A key employee who labeled unsafe prior to its last, fatal voyage testified Tuesday that the tragedy could have been prevented if a federal safety agency had investigated his complaint.
David Lochridge, OceanGate鈥檚 former operations director, said he felt let down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's decision not to follow through on the complaint.
鈥淚 believe that if OSHA had attempted to investigate the seriousness of the concerns I raised on multiple occasions, this tragedy may have been prevented,鈥� he said while speaking before a commission trying to determine what caused the Titan to implode en route to the wreckage of the Titanic last year, killing all five on board. 鈥淎s a seafarer, I feel deeply disappointed by the system that is meant to protect not only seafarers but the general public as well.鈥�
Lochridge said during testimony that eight months after he filed an OSHA complaint, a caseworker told him the agency had not begun investigating it yet and there were 11 cases ahead of his. By then, OceanGate was suing Lochridge and he had filed a countersuit.
About 10 months after he filed the complaint, he decided to walk away. The case was closed and both lawsuits were dropped.
鈥淚 gave them nothing, they gave me nothing,鈥� he said of OceanGate.
OSHA officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Lochridge said he frequently clashed with the company鈥檚 co-founder and felt the company was committed only to making money.
Lochridge was one of the most anticipated witnesses to appear before a commission. His testimony echoed that of other former employees Monday, one of whom described OceanGate head Stockton Rush as volatile and difficult to work with.
鈥淭he whole idea behind the company was to make money,鈥� Lochridge said. 鈥淭here was very little in the way of science.鈥�
Rush was among the five people who died in the implosion. OceanGate owned the Titan and brought it on several dives to the Titanic going back to 2021.
Lochridge's testimony began a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that was impatient to get its into the water. The accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Lochridge joined the company in the mid-2010s as a veteran engineer and submersible pilot and said he quickly came to feel he was being used to lend the company scientific credibility. He said he felt the company was selling him as part of the project 鈥渇or people to come up and pay money,鈥� and that did not sit well with him.
鈥淚 was, I felt, a show pony,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was made by the company to stand up there and do talks. It was difficult. I had to go up and do presentations. All of it.鈥�
Lochridge referenced a 2018 report in which he raised safety issues about OceanGate operations. He said with all of the safety issues he saw 鈥渢here was no way I was signing off on this.鈥�
Asked whether he had confidence in the way the Titan was being built, he said: 鈥淣o confidence whatsoever.鈥�
Employee turnover was very high at the time, said Lochridge, and leadership dismissed his concerns because they were more focused on 鈥渂ad engineering decisions鈥� and a desire to get to the Titanic as quickly as possible and start making money. He eventually was fired after raising the safety concerns, he said.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to lose my job. I wanted to do the Titanic. But to dive it safely. It was on my bucket list, too,鈥� he said.
OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion.
OceanGate's former engineering director, Tony Nissen, kicked off Monday's testimony, telling investigators he felt pressured to get the vessel ready to dive and refused to pilot it for a journey several years before Titan's last trip. Nissen worked on a prototype hull that predated the Titanic expeditions.
鈥溾�業鈥檓 not getting in it,鈥欌�� Nissen said he told Rush.
OceanGate's former finance and human resources director, Bonnie Carl, testified Monday that Lochridge had characterized the Titan as 鈥渦nsafe.鈥�
Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan's unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.
During the submersible's final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan's depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.
One of the last messages from Titan鈥檚 crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, 鈥渁ll good here,鈥� according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.
When the submersible was reported overdue, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John鈥檚, Newfoundland. Wreckage of the Titan was subsequently found on the ocean floor about 330 yards (300 meters) off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.
Scheduled to appear later in the hearing are OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein and former scientific director, Steven Ross, according to a list compiled by the Coast Guard. Numerous guard officials, scientists, and government and industry officials are also expected to testify. The U.S. Coast Guard subpoenaed witnesses who were not government employees, said Coast Guard spokesperson Melissa Leake.
Among those not on the hearing witness list is Rush鈥檚 widow, Wendy Rush, the company鈥檚 communications director. Lochridge said Wendy Rush had an active role in the company when he was there.
Asked about Wendy Rush's absence, Leake said the Coast Guard does not comment on the reasons for not calling specific individuals to a particular hearing during ongoing investigations. She said it鈥檚 common for a Marine Board of Investigation to 鈥渉old multiple hearing sessions or conduct additional witness depositions for complex cases.鈥�
OceanGate has no full-time employees at this time but will be represented by an attorney during the hearing, the company said in a statement. The company said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB investigations since they began.
The ongoing Marine Board of Investigation is the highest level of marine casualty investigation conducted by the Coast Guard. When the hearing concludes, recommendations will be submitted to the Coast Guard鈥檚 commandant. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation.
Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press
