Missing Titanic submersible live updates: Texts show OceanGate CEO dismissed concerns

Members of a committee specializing in submersibles expressed "unanimous concern regarding the development" of Titan in a 2018 letter addressed to OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who is one of the passengers aboard the missing vessel.

The letter was obtained by The New York Times and was later authenticated by ABC News.

The letter warned of possible "catastrophic" problems with Titan's development that could have "serious consequences for everyone in the industry." The letter goes on to say that OceanGate's safety claims were "misleading to the public" and insisted Titan be reviewed by a third-party organization.

The letter, which was addressed from the Marine Technology Society, was never approved to be sent to OceanGate though was quickly leaked to its CEO, according to committee chair William Kohnen.

"The letter did represent in 2018 the consensus by many people in the industry that they were not considering following the standard safety protocols and designs that the industry uses," Kohnen told ABC News.

Though he wishes it was not leaked at the time, nor now to The New York Times, Kohnen said he stands by the letter and its warnings.

"The company had indicated that their state of innovation was beyond, beyond what was allowable within the regulatory standards we have today and that they would proceed without certification," Kohnen said. "That worried a number of people in the industry."

Kohnen acknowledged that OceanGate did "heed" some of the comments made in the 2018 letter.

-ABC News' Amanda Maile and Victor Ordoñe​z

Search and rescue teams have now covered 7,600 square miles -- an area bigger than the state of Connecticut -- as they scour the ocean for the missing submersible, Coast Guard officials said.

A grid depicting the expanding search area is expected Tuesday night, according to a public information affairs lieutenant for the First District of the U.S. Coast Guard.

-ABC News' Miles Cohen

NASA released a statement Tuesday on the Titan, saying it remains "hopeful the crew will be found unharmed."

"NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center had a Space Act Agreement with OceanGate, and consulted on materials and manufacturing processes for the submersible. NASA did not conduct testing and manufacturing via its workforce or facilities," the agency said.

-ABC News' Gina Sunseri

The U.S. Navy said it's sending to the search site experts and equipment "designed to provide reliable deep ocean lifting capacity for the recovery of large, bulky, and heavy undersea objects."

The equipment, which can lift up to 60,000 pounds, and the experts will arrive in Canada Tuesday night, the Navy said.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said earlier Tuesday that the Navy was"on standby" to help with the search for the missing submersible, because the Navy has "some deep-water capabilities that the Coast Guard wouldn’t necessarily have."

President Joe Biden is "watching events closely," Kirby said, adding that Biden and the White House offer their thoughts "to the crew onboard, as well as to the -- what is no doubt -- worried family members back on shore."