“Titan” Sub Malfunctioned Days Before Deadly Implosion, Causing Passengers to Tumble, Ex-Scientific Chief Testifies
"There was a malfunction in the platform and that took considerable time to correct, and thus the dive was aborted," Steven Ross told a Coast Guard panel
HANDOUT/US Coast Guard / Pelagic Research Services/AFP via Getty
Remains of the 'Titan' submersible that imploded in June 2023, killing five passengersA former OceanGate chief scientist recalled that the Titan submersible experienced a malfunction days before the craft imploded last year, killing five people onboard.
At an ongoing Coast Guard hearing into the tragedy on Thursday, Sept. 19, Steven Ross, who was a part of dive 87 of the Titan on June 12, 2023, CNN reported, said that an issue concerning a platform resulted in the five people inside the sub to tumble about while inside the sub.
“The sub submerged on its platform to 30 feet,” Ross told the hearing panel, “and it was determined the pilot [Stockton Rush] indicated to the passengers there was a problem with the variable ballast tank valve and we came back to the surface to try to fix that. There was a malfunction in the platform and that took considerable time to correct, and thus the dive was aborted.”
He also said that, upon the sub resurfacing, the bow of the platform submerged, “tilting the platform and the submersible to a 45-degree angle.”
Ross recalled that as a result of the platform malfunction, the pilot crashed into the rear bulkhead of the Titan ”and the rest of the passengers tumbled about. I ended up standing on the rear bulkhead. One passenger was hanging upside down and the other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap.”
According to Ross, nobody was injured and the state that the passengers were in at the time was “uncomfortable and unpleasant, and it took considerable time to correct the problem.” Ross estimated that they were in that position for about an hour. Eventually the “tilt of the platform” was corrected and the passengers were removed from the Titan.
Ross also told the panel that he had a conversation with Rush, who piloted the Titan for that dive, afterward and recalled him being “upset” about what happened. Ross added that he was unaware if an inspection of the hull was conducted afer the incident.
On June 18, 2023, the Titan began its final dive as it descended into the North Atlantic and later imploded, killing Rush, 61; Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77; British-Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman; and billionaire British explorer Hamish Harding, 58. Human remains from the implosion were later recovered.
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Per an earlier statement shared with PEOPLE, a spokesperson for OceanGate, which has halted all business activity and "has no full-time employees," said the company has "been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] investigations since they began, including at the ongoing public hearing convened by the Coast Guard. OceanGate is represented at the hearing by Jane Shvets and Adrianna Finger of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP."
"OceanGate expresses our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in the tragic implosion of the Titan," the statement continued. "There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this devastating incident, but we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy."
The Coast Guard’s hearings into the implosion, which started on Monday, Sept. 16, are expected to last two weeks.
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