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The U.S. Coast Guard is still trying to find out why five people were killed last year when the Titan submersible imploded on the way to view the Titanic. Two weeks of hearings on the accident wrapped up in South Carolina on Friday. Allegations of greed and recklessness quickly emerged. South Carolina Public Radio's Victoria Hansen takes us inside the hearings in Charleston County.
VICTORIA HANSEN, BYLINE: The Marine Board of Investigation laid out 15 months of findings inside County Council Chambers, including video of the Titan submersible not shared publicly before.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: To the right is an image of some of the Titan wreckage on the sea floor.
HANSEN: The image showed the tail cone of the submersible sitting upright, revealing where five people hoping to see the Titanic lost their lives, roughly 1,000 feet from its bow. Victims' family members sat in front of investigators as they detailed more than 100 problems with the submersible since 2019, including a cracked hull, a thruster that failed during a deep dive and a dome that fell off. They also called witnesses.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to give...
HANSEN: Among them, former employees of OceanGate the U.S. company that not only built the submersible but sold expeditions to the Titanic for $250,000. Several testified the company put profits over safety, alleging its CEO, Stockton Rush, repeatedly dismissed safety concerns and silenced critics. Rush died piloting the Titan's final voyage along with the other four passengers. Just days before, he'd taken the submersible on another dive in which an issue with its balancing system caused it to become unstable, slamming passengers to the back as they resurfaced. Former OceanGate scientific director Steven Ross was on board.
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STEVEN ROSS: I ended up standing on the rear bulkhead. One passenger was hanging upside down.
HANSEN: He said none of the passengers was injured, but it took an hour to get them out of the Titan. Veteran engineer David Lochridge once oversaw construction of the submersible. He told investigators he warned more than a decade ago it wasn't safe.
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DAVID LOCHRIDGE: It was inevitable something was going to happen, and it was just when.
HANSEN: He said he'd repeatedly questioned its owner about the durability of the Titan's unconventional cheaper carbon fiber hull and wanted the submersible reviewed by a third party, which is standard. That never happened. Lochridge blamed...
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LOCHRIDGE: Cost-cutting, the desire to get to the Titanic as quickly as they could to start making a profit.
HANSEN: Lochridge said he was fired in 2018 and took his concerns to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as part of its whistleblower program. Still, he testified, nothing was done. When contacted, OSHA said it sent Lochridge's complaint to the Coast Guard. Another witness, Renata Rojas, was a mission specialist with OceanGate, which meant she paid to work on the submersible in exchange for a trip to the Titanic. She defended Rush, testifying he was transparent and safety conscious.
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RENATA ROJAS: I knew what I was doing was very risky. I never at any point felt unsafe.
HANSEN: Rojas was one of the last people to see the passengers who perished on the Titan's doomed dive. She collected their belongings as they climbed inside.
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ROJAS: They were just very happy to go. That's the memory I have.
HANSEN: Rojas said she hopes the implosion won't discourage ocean exploration. The Coast Guard will now put together a final report, which could include recommendations for new safety regulations and possibly criminal charges. For NPR News, I'm Victoria Hansen in South Carolina. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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