The malfunction reportedly took place on June 12, six days before the fatal dive
OceanGate’s former scientific director has testified that the Titan submersible malfunctioned only days before it descended into the ocean.
On September 16, the US Coast Guard commenced a hearing to investigate the fatal implosion of the sub that occurred last year and deduce if there is anyone to blame for the wreckage.
OceanGate Expedition’s 21-foot submersible named Titan descended into the North Atlantic on June 18, 2023 for a tour of the Titanic‘s wreckage site.
The tragic incident occurred in June 2023 (US Coast Guard)
Around an hour and 45 minutes into its descent, contact with the Titan and its five passengers onboard was lost however.
After a hefty search mission, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the Titan was destroyed by a ‘catastrophic implosion’.
All five people onboard – British billionaire Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet – passed away.
Now, former OceanGate scientific director Steven Ross testified to the US Coast Guard during the hearing that the sub malfunctioned days before its fatal descent.
He explained that they experienced a platform malfunction that caused all five people onboard to slam into the aft of the submersible for at least an hour.
he malfunction reportedly took place on June 12, six days before the fatal dive.
“The pilot crashed into the rear bulkhead, the rest of the passengers tumbled about, I ended up standing on the rear bulkhead, one passenger was hanging upside down, the other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow endcap,” Ross explained before adding that no one was injured.
The malfunction took place six days before the dive. (US Coast Guard/Pelagic Research Services)
“It was uncomfortable and unpleasant and it took considerable time to correct the problem,” Ross added.
He also claimed that he knew the Titan submersible was not inspected by the US Coast Guard in 2021, 2022, or 2023.
Titan sub inquiry – everything we know from the investigation so far
A public hearing into the five deaths of the people onboard OceanGate’s ill-fated Titan submersible began on Monday (16 September).
It is expected to last two weeks.
Titan was ‘unregistered, non-certificated and unclassed’
The first day of the hearing (16 September) heard how the submersible was built in 2020 and was ‘unregistered, non-certificated and unclassed’, as well as having no identification number.
The submersible’s hull was never subject to third-party checks and officials said it was left exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023.
Parts of Titan ‘bonded together using an adhesive’
In 2017, the year OceanGate announced it would be conducting trips to the Titanic, employees bonded together the submersible’s carbon fibre hull and titanium rings ‘using an adhesive’.
Titan found ‘partially sunk’ month before tragedy
During its 2023 expedition, the Titan was found ‘partially sunk’ in the ocean.
Image released of Titan debris on sea floor
An image showing debris, including the Titan’s tail cone, on the sea floor after the implosion was revealed.
Titan lost contact with support ship
Those onboard the Titan were communicating with support staff on the Polar Prince ship by text messages.
After a number of exchanges, Titan crew lost contact with Polar Prince as it descended.
One of the last texts from submersible revealed
One of Titan’s final responses was revealed to be: “All good here.”
Titan ‘struck by lightning’
Tony Nissen, OceanGate Expeditions’ former engineering director, testified that the Titan was hit by lightning during a test mission in 2018.
Nissen, who was allegedly fired in 2019 after not letting the submersible go to the Titanic, told OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush it was ‘not working like we thought it would’.
When asked to pilot the submersible, Nissen said: “I’m not getting in it.”
Titan engineer ‘felt pressure to get submersible ready for wreck dive’
When asked if there was pressure to get the Titan into the water, Nissen replied: “100%.”
Waivers
While Bonnie Carl, OceanGate’s former human resources and finance director, said she was aware of a waiver people had to sign, she testified she ‘never saw anyone sign anything’.
“When I was taking money, we hadn’t even finished building the Titan,” Carl claimed.
‘No red flags’ on day Titan went missing
Former OceanGate contractor Tym Catterson said: “There were no red flags… it was a good day.”
Footage of Titan wreckage released by US Coast Guard
New, unseen footage of the Titan sub has been released to the public by the US Coast Guard, with the camera panning around to see the tail cone of the sub on the ocean floor.
Whistleblower says implosion was ‘inevitable’
Former employee of OceanGate David Lochridge gave evidence on Tuesday (17 September) and revealed how he warned of potential safety problems with the vessel as far back as 2018, which he says were ignored.
Lochridge, who was fired from the company in 2018, told investigators that it was ‘inevitable’ something would eventually go wrong, and when asked if he had any confidence in the way Titan was being built, he stated: “No confidence whatsoever, and I was very vocal about that, and still am.”
“A lot of steps along the way were missed,” Lochridge added. “I knew that hull would fail. It’s an absolute mess.”
He also criticized the ‘arrogance’ within the company, along with the ‘control freak’ tendencies of Stockton Rush.
On June 18, 2023, Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate, imploded killing five passengers on board.
The family of one of the victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit and on Monday (September 16, 2024), and a hearing began in North Charleston, South Carolina, as part of a two-week inquiry by the US Coast Guard into what caused the implosion of the sub.
