Current:Home > MyWere warning signs ignored? Things to know about this week’s testimony on the Titan sub disaster -MarketStream
Were warning signs ignored? Things to know about this week’s testimony on the Titan sub disaster
View
Date:2025-04-14 20:51:35
Last year, five people hoping to view the Titanic wreckage died when their submersible imploded in the Atlantic Ocean. This week, a Coast Guard panel that’s investigating the Titan disaster listened to four days of testimony that has raised serious questions about whether warning signs were ignored. The panel plans to listen to another five days of testimony next week.
Here’s what witnesses have been saying so far:
The lead engineer says he wouldn’t get in the Titan
When testifying about a dive that took place several years before the fatal accident, lead engineer Tony Nissen said he felt pressured to get the Titan ready and he refused to pilot it.
“I’m not getting in it,” Nissen said he told Stockton Rush, the co-founder of OceanGate, the company that owned the Titan. Nissen said Rush was difficult to work for, made demands that often changed day-to-day, and was focused on costs and schedules. Nissen said he tried to keep his clashes with Rush hidden so others in the company wouldn’t be aware of the friction.
The Titan malfunctioned a few days before its fatal dive
Scientific director Steven Ross said that on a dive just a few days before the Titan imploded, the vessel had a problem with its ballast, which keeps vessels stable. The issue caused passengers to “tumble about” and crash into the bulkhead, he said.
“One passenger was hanging upside down. The other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow,” Ross testified.
He said nobody was injured but it took an hour to get the vessel out of the water. He said he didn’t know if a safety assessment or hull inspection was carried out after the incident.
It wasn’t the first time the Titan had problems
A paid passenger on a 2021 mission to the Titanic said the journey was aborted when the vessel started experiencing mechanical problems.
“We realized that all it could do was spin around in circles, making right turns,” said Fred Hagen. “At this juncture, we obviously weren’t going to be able to navigate to the Titanic.”
He said the Titan resurfaced and the mission was scrapped. Hagen said he was aware of the risks involved in the dive.
“Anyone that wanted to go was either delusional if they didn’t think that it was dangerous, or they were embracing the risk,” he said.
One employee said authorities ignored his complaints
Operations director David Lochridge said the tragedy could possibly have been prevented if a federal agency had investigated the concerns he raised with them on multiple occasions.
Lochridge said that eight months after he filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a caseworker told him the agency had not begun investigating and there were still 11 cases ahead of his. By that time, OceanGate was suing Lochridge and he had filed a countersuit. A couple of months later, Lochridge said, he decided to walk away from the company. He said the case was closed and both lawsuits were dropped.
“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge testified. “There was very little in the way of science.”
Some people had a rosier view
Renata Rojas, a member of the Explorers Club which lost two paid passengers in the fatal dive, struck a different tone with her testimony. She said she felt OceanGate was transparent in the run-up to the dive and she never felt the operation was unsafe.
“Some of those people are very hardworking individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true,” she said.
veryGood! (6819)
Related
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Princess Diana’s sheep sweater smashes records to sell for $1.1 million
- A Jan. 6 rioter was convicted and sentenced in secret. No one will say why
- Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero, known for his inflated forms, has died at age 91
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- Moose tramples hiker along Colorado trail, officials remind hikers to keep safe distance
- Libya's chief prosecutor orders investigation into collapse of 2 dams amid floods
- US Soccer getting new digs with announcement of national team training center in Atlanta
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Tearful Drew Barrymore Issues Apology for Talk Show Return Amid Strike
Ranking
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- 'Young people are freaked out': Weekend climate change protests planned around US, globe
- Who's the murderer in 'A Haunting in Venice?' The biggest changes between the book and movie
- North Korean arms for Russia probably wouldn’t make a big difference in the Ukraine war, Milley says
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Why Maren Morris Is Stepping Back From Country Music
- Three SEC matchups highlight the best college football games to watch in Week 3
- California dolphins were swimming in magical waves with a beautiful blue glow. Here's what caused it.
Recommendation
From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
New Jersey’s casinos, tracks and partners won $531M from gamblers in August
What if public transit was like Uber? A small city ended its bus service to find out
Man is charged with threatening UAW President Shawn Fain on the eve of its strike against automakers
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of El Chapo, brought to US: Sources
What happened to Alissa Turney, Arizona teen who disappeared in 2001?
Court throws out conviction in case of bad truck brakes, girl’s death