OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush allegedly declared that he would “buy a congressman” to make issues surrounding the Titan sub’s certification go away, a witness testified.
Matthew McCoy, who worked at the submersible company for six months from April 2017, addressed the Titan Marine Board of Investigation panel on Friday for the final day of the two-week long hearing into Titan’s disaster voyage in June 2023.
After raising concerns about an alleged lack of certificate of inspection for the first Titan sub in 2017, McCoy testified that Rush told him, “I would buy a congressman” to make problems disappear during a lunch meeting. The ex-OceanGate employee said that he quit soon after.
“He was either trying to intimidate me or impress me,” he testified.
McCoy also alleged that the OceanGate engineering department was “full of college interns” during his time at the company, adding that he “doesn’t believe” there was a professional engineer on staff.
Captain Jamie Frederick, member of the US Coast Guard who oversaw rescue mission of the Titan and its five crew, will testify after McCoy. Coast Guard Search and Rescue Specialist Scott Talbot will be the last witness of the inquiry.
Key points
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Stockton Rush allegedly told employee he’d ‘buy a congressman’ to make Titan issues go away
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OceanGate engineering department full of ‘college interns,’ ex-employee testifies
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Schedule: who is testifying on final day of hearing?
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OceanGate did not ask Coast Guard to inspect Titan, inspector says
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Shock photo shows how Titan submersible fell apart before implosion
First witness, ex-OceanGate employee Matthew McCoy, finishes testimony
14:57 , James Liddell
Matthew McCoy, a former OceanGate employee who worked at the company between April and September in 2017, has finished with his testimony.
The hearing will resume at 10am ET when Captain Jamie Frederick, the US Coast Guard employee who oversaw the rescue mission of the Titan submersible, will testify.
OceanGate CEO ‘understood’ regulations but ‘didn’t hire’ a safety officer, ex-employee says
14:49 , James Liddell
When asked if OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush understood the regulations in place at that moment of time, ex-employee Matthew McCoy, who worked at the submersible company for a short stint from April 2017, replied that “I absolutely do”.
McCoy then testified that he “doesn’t believe” there was a professional engineer on staff. He added that he believes there was no safety officer working at OceanGate at the time.
OceanGate engineering department full of ‘college interns,’ former employee testifies
14:40 , James Liddell
Ex-OceanGate employee Matthew McCoy testified that the submersible’s “engineering department didn’t seem overly qualified,” while he worked at the company in 2017.
He again said he was concerned after learning that OceanGate had broken ties with Boeing and the University of Washington’s engineering department.
“Who is the qualified individual making these decisions?,” he added. McCoy claimed that OceanGate engineers consisted of “college interns” during the summer of 2017.
Ex-OceanGate employee ‘didn’t think they’d dive Titan’
14:35 , James Liddell
Matthew McCoy testified that after handing in notice following his lunch with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush (as per previous post), he “didn’t think they’d dive Titan”.
OceanGate CEO said he would ‘buy a congressman’ to make problems go away, witness testifies
14:29 , James Liddell
Matthew McCoy said he had lunch with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and OceanGate’s director of quality assurance Scott Griffith and raised concerns about an alleged lack of certificate of inspection for the first Titan sub in 2017.
“I would buy a congressman” and make the problems go away, McCoy said that Rush told him.
“He was either trying to intimidate me or impress me,” he testified.
McCoy said that he handed in his notice the following day.
Ex-OceanGate employee reveals ‘first alarm bell’
14:20 , James Liddell
“During my time there [at OceanGate], I learned that the company had basically broken ties with the applied physics lab at the University of Washington,” and the “explanation wasn’t clear” as to why, OceanGate employee Matthew McCoy testified.
He referred to this as his “first alarm bell”.
McCoy said that the second alarm bell was that “Boeing wasn’t going to be doing the carbon fiber” for the first Titan sub hull.
Ex-OceanGate employee Matthew McCoy begins giving testimony
14:06 , James Liddell
Matthew McCoy, a former member of the US Coast Guard before working for OceanGate for six months from April 2017 to September 2017, is the first witness of the day to begin testifying at approximately 9.05am ET.
