Titan submersible implosion was avoidable: Former OceanGate employee

OceanGate Expedition's Titan submersible which was on an expedition to view Titanic's wreckage imploded on June 18, 2023.

David Lochridge, a former operations director had warned about the risk of the implosion and said that the unfortunate tragedy could have been avoided if his complaint had been looked into.

According to a report by Associated Press, David said, "I believe that if OSHA had attempted to investigate the seriousness of the concerns, I raised on multiple occasions, this tragedy may have been prevented."

Talking about the implosion which claimed the lives of all 5 crew passengers on-board, he said, "As a seafarer, I feel deeply disappointed by the system that is meant to protect not only seafarers but the general public as well."

David in a testimony said that 8 months after he had filed a complaint with OSHA, a worker had informed him that the administration had not commenced investigating his case and had also listed it after 11 cases.

By then, OceanGate sued David, to which he filed a countersuit, but ten months after he had filed his initial complaint, he decided to back off and both the cases were closed.

David reportedly said, "I gave them nothing, they gave me nothing."

He further claimed that he had arguments with the company's co-founder and that its only priority was to make money.

According to the report, David said, "The whole idea behind the company was to make money. There was very little in the way of science."

The crew members of Titan submersible included - Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood who was a British-Pakistani businessman, Dawood's 19-year-old son Suleman, Hamish Harding, who was a British aviation tycoon, and Paul Henri Nargeolet who was a French maritime expert with extensive experience of Titanic's wreckage site.

Nargeolet's family had in August 2024 reportedly filed a case against OceanGate claiming that it had mislead him about Titan's safety.

After the implosion, the company suspended its commercial and exploratory operations.

A Canadian-flagged ship was deployed to bring ashore debris from the Titan submersible.

The deep-sea submersible was discovered in pieces on the seabed some 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic by a robotic diving vehicle.