Boss of Titan sub firm said: 'No-one is dying under my watch'
A transcript from a key meeting at the firm behind the ill-fated Titan submersible has revealed the CEO said in 2018: “No-one is dying under my watch - period.”
It captures a heated exchange between OceanGate chief Stockton Rush and his former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, plus three other staff.
The log shows Mr Lochridge raised safety concerns, to which Rush responded: “I have no desire to die... I think this is one of the safest things I will ever do.”
The document was released by the US Coast Guard as part of its inquiry into the June 2023 disaster when the sub imploded while journeying to the Titanic shipwreck. All five passengers were killed, including Rush.
OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial operations following the incident, which led to questions about the submersible's safety and design.
During two weeks of hearings, investigators are seeking to uncover what led to the tragedy, and to make recommendations to avoid repeat incidents.
The transcript was uploaded to the inquiry website on Friday, but sections of the document were redacted.
The US Coast Guard has now confirmed to BBC News who was speaking in this key exchange during the two-hour meeting.
Mr Lochridge - who gave evidence at the public inquiry last week as a former OceanGate employee - was called to the meeting on 19 January 2018.
He had compiled a “quality inspection report”, which raised serious problems with the sub’s design.
These included concerns about the poor quality of the sub’s hull, which was made of carbon fibre, and issues with the way Titan was being constructed and tested.
He told the inquiry last week: "That meeting turned out to be a two-hour, 10-minute discussion… on my termination and how my disagreements with the organisation, with regards to safety, didn't matter."
The 2018 meeting was recorded, and the transcript captures Mr Lochridge saying: "I am addressing what I view as safety concerns, concerns I have mentioned verbally… which have been dismissed by everybody."
Stockton Rush was recorded replying: "I've listened to them, and I have given you my response to them, and you think my response is inadequate."
Rush went on to say: “Everything I've done on this project is people telling me it won't work - you can't do that.”
After telling the meeting attendees that he had no desire to die and that he believed his sub was safe, Rush continued by saying: "I've got a nice granddaughter. I am going to be around. I understand this kind of risk, and I'm going into it with eyes open and I think this is one of the safest things I will ever do.”
He then added: “I can come up with 50 reasons why we have to call it off and we fail as a company. I'm not dying. No one is dying under my watch - period.”
Mr Lochridge was fired after the meeting and then took his concerns to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha).
But he said the US government agency was slow and failed to act. After increasing pressure from OceanGate’s lawyers, he dropped the case and signed a non-disclosure agreement.
At the end of his evidence to the Titan inquiry last week, he said that if the authorities had properly investigated OceanGate, the tragedy would have been averted.
US Coast GuardIn other developments related to the case, the US Coast Guard has also released an image of Titan showing how its dome fell off as the submersible was lifted out of the sea following a dive in 2021.
A paying passenger who was on that particular Titan mission described the incident during his own testimony on Friday.
Fred Hagen said: “The force of the platform hitting the deck… it basically sheared off several bolts and they shot off like bullets. And the titanium dome fell off."
This was one of 118 technical incidents listed by the US Coast Guard with Titan dives to the Titanic that took place before the 2023 disaster.
The public hearings continue this week.
Monday's evidence comes from OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein, the company's former engineering director Phil Brooks and Roy Thomas from the American Bureau of Shipping.
Supplied via Reuters/AFP