“I had zero experience with any sort of underwater vehicle at the time,” he testified, before saying he helped support on test dives and training.
Titan hearing begins, despite power outage due to storm Helene
14:04 , James Liddell
Jason Neubauer of the Office of Investigations and Casualty Analysis Deputy Chief began the hearing’s final daily opening at 9am ET.
The inquiry at Charleston County Council Building, South Carolina, was predicted to be delayed due to Hurricane Helene making landfall in Florida on Thursday evening.
Despite a power outage, Neubauer says, the hearing is now under way.
Coast Guard captain who led Titan search and rescue efforts will testify later this morning
13:55 , James Liddell
A member of the US Coast Guard who oversaw the rescue mission of the Titan submersible in June 2023 is set to testify today.
Captain Jamie Frederick will give testimony at approximately 10.45am ET in front of Titan Marine Board of Investigation’s panel.
Frederick, of the First Coast Guard District Response Department, regularly spoke to press to provide information on the search for the Titan and its five passengers on board.
Schedule: Three witnesses set to testify on hearing’s final day
13:33 , James Liddell
Three more witnesses, including a final ex-OceanGate employee, are set to testify in front of Titan Marine Board of Investigation on Friday morning.
Matthew McCoy, who worked for the submersible company, will testify at 9am ET. Captain Jamie Frederick of the Coast Guard Sector Boston will address the Coast Guard’s panel at 10.45am, before Rescue Specialist Scott Talbot is due to give testimony at 1.30pm.
Closing remarks will be made at 3.15pm before the final breakdown at 5.15pm.
Titan debris 300m from Titanic site
13:03 , Alex Lang
New maps show just how close the Titan sub was to the Titanic wreck site before disaster hit.
While the Titan’s last known position before the implosion was 1,600ft away from the bow of the Titanic, its debris was found much closer to the bow at 300m away, Coast Guard officials said.
Maps were released on Thursday showing the distance between the two.
US Coast Guard to hold final day of hearings into Titan disaster
12:27 , Rachel Sharp
The US Coast Guard’s two-week long hearing into the Titan submersible is set to conclude today.
Friday’s hearing will begin with testimony from Commander Zachary Roberston of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Center.
Then, the board will hear from Captain Jamie Frederick with the Coast Guard Sector Boston. Frederick was involved with the Titan search efforts and regularly provided updates to the media last summer.
The final witness will be Scott Talbot, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard.
After the final witness, the board will hear closing statements.
Follow along here for live updates when the hearing begins.
Live coverage to resume Friday morning
02:00 , Katie Hawkinson
Live blog coverage of the Titan submersible investigative hearings is paused until the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation reconvenes on Friday morning.
OceanGate co-founder claims milestone in quest to put humans on Venus
01:00 , Katie Hawkinson
The OceanGate co-founder has claimed the latest milestone in his quest to colonise Venus as the inquiry into the Titan submersible disaster continues.
Read more:
OceanGate co-founder claims milestone in quest to put humans on Venus
Recap: Coast Guard inspector testifies
Friday 27 September 2024 00:00 , Katie Hawkinson
John Winters with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound testified today, revealing his interactions with OceanGate and Stockton Rush.
Former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush complained to Winters several times about the Coast Guard’s regulatory processes, he testified.
“He did express on multiple occasions that regulations were stifling his innovation process,” Winters said of his conversations with Rush.
Despite this, OceanGate “never attempted to circumvent any regulations,” Winters added.
Winters worked to evaluate the safety of OceanGate’s Antipodes vessel. OceanGate wanted to obtain a small passenger vessel certification from the Coast Guard but did not receive it, Winters said.
He also revealed that OceanGate did not ask the Coast Guard to inspect the doomed Titan vessel that imploded last year.
Shock photo shows how Titan submersible fell apart two years before implosion
Thursday 26 September 2024 23:00 , Katie Hawkinson
This week’s hearings revealed that, in 2021, the dome part of the doomed Titan vessel fell off after a dive.
That vessel would go on to catastrophically fail two years later, imploding underwater and killing all five people on board.
