Vegas Financier Jay Bloom and Son Explain Why They Skipped Titan Subm

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN...

Jay Bloom and his son, Sean, dodged death by skipping a ride on the doomed Titan submersible at the last minute -- and, now they're explaining why ... red flags galore.

The multimillionaire Vegas tycoon -- who recently disclosed he and his boy were on the verge of being passengers themselves -- were out in Bev Hills and he further explained what he and Sean saw that gave them major pause.

It sounds like it was the younger Bloom in this instance that might've saved his old man -- based on what he describes here ... common sense and good judgment kicked in.

Take a listen for yourself ... Sean says there were a few things that stood out to him when he did his research -- including the fact that OceanGate's CEO, Stockton Rush, was literally piloting this thing with nothing more than a Logitech video game controller.

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That spelled trouble to Sean ... as did the actual construction/makeup of the vessel itself, which Sean wisely surmised would not be able to withstand the ocean's immense pressure at those far-down depths. While Titan had completed successful voyages up until that point, something in Sean's gut told him to steer clear ... and they obviously chose correctly.

As we all know ... the five people aboard, including Rush, perished after the sub imploded. Their spots were given to another father-son duo (Shahzada and Suleman Dawood) which is something that, as Jay and Sean explain, lingers. As they say, it could've been them.

Jay believes that Stockton's decision-making did not come from a bad place... but he was just so passionate about his project that it clouded his judgment.

Now, here's the kicker ... Jay and Sean say their prospective Titanic exploration days are NOT behind them, despite everything that's unfolded. In fact, they're down to go down there ... but with the right person.

Take a guess at who they have in mind.