The View 's Joy Behar compares 'stupidity' of missing submarine scandal to James Cameron's Titanic

Joy Behar's heart will go on... but her patience for understanding humans might not.

While The View cohosts discussed the ongoing saga involving five people who reportedly went missing in the Atlantic Ocean after their OceanGate Expeditions submersible set out Sunday at around 6 a.m. local time to explore the wreckage of the Titanic, the 80-year-old comedian likened the expensive excursion to something out of Hollywood's (several) takes on the sinking of the famed ship in 1912.

"It's interesting because the Titanic itself went down because of human incompetence and stupidity on the part of, according to the movies, hubris, and the same with this," Behar said during the Hot Topics conversation, invoking James Cameron's 1997 epic Titanic — a dramatic tale of monetary ambition trumping passenger safety as the vessel sank without enough lifeboats to save those aboard. "That's the irony of it. They're going to see the same thing is happening to them. It's very sad and scary."

ABC (2); Everett Collection Missing submersible; Joy Behar on 'The View'; James Cameron's 'Titanic'

Behar's cohost, Alyssa Farah Griffin, elaborated on the parameters of the submersible's design amid reports that its wealthy passengers could have paid around $250,000 for their journey.

"We need hope. I'm praying for a miracle, because I think we're in a window now where there's about 30 hours of oxygen left in this submersible. I'm fascinated by this story because, while I can't personally relate to wanting to do extreme adventures, my husband is very much like this," the 34-year-old said. "There's something about the human spirit that wants to explore the unknown, but the problem here is this company was cutting corners left and right. This was basically a stitched-together — they were using a Game Boy console to guide this thing at the depths of the ocean. I hope — I know these folks signed a lot of paperwork — but I hope, however this ends up, there's a massive lawsuit, because they put tons of lives at risk."

Legal expert Sunny Hostin, however, speculated that "there won't be much legal repercussion," especially after the New York Times reported that past travelers were required to sign a waiver that "mentioned death three times on the first page," according to the publication.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg noted at the top of the segment that the rescue operation had possibly heard "intermittent banging sounds," which made her feel "very hopeful" that something positive could result from the recovery effort.

"I don't understand physical risks. I've gotten up in front of audiences drunk at two in the morning to do stand-up. That's a risk that I took," Behar said elsewhere during the broadcast. "But to actually go underwater, they say that this submersible has been certified to withstand the pressure of 1,300 meters of depth, but the Titanic wreckage is 3,800 meters of depth. So, that's a tip-off right there."

OceanGate did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment, though Hostin closed the topic with a legal note from the company, which indicated that "every step possible is being taken to bring the five crew members back safely, and [we are] grateful for the urgent and extensive assistance they are receiving from multiple government agencies." She continued, adding that "a spokesman declined to comment on the five-year-old safety warnings from the company's former director of marine operations, David Lockridge... OceanGate leaders settled a wrongful termination lawsuit with Lockridge on confidential terms, noting he was not an engineer."

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/PT on ABC. Watch the ladies discuss the missing submersible in the video above.

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