Titan sub hearings live: OceanGate did not request Coast Guard inspection of Titan vessel, inspector testifies
The final hearing on OceanGate, CEO Stockton Rush and the doomed Titan submersible will begin Friday
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OceanGate never requested the Coast Guard inspect the Titan submersible, according to John Winters, master marine inspector with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound.
Winters testified on Thursday before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation as part of their inquiry into the doomed Titan submersible, which imploded last summer, killing all five people on board.
Winters also claimed Former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush complained to him about Coast Guard regulations.
“He did express on multiple occasions that regulations were stifling his innovation process,” Winters testified. The inspector also said OceanGate “never attempted to circumvent any regulations,” despite Rush’s complaints.
Mark Negley, an engineer with Boeing, also testified on Thursday morning.
Negley said Boeing only worked with OceanGate during short periods. The company did a “brief” feasibility study from 2012 to 2013, he said, before doing two acoustic studies in 2016. Their last communication was in March 2020, Negley testified, when Boeing declined to respond to OceanGate’s request for a proposal.
Negley once sent Rush his safety analysis of Titan’s hull, WIRED reports, warning that there would be a “high risk of significant failure” if the contraption went to the depth of the Titanic wreckage.
Shock photo shows how Titan submersible fell apart two years before implosion
OceanGate’s Titan submarine relied on ‘idiotic’ Excel spreadsheet
Final messages revealed from the Titan sub before tragic implosion
Were warning signs ignored? Things to know about this week's testimony on the Titan sub disaster
Hearing resumes with testimony from William Kohnen
The hearing has resumed.
William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. will continue testifying before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation.
Hearing adjourns for lunch
The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation hearing has adjourned for lunch.
Testimony will resume at 1:40 p.m. EDT.
ICYMI: Watch as long-time friend of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush testifies that Titan sub explosion was ‘expected’
Were warning signs ignored? Things to know about this week's testimony on the Titan sub disaster
As testimony continues today, check out a recap of the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation’s work so far and what witnesses have said in recent days:
Were warning signs ignored? Things to know about this week's testimony on the Titan sub disaster
Last year, five people hoping to view the Titanic wreckage died when their submersible imploded in the Atlantic Ocean
Chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee testifies
William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. is now testifying before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation.
Kohnen is also the chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee.
Hearing schedule for Wednesday afternoon
After Dr. Don Kramer, National Transportation Safety Board engineer, ended his testimony on Wednesday morning, the board will hear from two more witnesses.
First up is William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. He is also the chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee. His testimony is set to begin at 11 a.m. EDT.
Afterward, Bart Kemper, principal engineer of Kemper Engineering, will testify.
See it: New images of Titan sub wreckage revealed
Dr. Don Kramer ends testimony as hearing moves to questions
Dr. Don Kramer, a National Transportation Safety Board engineer, has ended his testimony, during which he analyzed the wreckage of the Titan sub.
Members of the board now have the opportunity to ask Kramer questions.
Proceedings begin
Today’s hearing has started.
Jason Neubauer, the board chairman, is currently opening proceedings.
The first witness, Dr Don Kramer, is sworn in.
Recap: Testimony has focused on troubled nature of the company
The hearing is due to conclude on Friday after two weeks of evidence. Much of it has so far focused on the troubled nature of the company.
Former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge told the hearing how he frequently clashed with CEO Stockton Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.
“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge testified. “There was very little in the way of science.”
Lochridge and other previous witnesses painted a picture of a company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water.
On Monday the investigative panel heard testimony from Guillermo Sohnlein, Roy Thomas and Phil Brooks.
Sohnlein co-founded OceanGate with Rush in 2009 but left the company in 2013. Despite the panel’s efforts, Sohnlein said the world may never know what led to tragedy.
Thomas, an engineer for the American Bureau of Shipping, one of the main classifying agencies for submersibles, spoke about complications with using carbon fiber materials. After repeated dives, the materials are susceptible to becoming “deformed” and subsequently “fail,” he said, adding OceanGate never tried to seek classification with the agency.
Rush designed the vessel with a carbon fiber hull. The agency would not have classified the sub using that material.
Brooks, a senior hardware engineer, spoke about his role in analyzing data for OceanGate and the company’s lack of funds.
The “company was economically stressed” and asked him to go without paychecks, he said.
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