Titan sub hearings live: Map shows how close OceanGate ship was to Titanic wreckage as testimony is set to end today
US Coast Guard’s two-week long hearing into the disastrous Titan submersible voyage operated by OceanGate enters its final day
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A new map shows just how close the Titan sub was to the Titanic wreckage before disaster hit.
While the Titan’s last known position before the implosion was 1,600ft away from the bow of the Titanic, its debris was found much closer to the bow at 300m away, Coast Guard officials said.
The map was one of several pieces of new information that came out of testimony during public hearings with the US Coast Guard on Thursday. Testimony in the agency’s investigation into the June 2023 disaster is set to conclude today.
Former OceanGate employee Matthew McCoy, Captain Jamie Frederick of the Coast Guard Sector Boston and Coast Guard Search and Rescue Specialist Scott Talbot are all set to testify.
John Winters worked with OceanGate to evaluate the safety of its Antipodes vessel. On Thursday, Winters testified to the Titan Marine Board of Investigation that OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush Rush “did express on multiple occasions that regulations were stifling his innovation process.”
Despite that, OceanGate “never attempted to circumvent any regulations,” Winters added.
‘Root cause’ of Titan sub implosion unknown, engineer says
The root cause of the implosion on the Titan sub is still unknown, according to Bart Kemper, principal engineer of Kemper Engineering.
”The root cause for the implosion is indeterminate,” Kemper testified on Wednesday. “At this time, there are multiple unmitigated single-point failures...which means that all it takes is that one thing for the whole thing to go.”
Thursday testimony schedule
Testimony will resume on Thursday as the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation continues its inquiry into the 2023 Titan sub implosion that killed all five people on board.
Thursday’s hearing will kick off with testimony from Justin Jackson, a materials engineer at NASA. Afterward, Mark Negley of Boeing will testify. Negley once sent Rush his safety analysis of Titan’s hull, WIRED reports.
Afterward, John Winters with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound will give his testimony. The day will end with Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Duffett of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance.
An engineer testified the Titan sub’s hull showed signs of ‘delamination.' What does that mean?
Much of the Titan sub’s hull showed signs of “delamination,” Dr. Don Kramer, an engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board, testified on Wednesday, citing wreckage from the 2023 implosion.
Delamination occurs when the layers of the hull begin to separate. Layers of carbon fiber were laminated, or bonded together, to create the sub’s hull.
Kramer’s testimony was accompnaied by haunting new photos of the Titan sub wreckage.
OceanGate CEO didn’t understand the word ‘no,’ engineer testified
William Kohnen, CEO of Hydrospace Group Inc. and chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee said OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush was not open to criticism when he testified on Wednesday.
“I don’t think many people ever told Stockton, ‘no.’ Don’t think he understood that concept very much,” Kohnen said.
Rush’s long-time friend, Karl Stanley, also testified on Tuesday that the former OceanGate CEO seemed “scared” while on board his Titan sub in 2019.
Final witness of the day to testify
William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. has ended his testimony.
The final witness today is Bart Kemper, principal engineer of Kemper Engineering. His testimony is set to begin any moment.
ICYMI: OceanGate’s Titan submarine relied on ‘idiotic’ Excel spreadsheet
OceanGate used a hand-typed Excel spreadsheet to track its ill-fated Titan submersible, according to a former contractor for the firm.
A hearing into OceanGate’s Titan sub, which imploded during an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic last year, revealed that its navigation system allegedly relied on team members manually inputting the coordinate data into a spreadsheet in order to track the vessel.
The incident last July killed all five people on board, including OceanGate’s CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush.
Read more:
OceanGate’s submarine relied on ‘idiotic’ Excel spreadsheet
Former employees tell hearing into sub’s implosion last year that they raised safety concerns
Recap: Titan sub carbon fiber hull may have been flawed, engineer said
Dr. Don Kramer, an engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board, testified earlier today that the Titan sub’s carbon fiber hull showed signs of flaws.
William Kohnen, chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee, also noted that former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush was not open to criticism.
“I don’t think many people ever told Stockton no,” Kohnen said. “Don’t think he understood that concept very much.”
“This is not something where we don’t want you to do it,” he added. “We want you to do it right.”
Hearing resumes with testimony from William Kohnen
The hearing has resumed.
William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. will continue testifying before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation.
Hearing adjourns for lunch
The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation hearing has adjourned for lunch.
Testimony will resume at 1:40 p.m. EDT.
ICYMI: Watch as long-time friend of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush testifies that Titan sub explosion was ‘expected’
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