Man describes his own experience being trapped in submersible while diving Titanic

Amid a frantic, ongoing search to locate an OceanGate submersible that went missing while diving to the Titanic, a scientist and former TV host who was trapped at the wreck site over 20 years ago is sharing his story.

Amid a frantic, ongoing search to locate an OceanGate submersible that went missing while diving to the Titanic, a scientist and former TV host who was trapped at the wreck site over 20 years ago is sharing his story.

"We just had the bad luck of being caught up in a very strong underwater current," Michael Guillen told CTV News Channel's Heather Butts on Wednesday. "It was completely unexpected."

Guillen says that although he didn't panic in the moment, he was immediately aware that those aboard were in a life-or-death situation, and as a "professional problem solver" he began try think of a solution, but quickly realized that there was nothing he could do – they were completely dependent on the vehicle's pilot.

However, according to Guillen, the key difference between the incident he was a part of in 2000 and the one today is that his team didn't lose a connection with the surface.

"Our pilot had constant communication… with the mother ship, the research ship above us," Guillen says.

After being stuck almost 4,000 metres below for "the better part of an hour," Guillen's submersible was eventually able to resurface, but the hours spent getting back to the surface made for a "nail-biting" experience that still leaves him "physically and emotionally" exhausted when he recounts it.

Guillen also has a stark warning to anyone planning to visit the wreck site: "Have respect for Mother Nature … This is not a joyride."