Titan sub hearings live: Friend says OceanGate CEO was ‘scared’ over strange noises during 2019 dive
The US Coast Guard is hearing testimony today from Stockton Rush’s friend, Karl Stanley
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A friend of the late OceanGate boss who said the CEO "definitely knew it was going to end like this" testified at the hearing into the Titan submersible disaster today.
Karl Stanley, the owner of a diving expedition company in Honduras and a close friend of Stockton Rush, went on the doomed submersible with his friend in April 2019. The Titan sub imploded last June, killing all five people on board, including Rush.
Stanley testified hearing cracking noises on the submersible and that he could pinpoint where they were coming from. He told the board that Rush was scared during the 2019 dive.
“It was unnerving and then when it kept happening,” Stanley testified, referring to the noises. “I remember I was the one that was able to isolate the area where it was coming from and told them, ‘this, this is the area,’ and was listening right there.”
“It’s also a clue to me about Stockton’s psychology...he was scared. Because if he wasn’t scared, he would have already isolated where the noises were coming from him on his first dive,” he continued.
In an email exchange with Rush, Stanley warned about a hull defect: “The only question in my mind is will it fail catastrophically or not.”
MBI created an animated model of the Titan’s doomed voyage
The US Coast Guard has released exhibits relating to the hearing
WATCH: What happened to the Titan tourist submersible?
Proceedings will resume again at 8.30am on Monday
Antonella Wilby has been released as a witness. Friday’s hearing is now over and proceedings will resume next week.
Wilby says she wanted to go to the board of directors about safety concerns but was warned about being sued
After the “loud bang” incident, Wilby says she wanted to approach the board of directors with concerns she had about OceanGate’s operations, but a colleague warned her that her NDA did not cover the board and she could be sued for speaking out.
She decided against raising her concerns.
Hearing taking a short break
Proceedings will resume momentarily
Wilby compares OceanGate operations to ‘safety theater'
The former tech contractor, who primarily worked with software navigation at OceanGate, expressed she did not think the Titan submersible or the comany’s actions were safe.
“No aspect of the operation seemed safe,” said Wilby, adding that parts of the vessel looked “thrown together.”
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