Titan tragedy: Ex-OceanGate employee reveals damning details, says company wanted to ‘qualify a pilot in a day’

A former employee of OceanGate, the company behind the Titan submersible, has revealed shocking details about the doomed vessel. David Lochridge, OceanGate's former director of marine operations, gave evidence to a US Coast Guard hearing into the Titan sub. The vessel imploded in June 2023, resulting in the tragic deaths of all five people on board.

Among various shocking revelations made by Lockridge was the fact that OceanGate wanted to “qualify a pilot in a day.” He told the hearing that he reached out to the company in 2015 after his wife saw an advert for a job, while he was working offshore in the North Sea. He eventually sent his resume to OceanGate. Lochridge said it "seemed like a good fit," and after getting a phone call, he went to see them back in May 2015. He revealed that "from the outset,” the company said that its plan was to go to the Titanic.

David Lochridge makes shocking revelations

Lochridge told the hearing that OceanGate "wanted to be able to qualify a pilot in a day, somebody that had never sat in a submersible.” "That is a huge red flag," he added.

Lochridge said that there was no set training for the pilot, and no one was qualified to take dives in the submersible. He also revealed that the Titan was the “only submersible that wasn't fully classed” by safety agencies.

Lockridge went on to reveal that a PlayStation controller was used to operate the sub, and criticised late OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush for being unprofessional in the journey. He said the sub was uninspected and had no certificate of inspection by the US Coast Guard. Lochridge alleged that the "whole idea" of OceanGate was "to make money,” adding that "very little" in the way of science. 

On being asked why Rush and engineering director Tony Nissen wanted to do the engineering in-house, Lochride said it was because of their “arrogance.” “They think they could do this on their own without proper engineering support,” he added.

Lochridge said that his relationship with the company had "broken down" in 2016, because “maybe came across as the troublemaker" as he was "so outspoken" on "many issues.” He revealed that being worried, he told "every director within the organisation" about his safety concerns. "It didn't help the relationship, but at the end of the day, safety comes first," he added.

The implosion of the sub led to the deaths of Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French diver Paul Henry Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman.