A former employee of OceanGate, the company whose submersible is now missing after diving toward the wreckage of the Titanic, warned in 2018 that the sub's safety could be compromised by poor "quality control and safety" protocols that "paying passengers would not be aware" of, a lawsuit says.
David Lochridge, OceanGate's former director of marine operations, alleged in August 2018 court filings that he was wrongfully terminated after raising concerns about the company's "refusal to conduct critical, non-destructive testing of the experimental design" of the Titan, the submersible that went missing Sunday.
The filings say that after OceanGate's CEO, Stockton Rush, asked Lochridge to do a quality inspection of the submersible, Lochridge developed grave concerns about a "lack of non-destructive testing performed on the hull of the Titan."
While completing the inspection, Lochridge said, he asked coworkers if anyone had formally scanned the materials being used to secure the vessel from the high-pressure environment. Lochridge said he was told that no such scans had been done; instead, he said, sound-based systems would check for flaws in the hull in real time in order to detect issues.
Lochridge said that while he was "met with hostility and denial of access to the necessary documentation" while completing the inspection report, he submitted it on January 18, 2018. The next day, he said, he spoke before company leadership — including Rush; Bonnie Carl, the human-resources director; Tony Nissen, the engineering director; and Scott Griffith, the operations director — and raised his concerns.
Lochridge said he recommended OceanGate voluntarily seek out regulation and classification through an agency such as the American Bureau of Shipping, which the filings say inspects and certifies submersibles with "assurance tests and satisfy industry-standard safety controls."
But Lochridge said that after the meeting, he was fired. "OceanGate gave Lochridge approximately 10 minutes to immediately clear out his desk and exit the premises," a court filing says.
"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 filing says.
It's unclear whether Lochridge's concerns were ever addressed or whether these scans occurred at a later date. Lochridge's allegations were filed as a countersuit against OceanGate, which had accused him of breach of contract, fraud, and revealing trade secrets. Lochridge denied all the charges. The case was settled out of court in November 2018.
OceanGate did not respond to a request for comment. An attorney representing Lochridge in the 2018 suit said Lochridge had no comment, adding, "We pray for everyone's safe return."
Updated June 21, 2023 to reflect comments given to Insider.
