The massive search for five missing passengers aboard the Titan came to an end on June 23. The submersible, operated by deep-sea exploration company OceanGate, was on its way to view the Titanic when it suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” taking the lives of Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, and four others.
But before there was disaster, there was a whistleblower.
In 2018, OceanGate employee David Lochridge was fired in response to safety concerns he raised about the Titan submersible within the company. Lochridge, the Director of Marine Operations, felt that a different type of testing should have been done to ensure the integrity of the vessel’s hull.
When conducting an inspection of the Titan, “Lochridge was met with hostility and denial of access to the necessary documentation,” according to his court filings. He later learned that this was because OceanGate was hiding the fact that their equipment was only viable for depths of 1,300 meters. They planned to exceed that by 2,700 meters.
“The paying passengers would not be aware, and would not be informed, of this experimental design, the lack of non-destructive testing of the hull, or that hazardous flammable materials were being used within the submersible,” the filings read.
Later that year, Lochridge was sued by OceanGate after the company learned that he filed an official whistleblower complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). While OceanGate claims the termination was in...
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