Posted on 06/21/2023 6:41:03 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A submersible carrying tourists to look at the remains of the Titanic went missing on Sunday, and the odds of anyone onboard surviving grow lower by the day. It’s also been reported that the CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, the company behind the excursion, is onboard. And the more information that comes out, the less surprising it is that we’ve ended up in this situation.
Metro reports that last year, when asked about the safety of the Titan submersible, Stockton Rush, OceanGate’s CEO, said, “You know, there’s a limit. At some point safety just is pure waste. I mean if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything. At some point, you’re going to take some risk, and it really is a risk/reward question. I think I can do this just as safely by breaking the rules.”
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Missing Titan Sub: What You Need To Know Missing Titanic Sub Looks Amateurish, Is Piloted By A Video Game Controller Cars Designed To Drive On The Ocean Floor Exist And Are Way Older Than You Think Considering he planned to take other people more than two miles under the surface of the North Atlantic, that’s a pretty terrifying quote to read. But it’s also reportedly not the first time Rush showed a disregard for safety. CBS reports that back in 2018, OceanGate was sued by an employee that claimed he was fired for raising concerns about the Titan’s safety.
According to the report, OceanGate fired David Lochridge when he questioned how safe the Titan was and later sued him after he filed a whistleblower complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, claiming he violated the terms of his contract. Lochridge then countersued, claiming he was wrongfully terminated. In the suit, he said he pushed back against launching the Titan without doing “non-destructive testing to prove its integrity.”
“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,” Lochridge said in his suit.
From the CBS story:
The Titan relied on carbon fiber for a hull that would carry passengers as deep as 4,000 meters, a depth that Lochridge claimed in the court filing had never been reached in a carbon fiber-constructed sub. According to his claim, he learned the vessel was built to withstand a certified pressure of 1,300 meters, although OceanGate planned to take passengers to 4,000 meters. Titan relied on carbon fiber for a hull that would carry passengers as deep as 4,000 meters, a depth that Lochridge claimed in the court filing had never been reached in a carbon fiber-constructed sub. According to his claim, he learned the vessel was built to withstand a certified pressure of 1,300 meters, although OceanGate planned to take passengers to 4,000 meters.
He also said that even though the Titan was made out of carbon fiber, no carbon fiber sub had ever gone that deep before.
If these claims are true, they paint a pretty clear picture of a CEO who didn’t care about safety and was happy to risk other people’s lives to make a little money.
What an immoral man. Safety wouldn’t be an issue if it’s just bobbing along just underneath the surface, but it should be an issue when you’re going 12,500 feet underwater where the atmospheres are about 100,000 times the surface.
I hope he goes to jail. His actions cost 5 lives.
One person could stretch his legs at a time, and the man responsible was inside, trapped with the 4 victims, nasty business.
Isn’t he the pilot. Assumably, if the others die, he will perish as well.
Then again, it could be simply that the wireless Playstation controller crapped out. What was their backup, if any?
I’d bet that the hull breached on Day 1.
is this the same guy that said he didn’t want any 50 year old white guys in his company?
Using the up and down key on the keyboard?
But did they get to see the titanic? Maybe they were so excited to see, they decide to stay longer
Who's going to arrest him?
“where the atmospheres are about 100,000 times the surface.”
About 400x.
Ping.
Peasant! Know your place.
These are the sort of people that the modern corporate state refers to as ‘talent’.
He’s onboard. Likely paying with his life.
The primary controller was the wireless PS3 controller but the touchscreen displays in the submersible could be used to override the controller or replace it entirely if needed. *Supposedly* there was no functionality of the controller that was not available through the touchscreens, but that doesn’t mean it was as rapidly accessible or usable.
The manufacturer of the huge cockpit viewport and ring refused to certify it below 1300 meters due to some of the design elements, FYI.
Yup.
Four of the people on board could take measures to reduce the oxygen consumption by 20%.
I did not know that. Definitely is paying for his error.
I do hope they all get rescued, so he can face jailtime for his stupidity.
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