A former OceanGate operations director has opened up in a hearing about the fatal Titan submersible disaster and has made chilling admissions.
The Titan sub, which vanished on June 18, 2023, was on an expedition to visit the historic wreckage of the Titanic when it lost communication with its support ship, the Polar Prince, roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes into the dive.
It had been positioned just above the Titanic's wreckage when it stopped transmitting signals.
Tragically, the sub had imploded and killed all of those onboard.
The five passengers included Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate; British explorer Hamish Harding; French diving expert Paul Henri Nargeolet; British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Suleman Dawood.
The second day of a hearing into the disaster is currently ongoing, as the US Coast Guard seeks answers.
Among those being questioned is former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge, whose comments are cited by Sky News.
Lochridge previously branded the sub as "unsafe," and explained that the company appeared to rush training.
"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," he said.
"That is a huge red flag. That is a no-no. You don't do that. It is a long process," he added. "I never did anything for Titan. I was kept away from the project."
Lochridge claims that a rift formed between him and the late Stockton Rush after he "embarrassed" the CEO by saying that he wasn't qualified to pilot the sub.
Despite the company promoting themselves to be doing scientific research, Lochridge told the hearing that he feels otherwise.
In a damning statement, he said: "The whole idea behind the company was to make money. There was very little in the way of science."
But they had a "very strong social media team that would sell the company, sell the seat," he added.
Lochridge told the hearing that the company would target wealthy clients as opposed to scientists.
On the topic of the submersible itself, the former OceanGate director believes that it was made as cheaply as possible, reusing parts where possible.
He said: "They reused these domes. They reused these ceiling faces. They reused the acrylic. They reused the interior. Everything was reused. It's all cost."
Lochridge said he was "appalled" at the condition of the sub.
"There was so many laminations, so many voids. The imperfections were incredible. There was glue runs everywhere. And that's a red flag," he said.
Despite bringing up concerns, Lochridge told the hearing that he was "dismissed" by Rush and he was not heard.
"It was naive of me not to think he was going to do something to me for doing this," he said. "I knew how Stockton would fly off the handle.
"Nobody is going to put anybody inside a submersible and put it down to depth without pressure testing," Lochridge went on.
"I knew that hull would fail - it was an absolute mess."
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