Titan sub hearings live: Friend of OceanGate boss who said CEO ‘knew it would end like this’ testifies

✕

Close

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.

Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.

Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond

Eric Garcia

Washington Bureau Chief

A friend of the late OceanGate boss who said the CEO "definitely knew it was going to end like this" is testifying at the hearing into the Titan submersible disaster today.

Karl Stanley, the owner of a diving expedition company in Honduras and a close friend of Stockton Rush, went on the doomed submersible with his friend in 2019 and warned afterward how he heard a large cracking sound while on the dive.

The submersible imploded last June, killing all five people on board, including Rush.

Stanley was interviewed by 60 Minutes Australia last year where he said he’d warned Rush about taking customers on Titan.

“He definitely knew it was going to end like this," Stanley told the broadcaster. "He literally and figuratively went out with the biggest bang in human history that you can go out with."

In an email exchange with Rush, Stanley warned: “I think that hull has a defect near that flange, that will only get worse. The only question in my mind is will it fail catastrophically or not.”

Yesterday Guillermo Sohnlein, the co-founder of OceanGate, testified that the cause of the accident may never be known.