Titan submersible suffered malfunction six days before fatal implosion
Titan's fatal dive followed serious malfunction days earlier, inquiry reveals
The submersible that imploded while descending to the Titanic wreckage last year, instantly killing all five on board, had malfunctioned just six days before its final dive, according to testimony from a former OceanGate scientific director on Thursday.
Steven Ross, a marine scientist and crew member on the Titan’s 87th dive in 2023, reported that a malfunction during that dive caused the five people on board to be thrown around and collide with the submersible’s aft for over an hour. This dive, piloted by OceanGate’s late co-founder Stockton Rush, was aborted after an issue with the variable ballast tank, which controls buoyancy, inverted the platform by 45 degrees, lifting the back of the craft.
Rush collided with the rear bulkhead, while the other passengers tumbled about. One ended up hanging upside down, and two others wedged themselves into the bow endcap. Ross informed the passengers of the issue and, after trying to fix it unsuccessfully, decided to surface to address it. He was unsure if the Titan’s hull was inspected for damage following this failed dive, which occurred on June 12, six days before the fatal plunge about 460 miles from the Titanic site. Ross acknowledged that the Titan had not been inspected by the United States Coast Guard in 2021, 2022, or 2023.
🚨#BREAKING: New haunting footage has been released by the U.S. Coast Guard, showing the tail cone of the Titan submersible after the fatal implosion that killed five people in June 2023. Their last messages from the doomed vessel were, ‘All good here… Dropped two [weights] pic.twitter.com/4Bbe6LmMrk
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) September 18, 2024
Ross also described two incidents during the 2022 Titanic expedition dives, including a loud “bang” heard while surfacing during Dive 80. The crew, mission specialists, and scientists speculated that the noise might have been caused by the pressure hull shifting in its metal cradle. In Dive 81, a malfunction occurred with the craft’s thrusters.
These revelations emerged during a US Coast Guard inquiry. The Coast Guard panel is set to hear two weeks of evidence about the Titan submersible disaster. Following the catastrophe, numerous accounts of Rush’s alleged negligence, including safety shortcuts with the craft and his business, have surfaced.
Rush, along with adventurer Hamish Harding, Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, multimillionaire Shahzada Dawood, and his teenage son Suleman Dawood, died when immense water pressure destroyed the submersible on June 18, 2023. Four days later, the wreckage of Titan was found on the ocean floor approximately 330 yards from the Titanic’s bow, according to Coast Guard officials.
Tony Nissen, OceanGate’s lead engineer on the fatal mission, stated on Monday that he often clashed with Rush, who pressured his team to expedite the high-tech underwater vehicle’s operation. On Tuesday, OceanGate’s former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, criticised the significant faults in the original model of the Titan submersible, stating that the company’s primary focus was profit, with minimal emphasis on science.
The USCG hearings will continue on Friday and into the following week.
What Other Media Are Saying
- ABC7NY reports on a former OceanGate scientific director testifying that the Titan sub malfunctioned six days before its fatal dive in June 2023, highlighting pre-incident technical issues. (Read more)
- LiveNOW from FOX: The Titan submersible experienced a malfunction just days before its fatal dive to the Titanic wreckage, highlighting safety and operational concerns before the implosion. (Read more)
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some common questions asked about this news
What caused the Titan submersible to malfunction six days before its fatal dive?
A malfunction with the variable ballast tank caused the submersible to invert 45 degrees.
Were there any inspections of the Titan’s hull after the malfunction?
No, Steven Ross did not know if the hull was inspected after the malfunction.
What incidents occurred during the 2022 Titanic expedition dives?
A loud ‘bang’ was heard on Dive 80 and a thruster malfunction occurred on Dive 81.
Who were the five people killed in the Titan submersible implosion?
Stockton Rush, Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, and Suleman Dawood.
What is the US Coast Guard doing in response to the Titan submersible disaster?
The US Coast Guard is conducting a two-week inquiry into the disaster.
