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The Independent
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Viewers of Netflix's Titan OceanGate documentary ‘disturbed' by same scene
Netflix 's new documentary, Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster, explores the events leading up to the fatal implosion of the Titan submersible in June 2023, which killed five people. The documentary has become Netflix's most-streamed title, focusing on OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and the concerns raised about the vessel's safety. A key scene shows Rush dismissing safety concerns, telling passengers, "if you hear an alarm, don't worry about it," which viewers found disturbing. The documentary reveals Rush proceeded with the expedition without third-party classification and includes former marine operations director David Lochridge's concerns about the carbon fibre hull. The Titan suffered a "catastrophic explosion" during its expedition to view the Titanic wreck, killing Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Stockton Rush.
The Sun
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
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. 9 9 9 9 9 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 concerns around the safety of the submersible ahead of its doomed voyage. Rush tells him: "I don't want anybody in this company who is uncomfortable with what we are doing. "We're doing weird s*** here. I'm definitely out of the mold, I am doing things that are completely non-standard. "I'm sure the industry thinks I'm a f****** idiot. "That's fine, they've been doing that for years. And I'm going to continue on the way I am doing." 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". "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." 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. But the discovery of a piece debris in the North Atlantic dashed any hopes of a successful rescue mission. 9 9 9 9 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." 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." 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".
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Haunting new audio of Titan sub CEO shouting down engineers who dared to question his 'death mission'
OceanGate founder Stockton Rush can be heard in new audio clip firing his company's operations director after raising safety concerns over the doomed Titan sub. In a recording obtained by Netflix and used in their documentary 'Titan: The OceanGate Disaster', Stockton, 61, can be heard terminating the employment of David Lochridge. Lochridge had branded the Titan submersible, which imploded in June of 2023 while on an expedition to the Titanic, as 'unsafe' prior to his firing. Rush can be heard telling him: 'I don't want anybody in this company who is uncomfortable with what we are doing. 'We're doing weird s*** here. I'm definitely out of the mold, I am doing things that are completely non-standard. 'I'm sure the industry thinks I'm a f****** idiot. That's fine, they've been doing that for years. I'm going to continue on the way I am doing.' An unidentified woman can be heard telling him: 'We need David on this crew, in my opinion we need him here.' Lochridge can be heard saying that Rush's comments left him 'gutted' and 'a tad let down'. He adds: 'This is the first time on paper I've ever put any health and safety concerns. You know every expedition we have had, we've had issues.' Rush concedes that to be true, as Lochridge asks him point blank: 'Do you now want to let me go?', to which the CEO responded: 'I don't see we have a choice.' Lochridge told filmmakers: '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.' Rush died aboard the submersible alongside Hamish Harding, 58, father and son Shahzada, 48, and Suleman Dawood, 19, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77. The accident, caused by extreme water pressure crushing the hull of the submersible, set off a debate about the future of private undersea exploration. The firing of Lochridge occurred in 2018, after he had spent three years with the firm, during which he critiqued the construction of the submersible. In one email to project associate Rob McCallum, who also left OceanGate over safety concerns, Lochridge said he was worried Rush would end up dead. He said: '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.' The engineer continued: 'I would consider myself pretty ballsy when it comes to doing things that are dangerous, but that sub is an accident waiting to happen.' After being let go, Lochridge informed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about the Titan's safety problems. Lochridge said that after raising his concerns with OSHA, him and his wife were served a settlement and release agreement from OceanGate's lawyers. Prior to that he had also filed a lawsuit against OceanGate in which he said that glue was coming away at the seams of the vessel's ballast bags. The since settled suit also said that Lochridge found improperly placed mounting bolts that threatened to cause a rupture. Speaking at a hearing with Coast Guard officials last year Lochridge testified that Rush 'liked to do everything on the cheap'. The hearing was shown images of a crudely made oxygen scrubber unit, an integral part of the sub in maintaining atmospheric pressure. He said: '[Stockton] decided not to use a known manufacturer. It's a plastic box and a computer fan. He wanted to do a test on it, I humored him and it didn't work.' The Coast Guard last month released a two-and-a-half minute video showing Rush's wife Wendy Rush and an OceanGate employee monitoring the final descent. Rush, who was monitoring progress from a support ship, can be seen reacting to a noise that sounded like a 'door slamming'. She turns to employee Gary Foss , asking him: 'What was that bang?'. The Coast Guard believes that was the sound of the Titan's implosion reaching the surface. The passengers had paid to see the wreck of the Titanic, which lies some 3,700 meters below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. It is believed the vessel imploded around 90 minutes into its descent with its wreckage later found 330 yards away from the bow of the ship.
