Wed Sep 18 08:51:47 UTC 2024: ## Titan Submersible Disaster: Former Employee Warns of “Inevitable” Safety Incident
**Washington D.C.** – A public hearing into the deadly implosion of the Titan submersible has heard chilling testimony from a former employee who claims the company behind the craft, OceanGate, ignored repeated safety concerns.
David Lochridge, OceanGate’s former operations director, told US Coast Guard investigators that he had warned of potential safety problems before being fired in 2018. Lochridge, who is suing the company for wrongful dismissal, claims he was labelled a “troublemaker” for raising concerns about the Titan’s design, including its use of carbon fiber, which he argued would deteriorate with each dive.
“The whole idea of OceanGate was to make money,” Lochridge testified, adding that the company prioritized profit over scientific research and refused to work with experts at the University of Washington to develop the submersible, opting to do all engineering in-house. “They think they could do this on their own without proper engineering support,” Lochridge claimed.
Lochridge’s testimony is the first time he has publicly spoken about his concerns since being fired by OceanGate. His statements come as the Coast Guard investigates the June 2023 implosion of the Titan, which killed all five people on board, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British explorer Hamish Harding, veteran French diver Paul Henri Nargeolet, and British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman.
Other witnesses at the hearing, including OceanGate’s former engineering director Tony Nissen, have also raised serious concerns about the Titan’s safety. Nissen testified that he refused to get into the sub years before the fatal dive, stating that he felt pressured by Rush to get the vessel ready.
The Coast Guard investigation has also revealed that the Titan was never subjected to third-party testing and was left exposed to weather and other elements while in storage. Furthermore, the sub had experienced 118 equipment issues during 13 dives to the Titanic in 2021 and 2022, including several instances where batteries died, leaving passengers trapped inside for extended periods.
The hearings are expected to continue for two weeks, with additional testimonies from former OceanGate employees, marine safety experts, and other individuals involved in the Titan project. OceanGate has suspended all operations following the incident and is seeking court permission to begin the sale of the business.
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