Lochridge was made OceanGate marine operations director in January 2016 and was in charge of making sure all training pilots, crew and clients were safe.
However, he said during the hearing yesterday he was ultimately ‘the only qualified submersible pilot to fly the assets’ the company had and the ‘only one with experience in new-build submersibles,’ Sky News reports.
Lochridge branded the whole company as being all about making ‘money’ instead of prioritising ‘science’, saying it was ‘inevitable’ something would go wrong eventually.
He alleged OceanGate’s former engineering director Tony Nissen and chief executive officer Stockton Rush were ‘arrogant’ in thinking they could carry out all of Titan’s engineering in-house and that they were ‘very impatient’.
Lochridge said he was ‘very vocal’ about not having any ‘confidence whatsoever’ in the company’s building of Titan and ‘a lot of steps along the way’ being ‘missed’.
But he claimed his concerns were dismissed and that he was deliberately ‘kept away’ from the project.
The hearing looking into why the sub imploded began on Monday (David Ryder/Getty Images)
In his inspection of the first Titan’s hull, Lochridge identified ‘imperfections’, noting ‘glue runs everywhere’ which are ‘a red flag’.
He added that he was ‘appalled’ with the type of seal used, called the ‘O-ring’.
Lochridge alleged he wasn’t invited to meetings, but when he did sit down with Rush, he claimed the CEO exhibited ‘a total disregard for safety’.
Lochridge was later fired from the company in January 2018 and branded Titan an ‘experimental submersible’.
He said he was ‘very concerned’ about taking passengers onboard who were unfamiliar with such vehicles.
He called the sub ‘dangerous’ and said he ‘didn’t want anybody going down’ in it, contacting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on February 6, 2023 leading him to be placed under its whistleblower protection scheme.
He added that he was ‘appalled’ with the type of seal used, called the ‘O-ring’.
Lochridge alleged he wasn’t invited to meetings, but when he did sit down with Rush, he claimed the CEO exhibited ‘a total disregard for safety’.
Lochridge was later fired from the company in January 2018 and branded Titan an ‘experimental submersible’.
He said he was ‘very concerned’ about taking passengers onboard who were unfamiliar with such vehicles.
He called the sub ‘dangerous’ and said he ‘didn’t want anybody going down’ in it, contacting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on February 6, 2023 leading him to be placed under its whistleblower protection scheme.
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Lochridge resolved he feels ‘deeply let down and disappointed’ by OSHA.
“If it had attempted to investigate, this tragedy may have been prevented,” he concluded.
UNILAD has contacted the OSHA and OceanGate for comment.
Titan sub inquiry – everything we know from the investigation so far
A public hearing into the five deaths of the people onboard OceanGate’s ill-fated Titan submersible began on Monday (16 September).
Titan was ‘unregistered, non-certificated and unclassed’
The first day of the hearing (16 September) heard how the submersible was built in 2020 and was ‘unregistered, non-certificated and unclassed’, as well as having no identification number.
The submersible’s hull was never subject to third-party checks and officials said it was left exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023.
Parts of Titan ‘bonded together using an adhesive’
In 2017, the year OceanGate announced it would be conducting trips to the Titanic, employees bonded together the submersible’s carbon fibre hull and titanium rings ‘using an adhesive’.
Titan found ‘partially sunk’ month before tragedy
During its 2023 expedition, the Titan was found ‘partially sunk’ in the ocean.
Image released of Titan debris on sea floor
An image showing debris, including the Titan’s tail cone, on the sea floor after the implosion was revealed.
(US Coast Guard)
Titan lost contact with support ship
Those onboard the Titan were communicating with support staff on the Polar Prince ship by text messages.
After a number of exchanges, Titan crew lost contact with Polar Prince as it descended.
One of last texts from submersible revealed
One of Titan’s final responses was revealed to be: “All good here.”
Titan ‘struck by lightening’
Tony Nissen, OceanGate Expeditions’ former engineering director, testified that the Titan was hit by lightening during a test mission in 2018.
Nissen, who was allegedly fired in 2019 after not letting the submersible go to the Titanic, told OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush it was ‘not working like we thought it would’.
When asked to pilot the submersible, Nissen said: “I’m not getting in it.”
Titan engineer ‘felt pressure to get submersible ready for wreck dive’
When asked if there was pressure to get the Titan into the water, Nissen replied: “100%.”
Waivers
While Bonnie Carl, OceanGate’s former human resources and finance director, said she was aware of a waiver people had to sign, she testified she ‘never saw anyone sign anything’.
“When I was taking money, we hadn’t even finished building the Titan,” Carl claimed.
‘No red flags’ on day Titan went missing
Former OceanGate contractor Tym Catterson said: “There were no red flags… it was a good day.”
The hearing continues.