Learn more about the 2021 malfunction from The Independent:
Shock photo shows how Titan submersible fell apart before implosion
Final hearing schedule
Thursday 26 September 2024 22:00 , Katie Hawkinson
The final hearing in the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation’s inquiry into the Titan submersible will begin Friday morning.
The hearing will kick off with Commander Zachary Roberston of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Center.
Then, the board will hear from Captain Jamie Frederick with the Coast Guard Sector Boston. Frederick was involved with the Titan search efforts and regularly provided updates to the media last summer.
The witness list will end with Scott Talbot, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard.
The board will then hear closing statements before the final hearing day ends.
Hearing ends for the day
Thursday 26 September 2024 21:13 , Katie Hawkinson
Thursday’s hearing ended after Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Duffett of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance testified to the board about submersible regulations.
The final scheduled hearing in the investigation will take place tomorrow.
Coast Guard member testifies on ‘mission specialists’ and paid passengers
Thursday 26 September 2024 19:59 , Katie Hawkinson
Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Duffett of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance spoke to the issue of “mission specialists” on board the Titan and other vessels.
The issue has come up repeatedly during this hearing. Other witnesses have testified that OceanGate may have been labeling passengers as ‘mission specialists’ when they did not do specialized work on board the Titan.
“It’s clearly a dodge of trying to go around US regulations with passengers,” Karl Stanley, a close friend of CEO Stockton Rush and owner of a diving company in Honduras, testified Tuesday.
A member of the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation asked Duffett about these mission specialists: “OceanGate, on multiple occasions, took at least three people on board who paid to become OceanGate designated as ‘mission specialists’ on missions that departed from US cities…Would these ‘mission specialists’ be considered, or would this operation be considered, a small passenger vessel operation?”
Duffett told the board that regulations state that paid passengers aren’t crew members.
“If you have paid, then you don’t qualify as a member of the crew,” Duffett testified.
Second Coast Guard witness begins final testimony of the day
Thursday 26 September 2024 18:57 , Katie Hawkinson
Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Duffett of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance has begun his testimony.
He is the final witness of the day.
Coast Guard inspector ends testimony
Thursday 26 September 2024 17:47 , Katie Hawkinson
John Winters, a master marine inspector with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, has ended his testimony.
The hearing is now on break for lunch and will resume at 1:45 p.m. EDT.
OceanGate ‘never attempted to circumvent any regulations’, Coast Guard inspector said
Thursday 26 September 2024 17:34 , Katie Hawkinson
OceanGate “never attempted to circumvent any regulations” even as CEO Stockton Rush complained they were stifling his innovation, according to John Winters, a master marine inspector with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound.
“He did express on multiple occasions that regulations were stifling his innovation process,” Winters said of Rush earlier on Thursday.
OceanGate did not ask Coast Guard to inspect Titan, inspector says
Thursday 26 September 2024 17:00 , Katie Hawkinson
OceanGate did not ask the Coast Guard to inspect the doomed Titan submersible, according to John Winters, a master marine inspector with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound.
Winters said he only spoke to former Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush about the sub in passing when he mentioned wanting to take a vessel to the Titanic wreckage.
Stockton Rush complained about Coast Guard regulations, safety inspector said
Thursday 26 September 2024 16:52 , Katie Hawkinson
John Winters, a marine inspector with the Coast Guard, testified that former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush complained about regulatory processes.
“He did express on multiple occasions that regulations were stifling his innovation process,” Winters said of his conversations with Rush.
Winters worked to evaluate the safety of OceanGate’s Antipodes vessel. OceanGate wanted to obtain a small passenger vessel certification from the Coast Guard but did not receive it, Winters testified.
Coast Guard safety inspector worked with Stockton Rush to evaluate safety of OceanGate vessel
Thursday 26 September 2024 16:45 , Katie Hawkinson
John Winters, a marine inspector with the Coast Guard, interacted directly with former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, he revealed on Thursday.
Winters worked to evaluate the safety of Antipodes, another vessel made by the company.
“We basically took the submarine apart, put it back together, and tested every single system on the submarine,” Winters said.
OceanGate wanted to obtain a small passenger vessel certification from the Coast Guard but did not receive it, Winters testified. The company had to instead apply for an oceanographic research vessel certification, which they obtained.
