On June 22, 2023, OceanGate’s Titan submarine imploded. Five wealthy individuals were on board the submarine, The New York Times reports. There were many ignored flaws that experts said should have raised alarms.
“The[re was] potential danger to the passengers of the titan as the submersible reached extreme depths,” David Lochridge, director of OceanGate operations, said.
One hour, 45 minutes after the submarine left the mothership, all contact was lost, CNN reports. The same thing had been happening during the company’s internal tests. OceanGate ignored this problem and others, stating it was too expensive. The company was able to avoid all of these warnings because it labeled Titan as an experimental vessel. This allowed them to work around rules and regulations put in place to maintain the safety of submarines.
When the submarine imploded it was nearly instant, ABC News reports. It took less than 40 milliseconds. That is faster than the human brain can process information. All five of the passengers died before they knew what was happening.
One of the people on the submarine was OceanGate’s CEO, Stockton Rush. He was the pilot of the submarine.
“The red tape in submarines is unnecessary and that there haven’t been any life-threatening injuries in 35 years,” Stockton said in an interview with the Smithsonian. He ignored all of the warnings that led to the death of himself and four other people. Since the implosion OceanGate has halted all operations.
