‘People were sold to a lie’: Oceangate Whistleblower warned of Titan risks before the 2023 transplant; Knew that ‘there would be an incident’

David Lochridge, a former Oceangate employee, has repeated long -standing security concerns after the release of the US Coast Guard Report that identifies important failures by the company as the primary cause of the 2023 Titan submersible disaster. “I always hoped what happened would not happen. But I just knew if they were leaving and with that lacking equipment, there would be an event,” was said by the BBC. “There is so much that could be done in a different way. From the initial design, from construction, from operation – a lie was sold to people,” he said. The Oceangate Titanic was developing a new submersible designed to take passengers paying on the site of the debris. However, in June 2023, the vessel implicated tragic during a dive, killing all five people, including Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush.In 2018, the whistleblower was rejected by Oceangate after raising concerns about safety issues related to submersible. He joined the company seven years ago as director of his maritime operations. “As director of maritime operations, I am responsible for everyone,” he said, BBC said. “I was responsible for the safety of all osangate personnel and all the passengers who were going to come up.”As the main pilot, their duties included planning dives and individually operating submersible, which took passengers below the surface to see the Titanic. Ensuring security was a central part of his role.The subsequent submersible called Titan was initially developed in collaboration with the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of the University of Washington, which planned to build its passenger hull with carbon fibers, a material that is not used for deep deviing subsidy, usually relying on titanium or steel. Initially, despite relying on the expertise of the APL team, the confidence of the elasticity ended by mid-2016 as Ocensgate ended its partnership with APL and transferred the design and construction of the Titan in-house. “At that time, I started asking questions … and I felt that I have the duty to ask him,” said the elasticity. “When the carbon hull came, it was a complete mess,” he said, looking at the visible defects in the material. The eloquence was called for a meeting with Rush and other ostegate employees when he presented a report of listing issues that were looking at them. Rush said in the BBC report, “I have no desire to die. I have found a good granddaughter. I am going to live around. I understand such a risk, and I am going to open my eyes, and I think it’s one of the safest things that I will do anytime.” The elasticity contacted the US Professional Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), who deemed their case necessary due to public safety risks and placed it under its whistleblower protection program. OSHA carried forward concerns for the US Coast Guard in February 2018.As of July 2018, Oceangate sued the elasticity and his wife, in which the contracts and other claims were violated. He responded with a countersuit for unfair dismissal. But by December 2018, he decided to leave the case. Oceangate pressed his plans to reach the Titanic at full speed.