David Lockridge, Ocean Gate's former director of operations who indicated the experimental submersible Titan was unsafe before its final, fatal voyage, spoke to U.S. Coast Guard investigators on Tuesday about an earlier mission that ended disastrously when it collided with CEO Stockton Rush.
Lockridge, who was responsible for the safety of the entire crew and the pilots-in-training, said he was the only licensed submersible pilot at Ocean Gate, but Rush insisted on piloting Cyclops 1 when it sailed to the site of the Andrea Doria wreck in 2016, Lockridge recalled.
He said Cyclops 1 had numerous system failures and that after embarrassing Rush by telling him he shouldn't be piloting the submarine, he was “phased out.”
Lockridge said Rush ignored warnings and took the three men to the Andrea Doria sinking site in a submersible, where they sank the vessel before Lockridge could try to seize the controls. Lockridge said Rush refused to hand over the controls until a passenger on board screamed, at which point Rush threw what was said to be a PlayStation controller at the passenger's head.
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Ocean Gate's former director of operations, David Lockridge, spoke to U.S. Coast Guard investigators on Tuesday about a previous mission that ended disastrously after he clashed with CEO Stockton Rush. (Ocean Gate Expeditions via The Associated Press, File)
Later in the hearing, Lockridge spoke of his concerns about the Titan submersible, which imploded on its voyage to the site of the Titanic's sinking, killing Rush and four passengers.
Referring to a 2018 report that cited safety issues with Ocean Gate's operations, he said there was “absolutely no way I would have agreed to this” given all the safety issues he saw.
When asked if he was confident about the way Titan was being built, he said, “I have absolutely no confidence.”
“I would never, ever be on a ship like that,” Lockridge said last year while appearing before a Coast Guard panel trying to determine why the Titanic imploded as it sank, killing all five crew members.
Lockridge refused to approve manned testing of the submersible, citing safety concerns, and was sued by the Washington-based company for leaking classified information.
Lockridge then countersued, alleging that Ocean Gate fired him for raising concerns about the ship.
Legal experts say submarine victims' families have no basis to sue OceanGate
Lockridge spoke of his concerns about the Titan submersible, which imploded on its voyage to the site of the Titanic's sinking, killing Rush and four passengers. (U.S. Coast Guard YouTube)
Lockridge's counterclaim alleges that he used inspection reports that identified numerous issues “raising significant safety concerns” and laid out corrective actions and recommendations for each.
Bonnie Karl, Ocean Gate's former director of finance and human resources, testified Monday that Lockridge described the Titan as “unsafe.”
“The whole idea behind this company is to make money,” Lockridge said of OceanGate, adding that paying passengers are “people with money.”
“There was very little science involved,” he said.
Lockridge, who joined the company in the mid-2010s as a veteran engineer and submersible pilot, said at the hearing that he quickly came to feel he was being used as a “show horse” to give the company scientific credibility. He felt the company was pitching him as part of the project “to get people to pay money,” and he didn't like that.
Lockridge's testimony began a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that couldn't wait to get its unconventional ship design out on the water. (AP Photo/Mick Smith)
Washington state-based Ocean Gate suspended operations after last year's explosion. The company currently has no full-time employees but will be represented by attorneys at the hearing, it said in a statement to The Associated Press. The company said it has cooperated fully with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began.
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Lockridge's testimony came a day after other witnesses painted a picture of a troubled company that couldn't wait to put its unconventional vessel out to sea. The incident has sparked a global debate about the future of private undersea exploration.
Rush's widow, Wendy Rush, is not scheduled to testify at the hearing. When asked by The Associated Press about Rush's absence, Coast Guard spokeswoman Melissa Leake said the Coast Guard does not comment on why it does not call specific individuals for specific hearings during an ongoing investigation. She said it is “common in complex cases for the Marine Board of Investigation to hold multiple hearings and/or conduct additional witness testimony.”
Fox News' Greg Wehner, Bradford Betts and Michael Lewis and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
