Former OceanGate employee reveals Titan incident was 'inevitable'

A former marine operator who worked for the company behind the Titan submersible that reportedly implodedlast year, killing five people, told officials involved in an inquiry led by the United States Coast Guardthat he believed such an incident was "inevitable" as the firm "bypassed" all standard rules.

David Lochridge, the former operations director for OceanGate, testified to US Coast Guard investigators that he had warned of a potential safety probe, but was ignored.

Titan submersible implosion

In June 2023, five people on board the Titan sub, died, when the experimental deep-sea craft imploded during an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic.

The investigation has been going on for 15 months. The public hearings began on Monday as part of a two-week inquiry by the US Coast Guard into the disaster.

Lochridge was fired from OceanGate in 2018 and sued by the company for revealing confidential information to regulators. The company also accused Lochridge of refusing to listen to assurances from a lead engineer on the matter.

According tocourt documents, Lochridge had major concerns with the Titan's design, including the fact that it was made from carbon fibre, and warned that the material would sustaindamage with every dive.

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Earlier on Tuesday, he told US Coast Guard investigators the "whole idea" of OceanGate was "to make money".

"There was very little in the way of science," he added.

Accused company and its CEO of 'arrogance'

Lochridge also accused the company and its CEO of "arrogance", further saying that they refused to work with experts at the University of Washington to develop the Titan submersible and opted to do all the engineering in-house.

"They think they could do this on their own without proper engineering support," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)