The Independent
11-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Netflix Titan documentary shows moment OceanGate CEO fires experienced pilot who raised safety concerns
A highly anticipated Netflix documentary on the 2023 OceanGate explosion shows the moment that the submersible company's CEO, Stockton Rush, fired senior sub-pilot and whistleblower David Lochridge. Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster delves into the accounts of staff members and the events that led to the Titan submersible's implosion on June 18, 2023, resulting in the deaths of five people inside. Lochridge, OceanGate's former director of marine operations, held reservations about the vessel 's carbon fibre hull and said he only entered the project on the assumption that the Titan sub would become 'classed' – meaning that it would be independently certified as safe. Sub-expert Rob McCallum said he pulled out of the project the day Rush decided to proceed without third-party classification. The contentious relationship between Lochridge and the CEO came to a head when Rush steered the sub into a dangerous position during a trip to the SS Andrea Doria wreckage ahead of the Titan tour. An incident, the former sub-pilot said, was 'a complete turnaround' and resulted in the end of their relationship. In one clip, taken from inside the sub, Rush is seen almost crashing the vessel into a debris field, forcing Lochridge to intervene. Lochridge said he was ostracized from the Titan project following that trip, adding that he became 'totally out of the loop.' On January 18, 2018, Lochridge submitted a scathing report to Rush and other senior staff outlining the dangerous risks posed by Titan's inefficient hull design and the company's testing methods. A day later, Lochridge was asked to attend a meeting with Rush, Bonnie Carl, the HR director, Scott Griffith, the quality assurance director, and Tony Nissen, the engineering director. 'What brought this on? How long have you had some of these concerns?' Lochridge is asked by Rush during the January 2018 meeting. 'What led up to this, and what's your goal with this document?' Lochridge, who appears taken aback, responds, 'I, I, no. The goal for this document for me is the safety of anybody that goes in there, including you.' Rush, who grew angered during the discussion, continues to say: 'It's completely opposite of what everyone else says. Everyone says, 'Oh, carbon fibre can't handle compression.' They're full of s*** and I've proven them to be full of s***. 'You know this has been an eight-year project,' he says. 'I know what the hell I'm talking about,' he continues before asking Lochridge to continue explaining himself. 'In terms of you going in the submersible, I am so against you doing it,' Lochridge says. 'We should be putting that sub on a wire, with everything that's experimental which you're doing.' Rush interjects, stating, 'I know that's your issue. A wire is not without safety issues for one, and secondly, this is how we're doing it, period.' 'I've looked at it. What you do is you set a testing program where you do it incrementally. It's not just going to go to 3100 [metres] and be perfect and at 3200 [metres] it all goes anyway. That ain't going to happen, and I will put my life on the line to say that ain't going to happen,' Rush says, in the haunting clip. 'I don't want anybody in this company who is uncomfortable with what we're doing. We're doing weird s*** here, and I am definitely out of the mold. 'I'm doing things that are completely non-standard and I'm sure the industry thinks I'm a f******* idiot,' he states. Rush said he would continue at all lengths in his pursuit of success, no matter what anyone else thought. Lochridge, who was left shell-shocked by the interaction, said Rush's decision was understood and felt 'gutted' about how things deteriorated to that point. The departure of Lochridge meant that OceanGate operations had to be made more secure as life at the company would continue under the leadership of a 'narcissist and a psychopath,' according to former engineering director Tony Nissen in the documentary. HR director Bonnie Carl also left the company following that meeting.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
New details about 2023 Titan submersible implosion revealed in Netflix documentary
An upcoming Netflix documentary reveals new details about the 2023 Titan submersible, which was traveling to the wreck of the Titanic when it imploded, killing all five people aboard. "Titan: The OceanGate Disaster" looks at the warnings that were ignored about the submersible's designs. David Lochridge, the chief submersible pilot, tried to warn the company's CEO about the potential dangers and was fired for doing so. "There was nothing safe on that vehicle at all, hence why I raised my concerns verbally and also put them down on paper as well," Lochridge told the "TODAY" show. "When I raised the concerns and put them down on paper, on my quality inspection report, I was subsequently taken into the boardroom. Over a two-hour, 10-minute period, I was dismissed from the company. So I was fired, basically." A part of Lochridge's job was to assist with the building of the submersible and then take the paying customers down to the wreck. OceanGate charged passengers $250,000 apiece to visit the site. Lochridge said he expressed his concerns over the course of the submersible being built. Part of his worries stemmed from the carbon fiber design of the submersible, which he said wasn't safe for deep dives. He also filed a federal whistleblower complaint and lawsuit to try to get the warning out to the public. The underwater vessel disappeared after officials said it suffered a "catastrophic implosion." OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, 61, who was piloting the Titan; the deep sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, who was experienced in visiting the Titanic wreck site; British tycoon Hamish Harding, 58; and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son, Suleman, 19, were killed. OceanGate said in a statement Thursday: "We again offer our deepest condolences to the families of those who died on June 18, 2023, and to all those impacted by the tragedy." The company said it "permanently wound down its operations" after the tragedy and is fully cooperating with investigations being conducted by the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board. "Titan: The OceanGate Disaster" debuts Wednesday on Netflix. This article was originally published on
