Titan sub hearings live: OceanGate CEO said he would ‘buy a congressman’ to make problems vanish, witness says
US Coast Guard’s two-week long hearing into the disastrous Titan submersible voyage operated by OceanGate enters its final day in North Charleston
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OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush allegedly declared that he would “buy a congressman” to make issues surrounding the Titan sub’s certification go away, a witness testified.
Matthew McCoy, who worked at the submersible company for six months from April 2017, addressed the Titan Marine Board of Investigation panel on Friday for the final day of the two-week long hearing into Titan’s disaster voyage in June 2023.
After raising concerns about an alleged lack of certificate of inspection for the first Titan sub in 2017, McCoy testified that Rush told him, “I would buy a congressman” to make problems disappear during a lunch meeting. The ex-OceanGate employee said that he quit soon after.
“He was either trying to intimidate me or impress me,” he testified.
McCoy also alleged that the OceanGate engineering department was “full of college interns” during his time at the company, adding that he “doesn’t believe” there was a professional engineer on staff.
Captain Jamie Frederick, member of the US Coast Guard who oversaw rescue mission of the Titan and its five crew, will testify after McCoy. Coast Guard Search and Rescue Specialist Scott Talbot will be the last witness of the inquiry.
Recap: OceanGate specialist sobs as she remembers last time seeing Titan submersible crew
‘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.
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