The family of doomed Titanic sub passenger Hamish Harding have hailed the British billionaire as a “living legend” who died “doing what he loved.”
Harding’s wife and two sons released a joint statement with his aircraft brokerage firm, Action Aviation, saying they were “united in grief with the other families who have also lost their loved ones on the Titan submersible.”
“To his team in Action Aviation, he was a guide, an aspiration, a support and a living legend,” the family said of the 58-year-old winner at last year’s European Living Legends of Aviation Awards.
“He was one of a kind and we adored him,” the grieving family said of the “loving husband” and “dedicated father.”
“He was a passionate explorer — whatever the terrain — who lived his life for his family, his business and for the next adventure,” they said of the 58-year-old, who also went to space last year aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
Harding’s family called him “one of a kind” and a “living legend.” AP“What he achieved in his lifetime was truly remarkable, and if we can take any small consolation from this tragedy, it’s that we lost him doing what he loved,” they said.
As well as traveling to space and the depths of the ocean, Harding was a three-time Guinness World Records holder, including one for breaking the world speed record for circumnavigating the globe.
He also made multiple visits to the South Pole, including one in 2016 alongside Buzz Aldrin, who became the oldest person to reach it, at 86.
The billionaire, who’s also been to space, died “doing what he loved,” his family said. Blue Origin
Harding was hailed as a “loving husband” and “dedicated father” to his family, seen with him here. Facebook/Hamish HardingGuinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday said it “was heart-breaking to learn of his fate.”
“Hamish had the kind of pioneering spirit that we here at Guinness World Records are privileged to recognize and celebrate in the pages of our book.
“It sounds like a cliché to say it but he lived life to the full, and was well aware of the risks involved at the extreme edge of adventuring.”
Harding and fellow Titan tourist Paul-Henri Nargeolet, an esteemed French Titanic expert, were both members of the Explorers Club.
“Our hearts are broken,” club president Richard Garriott de Cayeux wrote soon after the members’ deaths were confirmed.
“Hamish Harding is a dear friend to me personally and to The Explorers Club,” the president wrote.
Harding’s adventures also broke several world records. Facebook/Hamish Harding
Harding was “drawn to explore” for the “betterment of mankind,” the Explorers Club president said. Jam Press/Chris Brown“He holds several world records and has continued to push dragons off maps both in person and through supporting expeditions and worthy causes.”
Harding and Nargeolet were “both drawn to explore … in the name of meaningful science for the betterment of mankind.”
“We’re heartbroken for the families, friends and colleagues of those who were lost,” he wrote of the two members who died alongside the sub company’s controversial CEO, Stockton Rush, and father and son Shahzada and Sulaiman Dawood.
“Their memories will be a blessing and will continue to inspire us in the name of science and exploration.”
