Titan implosion hearing: Key witness testifies on Day 2
Devan Markham
(NewsNation) — The Coast Guard’s investigative hearing into the 2023 Titan submersible implosion continues Tuesday after a long day of testimony Monday.
A key employee who labeled the experimental submersible unsafe before its last, fatal voyage testified Tuesday before Coast Guard investigators.
David Lochridge is one of the most anticipated witnesses to appear before the commission trying to determine what caused the Titan to implode en route to the wreckage of the Titanic last year, killing all five on board.
Lochridge is the former operations director for OceanGate, the company that owned the Titan and brought it on several dives to the Titanic going back to 2021.
Per a new testimony Tuesday, OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush — who piloted the Titan — previously crashed another sub off the coast of Massachusetts in 2016.
According to Lochridge, Rush refused to hand over the control panel before eventually doing so after shipwrecking the vessel.
On Monday, witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water. The accident sparked a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
FILE – Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, June 28, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
FILE – This undated image provided by OceanGate Expeditions in June 2021 shows the company’s Titan submersible. (OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)
Jason Neubauer, board chairman, of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pauses for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing pause for a moment of silence inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
Coast Guard members of the investigative board for the Titan marine board formal hearing take an oath inside the Charleston County Council Chambers Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
Coast Guard’s Thomas Whalen speaks with another Coast Guard member during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
Coast Guard’s Thomas Whalen, left, speaks with Nicole Emmons, right, during a break for the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)
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Investigators also revealed Monday what they believe was the fate of the five passengers on board, showing an animated timeline of events leading up to and following the Titan’s deep-sea implosion in June 2023.
The Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation, which is responsible for probing the cause of marine disasters, will continue to question witnesses and review key evidence from the incident during a hearing Tuesday.
The goal of the hearing is to determine what led to the deadly implosion during the dive and to examine possible regulatory failures regarding the submersible’s design, operation and safety protocols.
Titan submersible implosion
Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP)
Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP)
Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP)
Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP)
A U.S. Coast Guard ship arrives in the harbor of St. John’s, Newfoundland, on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, following the arrival of the ship Horizon Arctic carrying debris from the Titan submersible. The submersible owned by OceanGate Expeditions imploded on its way to the wreck of the Titanic. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Titan is a five-person submersible designed to go to depths of 13,000 feet for site survey, inspection, research and data collection. (OceanGate Expeditions)
In this image released by Action Aviation, the submersible Titan is prepared for a dive into a remote area of the Atlantic Ocean on an expedition to the Titanic on Sunday, June 18, 2023. Rescuers are racing against time to find the missing submersible carrying five people, who were reported overdue Sunday night. (Action Aviation via AP, File)
Morning newspapers publish an ad of condolence massages for two victims of Titan submersible incident, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, by their family and firm, displayed at a roadside stall, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 27, 2023. As an international group of agencies investigates why the Titan submersible imploded while carrying five people to the Titanic wreckage, U.S. maritime officials say they’ll issue a report aimed at improving the safety of submersibles worldwide. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
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Debris from the Titan submersible, recovered from the ocean floor near the wreck of the Titanic, is unloaded from the ship Horizon Arctic at the Canadian Coast Guard pier in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press via AP)Read More »
The Titan, owned by OceanGate, made its last dive June 18, 2023. The craft lost contact with its support vessel an hour and 45 minutes into the dive. Five people were on board, diving 12,000 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
The loss of communication launched a four-day search for the vessel, which ended when evidence of an implosion was found on the ocean floor. Officials concluded that the craft had been destroyed and all five people on board were killed.
The search-and-recovery mission is estimated to have cost up to $1.6 million.
The Coast Guard quickly convened a high-level investigation into what happened. Concerns leading up to the investigation included the Titan’s unconventional design and its creator’s decision to forgo standard independent checks.
The investigation into the Titan implosion originally had a 12-month timeline but has been extended multiple times.
In addition to Rush, the implosion killed two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
