What happened to the Titan submersible was a tragedy that led to the loss of five lives. The experimental watercraft was believed to be able to endure the extreme pressure of deep waters. However, a friend of the late OceanGate CEO claims that the latter knew what was going to happen.
Friend Claims the Implosion was Expected
The OceanGate expedition to the Titanic wreck was criticized by many experts before it even went underwater, saying that the craft would not be able to withstand the pressure of the ocean. Still, CEO Stockton Rush insisted to continue with the dive, leading to their untimely deaths.
A friend of Rush, Karl Stanley has also been to one of the dives back in 2019 in the Bahamas. The experienced passenger said that he had warned Rush that it was dangerous to use the submersible and that he knew what was going to happen.
In a statement, Stanley expressed that he "literally and figuratively went out with the biggest bang in human history that you can go out with," also saying that the submersible expedition was a "mousetrap for billionaires," as mentioned in The Guardian.
Upon locating pieces of the wreckage at the bow of the Titanic, the US Coast Guard says that it appeared to have a "catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber." Stanley also strongly believed that the carbon fiber tube was the mechanical part that had failed.
The CEO's friend even wrote to him via email about the defects he noticed during their dive in the Bahamas. In the email, he mentioned that what they heard, in his opinion, was a flaw or defect in one area "being acted on by the tremendous pressures and being crushed or damaged."
Based on the intensity of the sounds after never stopping at depth and hearing sounds about 300 feet under, it was an indication of a relaxing of stored energy and an area of the hull that was breaking down or getting spongy.
In his interview with 60 Minutes Australia, he also stated that Rush was the "last person to murder two billionaires at once and have them pay for the privilege. It was a known fact that only the wealthy could afford such a trip, given that a seat cost $250,000 each.
Rush was Warned Several Times
A lot of people have been warning the OceanGate CEO about how dangerous the trip would be. In fact, the submersible already showed signs of "cyclic fatigue" when it went under as deep as 4,000 meters in the Bahamas, which led to its reduced 3,000-meter hull depth rating.
Even early on back in 2018, Stockton Rush's own employees expressed their safety concerns about the experimental vehicle. Former Director of Marine Operations at OceanGate, David Lochridge said that his warnings were ignored and even got him fired.
The ex-employee insisted that the submersible should be put through a non-destructive test first to determine if the hull was strong enough. He saw that there were flaws in the carbon fiber that was supplied to OceanGate. Like other instances after him, Rush did not heed his warning as well.
