CEO of doomed Titan sub had joked ‘what could go wrong’ in radio interview months before deadly disaster
The CEO of the Titan submersible that imploded while on a trip to visit the Titanic ruins last year had joked “what could go wrong” on a Canadian radio show a few months before the ill-fated expedition.
OceanGate head Stockton Rush made the quip as he spoke to St John’s Radio on Feb, 9, 2023, about his upcoming voyage to the shipwreck, according to an audio clip that resurfaced through the new Channel 5 documentary, “Minute by Minute: The Titan Sub Disaster.
Describing the nature of fitting four other passengers inside the tiny submersible to get a glimpse at the Titanic more than 12,000 feet below the Atlantic Ocean, Rush joked ”What could go wrong?”
“For many it’s haunting,” he said about those who would be afraid to embark on such a trip. “When I’m down there driving the sub, it’s a different experience for me… I don’t get to absorb it until I get to the surface.”
The voyage, which came to its tragic end on June 18, 2023, would not go as Rush predicted.
Just 1 hour and 45 minutes into its dive the Titan catastrophically imploded, with all five passengers dying instantly.
Along with Rush, the passengers included French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, British billionaire Hamish Harding, 58, prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman Dawood.
During the radio show, Stockton boasted about the underwater views made possible by the Titan sub, describing the beauty of marine life and stunning vision of the Titanic shipwreck.
He also touted the Titan’s specs and assured listeners that it would not succumb to the immense underwater pressure of the Atlantic.
“The key element with any sub, submersible or submarine, is the pressure vessel: what you’re in. Make sure that thing doesn’t collapse,” Rush said. “So we spent a lot of time with NASA and Boeing and everybody else to make sure that doesn’t collapse.”
Despite his reassurance, Rush had been the subject of scrutiny for allegedly ignoring major safety concerns regarding his vessel and its tourist voyages to the Titanic.
In a series of emails reviewed by BBC, Rob McCallum, a consultant for OceanGate, told company chief Stockton Rush he was putting the lives of his clients at risk by not having his submersible certified by outside third parties.
Many deep sea diving experts and industry heads had also submitted warnings to OceanGate, describing the Titan as an “experimental” vessel and urging him not to conduct any more visits to the Titanic.
Rush, however, scoffed at the warnings, calling them “baseless cries” and a “personal insult.”
Officials are still investigating the evidence recovered from its recovery missions and the allegations made against OceanGate ahead of an anticipated public hearing on the incident.
Following Stockton’s death, OceanGate said it would suspend “all exploration and commercial operations,” shutting down its website and social media pages.
