Hearings by the U.S. Coast Guard's Board of Investigations commenced Monday in South Carolina, as officials seeks answers about the deaths of five people killed in an undersea implosion of the Titan experimental submersible in June 2023. Investigative hearings will last two weeks, which have so far revealed new images of debris of the Titan submersible on the ocean floor, as well as the crew's final communication: "all good here."
On Tuesday, David Lochridge, a former employee at OceanGate, the private ocean exploration company that operated the Titan, testified to the U.S. Coast Guard panel that Stockton Rush, OceanGate's chief executive and founder, previously crashed another submersible into a shipwreck before angrily throwing the controls, as reported by the New York Times.
The submersible imploded in the Atlantic Ocean during an attempted tour of the wreck of the Titanic. The Titan's owners, OceanGate suspended operations following the implosion in which OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush was among those killed.
A board statement said "hearing will examine all aspects of the loss of the Titan, including pre-accident historical events, regulatory compliance, crewmember duties and qualifications, mechanical and structural systems, emergency response and the submersible industry," as reported by the Associated Press in July.
Marine Investigations Board Chair Jason Neubauer told NBC News on Monday the hearings aim to determine the extent of any criminal negligence or misconduct which may then be referred to the Justice Department. And to provide necessary safety recommendations for federal and international agencies to consider so “no family will experience such a loss again.”
As previously reported by Salon's Nicole Karlis, the Marine Technology Society was among several industry organizations which had for years issued warnings that the Titan's plans could lead to catastrophe.
"Our apprehension is that the current experimental approach adopted by Oceangate could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry," the Society said in its March 2018 letter.
Along with Rush, the four people who died in the implosion were 19-year-old Suleman Dawood, son of Pakistani and British billionaire Shahzada Dawood; British billionaire Hamish Harding; and French maritime expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
