Titan sub hearing live: OceanGate volunteer said nobody was concerned until sub ‘was really overdue’ from dive
Coast Guard has released more footage of the Titan submersible wreckage including remnants of its hull scattered on the sea bed, following the ‘catastrophic implosion’ that killed all five passengers on board
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A tearful mission specialist recounted collecting personal belongings from the victims of the OceanGate sub before it dove under the water and the dangers of dives to the site of the Titanic wreck.
Renata Rojas, the mission specialist from the US submersible company that operated the expedition, addressed the US Coast Guard Titan Marine Board of Investigations panel on Thursday.
Once Rojas was released, former OceanGate scientific director Dr Steven Ross spoke about a frightening mission that left him and other passengers at the surface unable to get out of the Titan submersible.
“The rest of the passengers tumbled about,” he said. “I ended up standing on the rear bulkhead. One passenger was hanging upside down.”
They are just two of several witnesses testifying to the panel investigating the “catastrophic implosion” of the Titan submersible, killing all five passengers on board.
Earlier this week, David Lochridge, a former OceanGate employee, stated he had “no confidence whatsoever” with the Titan’s construction.
“It was inevitable something was going to happen. It was just a [question of] when,” the whistleblower, who is one of 10 ex-OceanGate staff or suppliers that make up the 24 witnesses, testified.
WATCH: James Cameron likens Titan submersible tragedy to Titanic
The Titan was the first sub Catterson worked on that hadn’t been classed, he testifies
When asked whether it was typical for submersibles to be classed, Catterson said: “yes.”
The Titan “would have been the first one that was not classed,” he said.
Catterson recalled conversations he had with Rush about needing to get the submersible classified — which he described as “short.”
The former contractor said he told Rush that classification is “proof of due diligence” and a way to get insurance. However, Catterson got the impression that classing the vessel “wasn’t a big of a worry for him as it is for most people.”
Tym Catterson, former OceanGate contractor, takes the stand
Catterson has been working with manned submersibles since the 1980s for a variety of companies.
He started working with OceanGate in 2003 or 2004. He said the company’s co-founders were unfamiliar with subs when he was hired.
OceanGates’s finances and safety measures under the microscope
“There was no drug testing,” Carl said.
When asked about whether safety was ever an agenda item of an OceanGate meeting, she said she couldn’t recall.
She revealed the company “basically didn’t have any money coming in” aside from investors.
“We got very low but to the point where I got very concerned that we weren’t going to make payroll one week,” she said. Rush would essentially provide a temporary loan to the company when that would happen, she said. “He would write a check.”
Carl was released as a witness.
Carl outlined her safety concerns
Carl had received some pilot traning in addition to her other roles, where she spotted some “red flags.”
“As a pilot in training, there were a couple things that gave me pause,” she said. She said she had asked Mr Nissen, the first witness, about the acrylic dome, however he wouldn’t let her see the paperwork for it.
She added that the O-Ring groove also “looked odd.”
She said she brought most of her concerns to David Lochridge, who was later fired after a writing an inspection report detailing his concerns about the vessel.
Shortly after showing Rush the inspection report, Carl understood that Lochridge was likely going to be terminated. She recalled that Lochridge had insisted on unmanned testing but Rush wanted to push forward, leading them to an “impasse” in which they had to “part ways.”
After the meeting with Lochridge, she said she started looking for another job. “If that was their attitude toward safety,” she didn’t want to work there, she said.
She left in February 2018.
Ex-OceanGate employees paint picture of founder Stockton Rush
During their testimony on Monday, two former employees told the Coast Guard panel about their involvement in the company — including their impressions of Stockton Rush.
Both former employees described a man who often made sure to get his way.
“All decisons were made by Stockton,” Carl revealed, even among discussions with board members.
Nissen had also said that dealing with Rush was like “death by a thousand cuts.”
The engineer said: “Stockton would fight for what he wanted...And he wouldn’t give an inch much. At all,” he said. “Most people would eventually back down from Stockton.”
'All good here’
Those were some of the final words that the doomed Titan submersible crew communicated before the submersible imploded on its mission to the Titanic wreckage site in June 2023.
The message, revealed as part of the Coast Guard’s Monday hearing into the circumstances of the failed mission, was sent to support vessel Polar Prince on June 18, 2023, shortly before the submersible imploded, killing all five of its crew members. It was an incident that captivated both sides of the Atlantic as crews made a mad dash to save the crew after the sub lost contact with the surface - with the world unaware that the lives had been lost.
The Coast Guard played an animated re-enactment of the Titan’s voyage that captured the submersible’s final, spotty exchange with the Polar Prince, during the Monday hearing that shed new light on the sub’s final mission.
Read the full story...
Final messages revealed from the Titan sub before tragic implosion
The anticipated two-week-long hearings kicked off with testimony from a former OceanGate engineer, who said he was fired after warning about the ship’s carbon fiber hull years before its catastrophic voyage
Ex HR director reveals the behind the scenes of mission specialist role
Carl, the head of HR for OceanGate, said there were two requirements she was aware of to become a mission specialist: being able to fit in the submersible and money.
While she said there were waivers and liability forms that mission specialists were supposed to sign, she said she had never seen anyone sign them, adding she “assumed” they would sign the forms before the expedition.
“When I was taking money, we hadn’t even finished building the Titan,” Carl told the panel.
Funds ‘immediately’ went toward operations: witness testifies
Most of the shareholders were friends of Stockton Rush, Carl testified.
She said she was unaware of any refunds if the expeditions were cancelled. “There was no money for refunds,” she said, adding that the funds were “immediately” used for operations.
Bonnie Carl takes the stand
The second witness is the director of human resources and finance at OceanGate. She is calling in remotely.
She told the panel about her background as an accountant.
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