Coast Guard marine inspector testifies
Thursday 26 September 2024 16:20 , Katie Hawkinson
John Winters with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound has begun his testimony before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation.
Winters is a master marine inspector and helps train other inspectors.
OceanGate co-founder claims milestone in quest to put humans on Venus
Thursday 26 September 2024 16:15 , Emma Guinness
The OceanGate co-founder has claimed the latest milestone in his quest to colonise Venus as the inquiry into the Titan submersible disaster continues.
Taking to LinkedIn, Guillermo Söhnlein, 58, shared a post about a new “biopod” with its own climate system that could be used to help humans thrive on the otherwise uninhabitable planet.
Read more:
OceanGate co-founder claims milestone in quest to put humans on Venus
Boeing engineer begins testimony
Thursday 26 September 2024 15:17 , Katie Hawkinson
Mark Negley, an engineer with Boeing, is now testifying before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation
Negley once sent Rush his safety analysis of Titan’s hull, WIRED reports. He warned that there would be a “high risk of significant failure” if the contraption went to the depth of the Titanic wreckage.
Shock photo shows how Titan submersible fell apart before implosion
Thursday 26 September 2024 15:14 , Emma Guinness
The ongoing public hearing into the Titan submersible disaster has revealed that part of the experimental vessel fell off before it imploded last June.
Better known as the “Titanic tourist sub”, the Oceangate submersible had a controversial design that raised concerns inside and outside of the company before it led to the deaths of five men. Former Oceangate operations director David Lochridge revealed last week that he was actually fired for raising his concerns.
It is believed that the vessel’s carbon fibre hull – considered by experts to be unsuitable for use at depth – was weakened on repeat dives to the Titanic wreck, which lies at around 12,500 feet below the North Atlantic Ocean, as testified by National Transportation Safety Board engineer Don Kramer on Wednesday.
Read more:
Shock photo shows how Titan submersible fell apart before implosion
Thursday hearing kicks off with NASA engineer
Thursday 26 September 2024 14:22 , Katie Hawkinson
Today’s hearing before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation kicked off with testimony from Justin Jackson, a materials engineer with NASA.
OceanGate had approached NASA about performance testing in their deep-sea facility, Jackson’s testimony revealed.
Soon afterward, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and OceanGate sought other partners as in-person facility use was limited, Jackson said.
Testimony to resume on Thursday
Thursday 26 September 2024 13:18 , Alex Lang
Testimony in the OceanGate Titan sub hearings before the US Coast Guard are set to resume today.
Expected to testify are experts from the Coast Guard, NASA and Boeing. They are expected to talk more about the disaster that claimed the lives of five people.
It’s part of 10 days worth of testimony as investigators try to determine what went wrong before the implosion and if there were warning signs that were missed by OceanGate officials.
Blog coverage to resume Thursday morning
Thursday 26 September 2024 02:00 , Katie Hawkinson
Wednesday’s testimony before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation has ended.
Blog coverage will resume when the next hearing begins on Thursday morning.
ICYMI: Watch as long-time friend of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush testifies that Titan sub explosion was ‘expected’
Thursday 26 September 2024 01:00 , Katie Hawkinson
ICYMI: New photos of Titan wreckage revealed
Thursday 26 September 2024 00:00 , Katie Hawkinson
Recap: OceanGate specialist sobs as she remembers last time seeing Titan submersible crew
Wednesday 25 September 2024 23:00 , Katie Hawkinson
‘Root cause’ of Titan sub implosion unknown, engineer says
Wednesday 25 September 2024 22:21 , Katie Hawkinson
The root cause of the implosion on the Titan sub is still unknown, according to Bart Kemper, principal engineer of Kemper Engineering.
”The root cause for the implosion is indeterminate,” Kemper testified on Wednesday. “At this time, there are multiple unmitigated single-point failures…which means that all it takes is that one thing for the whole thing to go.”
Thursday testimony schedule
Wednesday 25 September 2024 22:00 , Katie Hawkinson
Testimony will resume on Thursday as the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation continues its inquiry into the 2023 Titan sub implosion that killed all five people on board.
