Submersible's scientific director says vessel malfunctioned days before fatal dive

FILE - This undated image courtesy of OceanGate Expeditions shows their Titan submersible beginning a descent. The submersible imploded last year while on its way to the Titanic wreckage. (Handout Photo/OceanGate Expeditions/AFP)

The scientific director for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year while on its way to the Titanic wreckage testified Thursday that the sub had malfunctioned just prior to the fatal dive.

Appearing before a U.S. Coast Guard panel, Steven Ross told the board about a platform issue the experimental submersible experienced in June 2023, just days before it imploded on its way to the Titanic site. The malfunction caused passengers onboard the submersible to "tumble about," and it took an hour to get them out of the water.

The submersible pilot, OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush, crashed into bulkheading during the malfunction, Ross said. No one was injured in the incident, Ross said, though he described it as uncomfortable.

"One passenger was hanging upside down. The other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap," Ross said, adding that he did not know if a safety assessment of the Titan or an inspection of its hull was performed after the incident.

An investigatory panel has listened to three days of testimony that raised questions about the company's operations before the doomed mission. Rush was among five people who died when the submersible imploded en route to the site of the Titanic wreck in June 2023.

'Just trying to make dreams come true'

Earlier Thursday, Renata Rojas, a mission specialist for the company, told the Coast Guard the firm was staffed by competent people who wanted to "make dreams come true." Rojas' testimony struck a different tone than that of some of the earlier witnesses, who described the company as troubled from the top down and focused more on profit than science or safety.

Renata Rojas, OceanGate mission specialist, center, pauses during at the Titan marine board formal hearing inside the Charleston County Council Chambers in South Carolina, Sept. 19, 2024. (Corey Connor via AP, Pool)

"I was learning a lot and working with amazing people," Rojas said. "Some of those people are very hardworking individuals that were just trying to make dreams come true."

Rojas also said she felt the company had been sufficiently transparent during the run-up to the Titanic dive. Her testimony was emotional at times, with the Coast Guard panel proposing a brief break at one point so she could collect herself.

Rojas is a member of the Explorers Club, which lost members Hamish Harding and Paul-Henri Nargeolet in the Titan implosion. The club described Rush as "a friend of The Explorers Club" after the implosion.

"I knew what I was doing was very risky. I never at any point felt unsafe by the operation," Rojas said in testimony Thursday.

Craft not independently reviewed

Earlier this month, the Coast Guard opened a public hearing that is part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion. The public hearing began Monday, and some of the testimony has focused on problems the company had prior to the fatal 2023 dive.

Investigators also released underwater footage of the submersible wreck. The footage shows the submersible's tail cone and other debris on the ocean floor.

This June 2023 image provided by Pelagic Research Services shows remains of the Titan submersible on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (Pelagic Research Services via AP)

During the hearing, former OceanGate Operations Director David Lochridge said Tuesday he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money.

"The whole idea behind the company was to make money," Lochridge testified. "There was very little in the way of science."

The hearing is expected to run through Friday, with more witnesses still to come, and resume next week.

Lochridge and other witnesses have painted a picture of a company led by people who were impatient to get the unconventionally designed craft into the water. The deadly accident set off a worldwide debate about the future of private undersea exploration.

Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing that the submersible had not been independently reviewed, as is standard practice. That and Titan's unusual design subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community.

OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended its operations after the implosion. The company, which currently has no full-time employees, has been represented by an attorney during the hearing.

Last message

During the submersible's final dive on June 18, 2023, the crew lost contact after an exchange of texts about the Titan's depth and weight as it descended. The support ship Polar Prince then sent repeated messages asking if the Titan could still see the ship on its onboard display.

One of the last messages from Titan's crew to Polar Prince before the submersible imploded stated, "all good here," according to a visual re-creation presented earlier in the hearing.

When the submersible was reported missing, rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to an area about 700 kilometers south of St. John's, Newfoundland. Four days later, the wreckage of the Titan was found on the ocean floor about 300 meters off the bow of the Titanic, Coast Guard officials said.

No one on board survived. Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were the other two people killed in the implosion.

OceanGate said it has been fully cooperating with the Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board investigations since they began. The Titan had been making voyages to the Titanic wreckage site going back to 2021.