During Thursday’s testimony, OceanGate’s former employee operating the vessel revealed that the Titan submersible had to abort a dive while exploring the Titanic wreckage.
Former OceanGate scientific director Steven Ross delivered this testimony as the US Coast Guard commenced a two-week hearing on Monday. The hearing aims to investigate the 2023 disaster, examining evidence to determine physical or design failures that contributed to the tragic event, which captured global attention.
Ross reported that the earlier dive was aborted due to a valve malfunction, which resulted in at least one passenger being suspended upside down. This situation took “considerable time” to resolve.
He described how the submersible surfaced at a 45-degree angle during that aborted dive, causing disarray inside. “There’s nothing to hold on to inside this submersible,” Ross stated, recounting the chaotic scene in which passengers, including himself, were thrown about, with one ending up inverted.
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who piloted the dive and perished in the later implosion, “crashed into the rear bulkhead,” according to Ross. The incident left Rush “upset,” and Ross estimated that it took over an hour to rectify the situation.
Read: Chilling Image of Titan Submersible’s Implosion Unveiled by US Coast Guard
On June 18, 2023, Rush and four others descended in the submersible to view the Titanic’s remains. Less than two hours after their departure, communication was lost. A massive search ensued, initially hoping the sub had merely lost power and was adrift. However, it soon became evident that the sub had suffered a devastating implosion under the intense pressure of the North Atlantic, more than two miles deep.
The victims, presumed to have died instantly, included Rush, British explorer Hamish Harding, French submarine expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and the Pakistani-British father and son duo Shahzada Dawood and Suleman Dawood.
Read: Debris from Titan Submersible Discovered Near Titanic Site
The family of Nargeolet has filed a lawsuit against OceanGate, seeking $50 million for negligence. Debris from the Titan was located 1,600 feet from the Titanic’s bow, which lies 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
