A former passenger who went on the Titan submersible two years ago has said that though OceanGate CEO Stockton Chase didn't follow "the crowd", safety was "always the most important thing."
Aaron Newman visited the Titanic wreck on the Titan sub in August 2021, and has spoken out about critics of OceanGate, dismissing claims that safety wasn't the firm's top priority as "absolutely ridiculous".
Speaking on Fox Business' Mornings with Maria, he said: "Safety is an incredible priority and was always the most important thing there."
He added that OceanGate carried out "extensive testing", and that Stockton Rush's wife, Wendy, was always "looking over his shoulder".
Mr Newman went on to say: "The thing that he may be guilty of was not following the crowd, not listening, and doing whatever everyone else wanted to do.
"It's very easy to attack a man that can't defend himself at this point."
It comes as other former passengers have shared their experiences on board the submersible which went missing and is said to have suffered a "catastrophic" implosion on its dive 3,800m below the ocean's surface to the wreck of the Titanic.
YouTuber Jake Koehler, known as Dallmyd online, had a close call on the sub just days before its fatal dive to the Titanic wreck. He had been set to dive on the sub to the bottom of the Atlantic, however his trip was cancelled due to "malfunctions".
In a video he shared with his 13.5 million followers, Jake explained his trip was cancelled at the last minute due to harsh weather and communication issues. As a result, he only got to experience a test dive which went down to 3,000 ft - around a quarter of the depth the Titanic lies at.
"It's crazy to think if the weather cleared up and the conditions were perfect, and Stockton looked up at me and said, 'Do you wanna go?' I would've done it, and my fate could've been just like the five who had lost their lives on that same submarine," he said.
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush has previously admitted that the hull of the doomed vessel was made out of carbon fibre which was sourced from Boeing at a "discount" as it was "past its shelf life for use in airplanes."
Travel Weekly's editor in chief Arnie Weissmann had been set to travel on the Titan submersible, but his trip was curtailed by the weather. Sharing his experiences, he said he was impressed, in general, by "what appeared to be a risk-averse operation".
But the carbon fibre used for the hull being past the shelf life for use in aeroplanes concerned him. He recalled asking Mr Rush whether that was a problem, but said he was told that the shelf-life dates "were set far before they had to be".
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the five on board - Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.
Superintendent Kent Osmond told reporters in St John's, Newfoundland, that a "team of investigators" has been put together "with the sole purpose of answering the question of whether or not a full investigation by the RCMP is warranted."
