Topics: US News, World News, Titan submersible
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.
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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.
An issue with the variable ballast tank, which controls the submersible's buoyancy, led to the platform inverting to 45 degrees with the back bow facing upwards.
The 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.
"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.
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.
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.
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'.
During its 2023 expedition, the Titan was found 'partially sunk' in the ocean.
An image showing debris, including the Titan's tail cone, on the sea floor after the implosion was revealed.
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 Titan’s final responses was revealed to be: "All good here."
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.”
When asked if there was pressure to get the Titan into the water, Nissen replied: “100%.”
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.
Former OceanGate contractor Tym Catterson said: "There were no red flags... it was a good day."
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.
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.
