The founder of OceanGate crashed aubmersible years before the disaster

The Associated Press

The chief executive who was piloting the Titan submersible when it imploded underwater last year, killing him and his four passengers, once crashed another submersible into a shipwreck and then angrily threw the controls when a tearful passenger begged him to let another pilot take over, according to new testimony on Tuesday.
He said that Stockton Rush, the chief executive and founder of OceanGate, had insisted on piloting that earlier vessel down to the Andrea Doria shipwreck in 2016, off the Massachusetts coast, over Mr. Lochridge’s strenuous objections.
Mr. Lochridge said he watched warily as Mr.
Rush haphazardly deployed the submersible, a precursor to the Titan known as the Cyclops 1, and ignored Mr. Lochridge’s warnings to keep his distance from the deteriorating shipwreck about 250 feet under the Atlantic Ocean.
Rush “smashed straight down” when he landed the vessel, Mr. Lochridge said, and then turned it around and “basically drove it full speed” into the wreckage, jamming the submersible underneath.
Then, in full view of the three additional passengers on board, Mr.
Rush flew into a panic, Mr. Lochridge said, asking whether there was enough life support on board and asking how quickly a dive team could arrive.
Mr. Lochridge, an experienced submersible pilot from Scotland, said he tried to calm his boss down and asked him to hand over the PlayStation controller that was used to pilot the vessel.
“Every time I went to take the controller from him, he pushed it farther and farther behind him,” Mr. Lochridge said, and described his nervousness at seeing debris from the shipwreck that was floating in the water nearby.
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According to new testimony on Tuesday, the chief executive who was piloting the Titan submersible when it imploded underwater last year—killing him and his four passengers—once crashed another submersible into a shipwreck and then angrily threw the controls when a distraught passenger begged him to let another pilot take over.

The terrifying prior trip to a U.S. was recounted by David Lochridge, who oversaw marine operations at the underwater exploration company OceanGate until he was fired in 2018. s. team from the Coast Guard that is looking into the fatal implosion that happened last year. He claimed that despite Mr. Lochridge’s adamant objections, Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of OceanGate, had insisted on piloting that previous vessel down to the Andrea Doria shipwreck in 2016 off the coast of Massachusetts.

Mr. Lochridge claimed that he cautiously observed Mr. Rush’s careless deployment of the submersible, also known as the Cyclops 1, a forerunner to the Titan, and disregarded Mr. Lochridge’s cautions to maintain his distance from the collapsing shipwreck situated approximately 250 feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean.

Dear Mr. When Rush landed the boat, Mr. Lochridge said, “smashed straight down.” He then turned the boat around and “basically drove it full speed” into the debris, jamming the submersible underneath. After that, Mr. Rush reportedly flew into a panic in front of the three other passengers on board, asking how soon a dive team could arrive and if there was enough life support on board.

Dear Mr. An accomplished submersible pilot from Scotland named Lochridge claimed he tried to console his boss and asked him to turn in the PlayStation controller that was used to operate the craft. Mr. Dot Rush, though, declined.

Mr. Lochridge expressed his uneasiness at seeing shipwreck debris floating in the nearby water, saying, “Every time I went to take the controller from him, he pushed it farther and farther behind him.”.

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