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/WCBD NEWS 2 / OceanGate/Becky Kagan Schott
Topics: World News, US News, Health
Poppy Bilderbeck
Real reason why Titan sub parts are still whole as video of implosion wreckage is released
Some people thought OceanGate’s Titan submersible would be way more damaged, but the answer is in the physics
The first footage shown of the OceanGate Titan submersible wreckage has revealed that parts of the vessel are still intact, and there’s a reason why.
On September 16, the US Coast Guard commenced a hearing to investigate the implosion of the sub and pinpoint if there is anyone to blame for its wreckage.
Last year, an OceanGate Expedition 21-foot submersible named Titan, descended into deep waters for a tour of the Titanic‘s wreckage site off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
The expedition began at 8.00am ET on June 18, 2023, however around an hour and 45 minutes into its descent, contact with the Titan and its five passengers onboard was lost.
After a hefty search mission, the US Coast Guard confirmed that the Titan was destroyed by a ‘catastrophic implosion’ due to intense water pressure and failed materials, resulting in the loss of all five people onboard.
Expected to last two weeks, the US Coast Guard’s hearing has revealed a slew of never-before-seen footage of the Titan wreckage along with the crew’s harrowing final message.
Despite the Titan being thought to have imploded, parts of the vessel are still intact as seen in video footage and pictures released from the hearing. Search teams have also brought chunks of the submersible back to shore over the past year.
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“For example, a pressure cooker usually explodes with the top blown off but the body remains intact,” he added.
“The initial failure of Titan would have occurred at its weakest links such as defects in the hull.”
Large chunks of the sub are still intact. (United States Coast Guard)
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The US Coast Guard has listed 24 witnesses to testify in the ongoing trial, ten of which are believed to be former OceanGate employees.
One former employee, David Lochridge, reportedly voiced his concerns over the safety of the Titan sub while he was still working at the company.
Speaking at the hearing on September 17, Lochridge claimed that he was ‘dismissed on every single occasion’ whenever he raised his concerns.
“I was very vocal about that and I still am,” Lochridge continued.
Titan sub inquiry – everything we know from the investigation so far
A public hearing into the five deaths of the people onboard OceanGate’s ill-fated Titan submersible began on Monday (16 September).
Titan was ‘unregistered, non-certificated and unclassed’
The first day of the hearing (16 September) heard how the submersible was built in 2020 and was ‘unregistered, non-certificated and unclassed’, as well as having no identification number.
The submersible’s hull was never subject to third-party checks and officials said it was left exposed to the elements while in storage for seven months in 2022 and 2023.
Parts of Titan ‘bonded together using an adhesive’
In 2017, the year OceanGate announced it would be conducting trips to the Titanic, employees bonded together the submersible’s carbon fibre hull and titanium rings ‘using an adhesive’.
Titan found ‘partially sunk’ month before tragedy
During its 2023 expedition, the Titan was found ‘partially sunk’ in the ocean.
Image released of Titan debris on sea floor
An image showing debris, including the Titan’s tail cone, on the sea floor after the implosion was revealed.
Titan lost contact with support ship
Those onboard the Titan were communicating with support staff on the Polar Prince ship by text messages.
After a number of exchanges, Titan crew lost contact with Polar Prince as it descended.
One of the last texts from submersible revealed
One of Titan’s final responses was revealed to be: “All good here.”
Titan ‘struck by lightening’
Tony Nissen, OceanGate Expeditions’ former engineering director, testified that the Titan was hit by lightning during a test mission in 2018.
Nissen, who was allegedly fired in 2019 after not letting the submersible go to the Titanic, told OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush it was ‘not working like we thought it would’.
When asked to pilot the submersible, Nissen said: “I’m not getting in it.”
Titan engineer ‘felt pressure to get submersible ready for wreck dive’
When asked if there was pressure to get the Titan into the water, Nissen replied: “100%.”
Waivers
While Bonnie Carl, OceanGate’s former human resources and finance director, said she was aware of a waiver people had to sign, she testified she ‘never saw anyone sign anything’.
“When I was taking money, we hadn’t even finished building the Titan,” Carl claimed.
‘No red flags’ on day Titan went missing
Former OceanGate contractor Tym Catterson said: “There were no red flags… it was a good day.”
Footage of Titan wreckage released by US Coast Guard
New, unseen footage of the doomed Titan sub has been released to the public by the US Coast Guard, with the camera panning around to see the tail cone of the sub on the ocean floor.
Whistleblower says implosion was ‘inevitable’
Former employee of OceanGate David Lochridge gave evidence on Tuesday (17 September) and revealed how he warned of potential safety problems with the vessel as far back as 2018, which he says were ignored.
Lochridge, who was fired from the company in 2018, told investigators that it was ‘inevitable’ something would eventually go wrong, and when asked if he had any confidence in the way Titan was being built, he stated: “No confidence whatsoever, and I was very vocal about that, and still am.”
“A lot of steps along the way were missed,” Lochridge added. “I knew that hull would fail. It’s an absolute mess.”
