Titan submersible malfunctioned days prior to the fatal dive, former scientific director testifies

(CNN) — A former OceanGate scientific director said the Titan submersible suffered a malfunction six days before imploding in June 2023, killing all five people on board.

Steven Ross, a marine scientist and crew member of Dive 87 on the Titan’s fourth mission in 2023, testified at a hearing Thursday on the vessel’s tragic implosion that a platform malfunction during that dive caused all five people onboard to slam to the aft of the submersible for at least an hour.

The dive was aborted because, upon resurfacing, a platform malfunction caused by an issue with the variable ballast tank, which controlled the submersible’s buoyancy, caused the platform to invert to 45 degrees with the back bow facing upward.

The dive, piloted by Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of the vessel’s operator, OceanGate, took place on June 12 about 460 miles from the Titanic site.

“The pilot crashed into the rear bulkhead, the rest of the passengers tumbled about, I ended up standing on the rear bulkhead, one passenger was hanging upside down, the other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow endcap,” Ross said, adding that no one was injured.

Rush had indicated to the passengers there was a problem with the variable ballast tank valve, Ross said. Because the platform malfunction took considerable time to correct, the dive was aborted and they returned to the surface to fix the issue.

“It was uncomfortable and unpleasant and it took considerable time to correct the problem,” Ross said, adding he was unaware if the crew held a post-dive inspection of the hull.

He said he knew the Titan submersible had not been inspected by the United States Coast Guard in 2021, 2022 or 2023.

Ross also mentioned two incidents during the 2022 Titanic expedition dives, including a loud bang heard while surfacing in Dive 80.

“There was a discussion about the bang with the crew, mission specialists and the scientists. The theory of the sound was that there was likely a shifting of the pressure hull in its metal cradle that when it popped back into place it could’ve made that loud noise,” Ross said.

On Dive 81, Ross said there was a malfunction of the thrusters. The pilot, Scott Griffith, discovered the controls for one of the thrusters were reversed when they were at the bottom. Griffith had to operate the thrusters with the reversed controls.

Before the Titan’s fourth mission for the 2023 Titanic expedition, Ross said he was told the submersible “snagged an obstruction while being towed at night” and it was assumed to have been caused by abandoned fishing gear, “but that was not conclusive” and he was not made aware of any damage caused by the obstruction.

The submersible lost contact with its mother ship during its dive to the Titanic on June 18, 2023. When it failed to resurface, an international search and rescue mission unfolded in the remote waters several hundred miles southeast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Ultimately, authorities concluded the vessel had suffered a “catastrophic implosion” – a sudden inward collapse caused by immense pressure. Debris from the submersible was found on the sea floor several hundred yards from the Titanic, and authorities recovered “presumed human remains” believed to belong to the victims.

Rush, the founder of OceanGate; businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood; businessman Hamish Harding; and French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet were all killed.

OceanGate CEO involved in other incidents

Rush was involved in a submersible crash in 2016, when he panicked while piloting the Cyclops 1 submersible during a dive to the Andrea Doria shipwreck, according to David Lochridge, a former director of marine operations for OceanGate who expressed safety concerns about the ill-fated Titan submersible.

Lochridge was initially supposed to be the one piloting the submersible, he said during his testimony this week. When the CEO wanted to pilot the vessel, Lochridge objected before he eventually convinced Rush to allow him to join the dive.

Rush made multiple errors during the dive, Lochridge said, including ignoring issues with the current and keeping his distance from the wreck.

Lochridge said he tried to help and guide Rush, but Rush kept fighting back and drove the submersible “full speed” into the Andrea Doria wreckage, resulting in Lochridge getting upset and using foul language, he said.

“At that point, it was unprofessional behavior of him, he started to panic, and the first thing was, ‘Do we have enough life support on board?’” Lochridge said, adding that he had to calm him down. “We’re stuck, we’re stuck, we’re stuck,” he quoted Rush saying.

Lochridge said he told Rush to give him the controller but Rush refused, and crew member Renata Rojas “shouted at Stockton to give me the effing controller, she had tears in her eyes.”

However, on Thursday, Rojas, an OceanGate mission specialist and volunteer on the 2023 Titan expedition, gave her account of the Andrea Doria dive which contradicted Lochridge’s.

“I did see David Lochridge’s account of the events, he must have gone on a different dive,” she said during her testimony. “Nobody was panicking, nobody was crying and there was definitely no swearing and yelling.”

She said she did not know why Lochridge took the controls from Rush and said that the controller was set at Lochridge’s feet by Rush.

“I can tell you that I did not use any foul language and I was not really the one to ask Stockton to give the controller to Lochridge,” she said.

When asked if the exchange between Rush and Lochridge was tense, Rojas said yes but that “they both held themselves professionally in my view.”

Lochridge said during his testimony on Tuesday the Titan tragedy could have been prevented if US safety authorities had investigated his complaints. He also blasted OceanGate’s company culture as being centered on “making money” and offering “very little in the way of science” during testimony.

“I believe that if OSHA had attempted to investigate the seriousness of the concerns I raised on multiple occasions, this tragedy may have been prevented,” Lochridge said.

Lochridge earlier described a 2018 report in which he expressed safety concerns over OceanGate operations and said that “there was no way I was signing off on this.” He said he had “no confidence whatsoever” in the construction of the submersible.

Lochridge said he followed up with OSHA via email eight months after he was fired from OceanGate in 2018 to reiterate that he was “extremely concerned” about the Titan’s safety. He said he felt “deeply let down” that his warnings were not immediately investigated.

CNN has reached out to OSHA for comment. A representative for OceanGate declined to comment on Tuesday’s testimony.

‘Nothing is gonna bring our friends back’

Rojas gave a teary testimony during Thursday’s hearing and reiterated her sense of confidence in the transparency she says she felt as a mission specialist and volunteer.

Rojas said after every dive day there would be debriefs where they discussed what went wrong and what went well.

“I found them to be very transparent about everything. Anybody could ask any questions,” Rojas said.

Other than a dingy problem, Rojas said she didn’t notice any issues the day the vessel imploded, and she described all passengers as excited and eager to go on the trip.

“They were just very happy to go. That’s the memory I have,” Rojas said crying. “Nobody was really nervous. They were excited about what they were going to see.”

“Nothing is gonna bring our friends back.”

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