible, even though he was aware of the inherent risks — which Vescovo says friendPaul-Henri Nargeolet, who also died, knew of too.
“I warned Hamish and PH Nargeolet about the dangers of OceanGate, and they nodded and agreed, but that was the only submersible operation that was visiting Titanic,” Vescovo tells PEOPLE. “PH loved diving theTitanic, and Hamish very, very much wanted to seeTitanic. He actually asked me in the past if I could take him there, but that’s not what my submersibles were designed for.”
On June 22, it was confirmed that the billionaire Harding, the Chairman of Action Aviation, perished on the submersible along with four other passengers.
“Like me, he was a fellow jet pilot,” Vescovo says of Harding. “In his soul, he was an explorer and an adventurer, but with a charming British personality. He was always smiling, always had a positive attitude. But he also had that pilot sensibility of calm and kind of unflappableness, which you kind of have to be as a jet pilot.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The two became close when they went to the bottom of Challenger Deep together (the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean), as part of Vescovo’sFive Deeps Expedition.
“Hamish was willing to help sponsor some of the science on my expeditions, and so I took him down to the bottom of Challenger Deep,” Vescovo says. “He really wanted to push the limits, and so on our dive together, we set a record, for whatever that’s worth, to have the longest period of time ever at the bottom of the ocean and make the longest lateral distance ever achieved at the Challenger Deep. And he was really happy to do that.”
“It took a lot of planning and there was some risk involved, but we pushed the submarine that we were in to the limits of its capability. Still, we knew it was safe,” he adds. “There was never any fear.”
Last June, the two friends became the only duo to have every visited the deep ocean and space together, when they went on the suborbital Blue Origin NS-21 mission in June 2022.
“One day I’m sitting in my office and I get a call from Hamish, who says, ‘Do you still want to go into space?’” Vescovo recalls. “I was like yes Hamish, we talked about this when we were on the sub. He says, ‘Right, how much do you weigh?’ I told him 190 lbs., and he says, ‘Right, can you get it down to 185?’”
Vescovo says Harding hung up, and then called him right back to say he had two seats on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin flight.
“So we did it together. In fact, we’re the only crew to ever go to the bottom of the ocean together and go into space together. No other duo has ever done that, and I feel very happy about that. He’s British, I’m American, and that’s kind of a manifestation of this special relationship that exists between our countries.”
He adds that beyond exploring together, he’ll also miss Harding as a friend.
“The experiences you have with these people, they’re very intense. And so these are very, very strong bonds. And Hamish, he was just a guy’s guy with two wonderful sons, who was wonderful to hang out with and have a drink and talk about adventuring. We were planning to go into orbit together with Blue Origin next,” Vescovo says. “But that’s not going to happen now.”
source: people.com
