Titan submersible wreckage brought ashore after fatal implosion
A former OceanGate employee voiced his safety concerns about the Titan in an ominous email he sent to an ex-associate of the company.
“I don’t want to be seen as a Tattle tale but I’m so worried he kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego,” David Lochridge, who was employed by OceanGate from 2015 to 2018, wrote in the email.
Mr Lochridge later claimed in an August 2018 court document he was wrongfully fired for flagging concerns about the company’s alleged “refusal to conduct critical, non-destructive testing of the experimental design”. The filings say Mr Rush asked Mr Lochridge to conduct a “quality inspection” report on the vessel.
During this process, Lochridge “identified numerous issues that posed serious safety concerns” but he was allegedly “met with hostility and denial of access” to necessary documents before later being fired.
A promotional video on OceanGate’s Youtube channel posted ten weeks before the implosion advertised the $250,000-a-ticket trip as extremely safe, despite mounting reports from past employees and passengers that they experienced several issues during their dives.
“OceanGate Expeditions offers the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a specially trained crew member safely diving to the Titanic wreckage site,” the speaker is heard saying in a voiceover. “Get ready for what Jules Verne could only imagine ... a journey to the bottom of the sea.”
