A close friend of Stockton Rush has claimed that the late OceanGate CEO "knew he would eventually die in a Titan sub".
The Titan submersible incident claimed five lives in June 2023.
The submersible vanished while on an expedition to explore the Titanic wreck, losing communication with its support vessel, the Polar Prince, about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
Operated by OceanGate, the Titan was positioned near the Titanic’s wreckage when it stopped transmitting signals.
Tragically, it was later confirmed that the sub had imploded, killing all five passengers on board.
Those who died included Stockton Rush, OceanGate's CEO; British explorer Hamish Harding; French diving expert Paul Henri Nargeolet; British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.
An inquiry led by the US Coastguard is currently ongoing as they attempt to gather information about the incident.
Karl Stanley, a longtime friend of Rush, has claimed in his testimony that the CEO was aware of the dangers of his work, but proceeded regardless.
"He knew that eventually it was going to end like this and he wasn’t going to be held accountable," Stanley said, cited by the New York Post.
Stanley, who has been an expert in commercial submersibles for over a decade, made the chilling assertion while testifying on Tuesday.
He added that Rush was driven by a desire for fame, even at the risk of his life.
“But he was going to be the most famous of all his famous relatives,” Stanley remarked, referring to Rush’s lineage, which includes two signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Stanley, who had been friends with Rush for more than 10 years, recounted joining him on a 2019 test dive aboard the Titan.
During the dive, he recalled hearing loud cracking noises, which raised concerns about the vessel's safety. However, Rush dismissed these warnings.
“The definition of an accident is something that happened unexpectedly and by sheer chance,” Stanley said.
“There was nothing unexpected about this. This was expected by everybody that had access to a little bit of information.”
He went on to question whether the disaster could truly be considered an accident, implying there may have been criminal negligence.
“And I think that if it wasn’t an accident, it then has to be some degree of crime. And if it’s a crime, I think to truly understand it, you need to understand the criminal’s motive. The entire reason this whole operation started was Stockton had a desire to leave his mark on history,” Stanley added.
Stanley's comments appear to align with those of David Lochridge, a former operations director at OceanGate.
Speaking to investigators, Lochridge, who previously labeled the Titan as "unsafe," shared alarming insights into the company's practices.
According to Lochridge, the company prioritized quick training, often at the expense of safety.
"The intention for OceanGate, unbeknownst to me when I came across, they wanted to qualify a pilot in a day. Somebody who had never sat in a submersible," Lochridge revealed.
"That is a huge red flag. That is a no-no. You don't do that. It is a long process."
He further claimed that he was excluded from involvement with the Titan project after a falling out with Rush.
"I never did anything for Titan. I was kept away from the project," Lochridge said, adding that tensions arose when he told Rush he wasn’t qualified to pilot the submersible, an embarrassment that strained their relationship.
The US Coast Guard’s investigation into the tragedy is expected to continue through Friday.
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