Chilling audio of doomed Titan sub boss ‘sacking engineer who questioned mission's safety' before imposion tragedy
CHILLING new audio reveals the moment OceanGate's founder fired the company's operations director who voiced safety concerns about the ill-fated Titan sub.
The audio clip was obtained by Netflix and has been used in its documentary Titan: The OceanGate Disaster.
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The vessel imploded during a June 2023 expedition that initially prompted a major rescue operation
Credit: BBC
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Stockton Rush would go on to be one of the victims of the Titan disaster
Credit: BBC
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Lochridge had branded the Titan submersible as being 'unsafe'
Credit: Netflix
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Lochridge would go on to inform the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of Titan's safety issues after he was fired
Credit: AP
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American businessman Stockton Rush, who would go on to be one of the victims of the Titan disaster, can be heard David Lochridge in the clip.
Lochridge had raised
"We're doing weird s*** here. I'm definitely out of the mold, I am doing things that are completely non-standard.
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"I'm sure the industry thinks I'm a f****** idiot.
"That's fine,
A woman can be heard saying: "We need David on this crew, in my opinion we need him here."
Lochridge says Rush's remarks left him "a tad let down" and "pretty gutted".
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"This is the first time on paper I've ever put any health and safety concerns," he adds.
"You know every expedition we have had, we've had issues."
'What's that bang?' Chilling moment sound of doomed Titan sub imploding heard from support ship
Rush concedes the point, and Lochridge asks him: "Do you now want to let me go?"
But Rush bluntly replies: "I don't see we have a choice."
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Rush would later die on board the Titan alongside Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The vessel imploded during a June 2023 expedition that initially prompted a major rescue operation.
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Despite warnings from experts and former OceanGate staff, Titan continued to make dives
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Remains of the Titan submersible
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Stockton Rush wearing life jacket and hard hat
Credit: BBC
Speaking to filmmakers, Lochridge said: "To me it was just sheer arrogance.
"I didn't know what to say, but I was blown away that at this point they were willing to play Russian roulette."
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Lochridge was fired back in 2018 after he had worked at the firm for three years.
In one email to an associate, he expressed fears that Rush would be killed, the MailOnline has reported.
"I don't want to be seen as a tattle tale but I'm so worried he kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego," he said.
"I would consider myself pretty ballsy when it comes to doing things that are dangerous, but that sub is an accident waiting to happen."
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Lochridge would go on to inform the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of Titan's safety issues after he was fired.
He reportedly got a settlement and release agreement from OceanGate's lawyers after flagging these concerns with OSHA.
How the Titan tragedy unfolded
By Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)
FIVE men plunged beneath the surface of the North Atlantic in a homemade sub in a bid to explore the Titanic wreckage.
Four passengers paid £195,000 each to go on the sub, with the fifth member of the trip being a crew member.
But what was supposed to be a short trip spiralled into days of agony as the doomed Titan vanished without a trace on June 18, 2023.
The daring mission had been months in the making - and almost didn't happen at the hands of harsh weather conditions in Newfoundland, Canada.
In a now chilling Facebook post, passenger Hamish Harding wrote: "Due to the worst winter in Newfoundland in 40 years, this mission is likely to be the first and only manned mission to the Titanic in 2023.
"A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow."
It would be his final Facebook post.
The following morning, he and four others - led by Stockton Rush - began the 12,5000ft descent towards the bottom of the Atlantic.
But as it made its way down into the depths, the vessel lost all contact with its mother ship on the surface, the Polar Prince.
It sparked a frantic four-day search for signs of life, with the hunt gripping the entire world.
There was hope that by some miracle, the crew was alive and desperately waiting to be saved.
But that sparked fears rescue teams faced a race against time as the passengers only had a 96-hour oxygen supply when they set out, which would be quickly dwindling.
Then, when audio of banging sounds was detected under the water, it inspired hope that the victims were trapped and signalling to be rescued.
It heartbreakingly turned out that the banging noises were likely either ocean noises or from other search ships, the US Navy determined.
Countries around the world deployed their resources to aid the search, and within days the Odysseus remote-operated vehicle (ROV) was sent down to where the ghostly wreck of the Titanic sits.
The plan was for the ROV to hook onto the sub and bring it up 10,000ft, where it would meet another ROV before heading to the surface.
But any hopes of a phenomenal rescue were dashed when Odysseus came across a piece of debris from the sub around 1,600ft from the Titanic.
The rescue mission tragically turned into a salvage task, and the heartbroken families of those on board were told the devastating news.
It was confirmed by the US Coast Guard that the sub had suffered a "catastrophic implosion".
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Wrap in parchment and place into the fridge to firm up for an hour. Line two large flat baking trays with parchment. Preheat your oven to 180 °C/gas mark 4. Roll the dough to about 2 mm in thickness and cut it into rectangles about 8cm x 4.5cm in size. You should get about 24 biscuits. Place the biscuits onto the prepared trays. Bake in the center of your oven for 12 minutes. Baker's Tips: You can use a hot spoon to measure out the Golden Syrup; it is so viscous it can be difficult to weigh or measure otherwise. You can put the dough into the freezer or fridge if it gets too soft during rolling. Rolling it while soft will be very messy. Adding a little sprinkling of flour onto your rolling pin with help with the rolling. Leave some space between each biscuit on tray as they will expand as they heat up during baking. It may not need saying, but the biscuits will have to cool completely before making the sandwiches. 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If you are popping them into a zip-loc bag, squeeze out as much of the air as possible to prevent freezer burn or a build-up of excess ice. The biscuits will keep for a week in an airtight container before you make the sandwiches. Three delicious variations Mint chocolate chip Mint chocolate chip ice cream is a delicious addition instead of the vanilla ice cream. To be extra-decadent you can pour some melted (but slightly cooled) chocolate over the top of the sandwiches. Keep the prepared sandwiches on a tray in the freezer as the chocolate is cooling down, it will still need to be somewhat hot to be pouring texture. Remove the mint choc chip sandwiches from the freezer and drizzle the chocolate on top. Place the tray back into the freezer quite quickly and allow the chocolate to firm up before serving. Raspberry sorbet Raspberry and chocolate work very well together and you can make these sandwiches with a rich raspberry sorbet. I particularly like the version made by Murphy's Ice Cream; it works great for this recipe. You can sprinkle a few chopped raspberries on top of the sorbet before adding the top biscuit if you like. Neapolitan ice cream sandwich Neapolitan is a classic paring of colours and flavours. While ice cream sandwiches are said to have first been invented on the streets on New York for hurried workers on-the-go, to me they are synonymous with Italy, and this is a combination invented by Italian immigrants to the United States. You will need three different ice creams chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Freeze these in rectangle shapes so you can cut the ice cream blocks to fit the biscuits. Add three layers into each sandwich. Read More
