New revelations have emerged in the investigation into the fatal implosion of the Titan submersible in June 2023, as a whistleblower disclosed that OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush had crashed a different submersible years before.
David Lochridge, the company’s former operations director, testified on Tuesday that in 2016, Rush piloted the Cyclops I sub into the wreck of the Andrea Doria, a sunken ship off the coast of Massachusetts, during a deep-sea expedition with paying customers on board.
Lochridge’s testimony is part of the US Coast Guard’s ongoing probe into the Titan’s fatal dive, which killed Rush and four passengers. During the hearing, Lochridge described a pattern of safety concerns being disregarded at OceanGate, a company focused on deep-sea exploration.
Lochridge claimed that his warnings about the submersibles’ safety were dismissed, and his relationship with Rush soured after the 2016 accident. According to Lochridge, Rush’s approach to submersible operations was driven by ego and the desire to achieve feats other companies deemed too risky.
The 2016 incident involving the Cyclops I occurred during a dive to the Andrea Doria shipwreck. Lochridge testified that Rush ignored safety advice, resulting in the submersible becoming stuck under debris. It was only after Lochridge intervened that the crew safely returned to the surface. Lochridge said that despite saving the mission, his concerns continued to be ignored, and he was ultimately fired in 2018 after raising further safety issues about OceanGate’s experimental submersibles, including the Titan.
New York Post, the Associated Press, and the Washington Post contributed to this report.