Thursday’s hearing will kick off with testimony from Justin Jackson, a materials engineer at NASA. Afterward, Mark Negley of Boeing will testify. Negley once sent Rush his safety analysis of Titan’s hull, WIRED reports.
Afterward, John Winters with the Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound will give his testimony. The day will end with Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Duffett of the Coast Guard Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance.
An engineer testified the Titan sub’s hull showed signs of ‘delamination.’ What does that mean?
Wednesday 25 September 2024 21:20 , Katie Hawkinson
Much of the Titan sub’s hull showed signs of “delamination,” Dr. Don Kramer, an engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board, testified on Wednesday, citing wreckage from the 2023 implosion.
Delamination occurs when the layers of the hull begin to separate. Layers of carbon fiber were laminated, or bonded together, to create the sub’s hull.
Kramer’s testimony was accompnaied by haunting new photos of the Titan sub wreckage.
OceanGate CEO didn’t understand the word ‘no,’ engineer testified
Wednesday 25 September 2024 20:56 , Katie Hawkinson
William Kohnen, CEO of Hydrospace Group Inc. and chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee said OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush was not open to criticism when he testified on Wednesday.
“I don’t think many people ever told Stockton, ‘no.’ Don’t think he understood that concept very much,” Kohnen said.
Rush’s long-time friend, Karl Stanley, also testified on Tuesday that the former OceanGate CEO seemed “scared” while on board his Titan sub in 2019.
Final witness of the day to testify
Wednesday 25 September 2024 19:55 , Katie Hawkinson
William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. has ended his testimony.
The final witness today is Bart Kemper, principal engineer of Kemper Engineering. His testimony is set to begin any moment.
ICYMI: OceanGate’s Titan submarine relied on ‘idiotic’ Excel spreadsheet
Wednesday 25 September 2024 19:47 , Anthony Cuthbertson
OceanGate used a hand-typed Excel spreadsheet to track its ill-fated Titan submersible, according to a former contractor for the firm.
A hearing into OceanGate’s Titan sub, which imploded during an expedition to the wreck of the Titanic last year, revealed that its navigation system allegedly relied on team members manually inputting the coordinate data into a spreadsheet in order to track the vessel.
The incident last July killed all five people on board, including OceanGate’s CEO and co-founder Stockton Rush.
Read more:
OceanGate’s submarine relied on ‘idiotic’ Excel spreadsheet
Recap: Titan sub carbon fiber hull may have been flawed, engineer said
Wednesday 25 September 2024 19:38 , Katie Hawkinson
Dr. Don Kramer, an engineer with the National Transportation Safety Board, testified earlier today that the Titan sub’s carbon fiber hull showed signs of flaws.
William Kohnen, chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee, also noted that former OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush was not open to criticism.
“I don’t think many people ever told Stockton no,” Kohnen said. “Don’t think he understood that concept very much.”
“This is not something where we don’t want you to do it,” he added. “We want you to do it right.”
Hearing resumes with testimony from William Kohnen
Wednesday 25 September 2024 18:42 , Katie Hawkinson
The hearing has resumed.
William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. will continue testifying before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation.
Hearing adjourns for lunch
Wednesday 25 September 2024 17:37 , Katie Hawkinson
The Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation hearing has adjourned for lunch.
Testimony will resume at 1:40 p.m. EDT.
ICYMI: Watch as long-time friend of OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush testifies that Titan sub explosion was ‘expected’
Wednesday 25 September 2024 17:32 , Katie Hawkinson
Were warning signs ignored? Things to know about this week’s testimony on the Titan sub disaster
Wednesday 25 September 2024 16:40 , Katie Hawkinson
As testimony continues today, check out a recap of the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation’s work so far and what witnesses have said in recent days:
Were warning signs ignored? Things to know about this week’s testimony on the Titan sub disaster
Wednesday 25 September 2024 16:05 , Katie Hawkinson
William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. is now testifying before the Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation.
Kohnen is also the chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee.
Hearing schedule for Wednesday afternoon
Wednesday 25 September 2024 15:44 , Katie Hawkinson
After Dr. Don Kramer, National Transportation Safety Board engineer, ended his testimony on Wednesday morning, the board will hear from two more witnesses.
First up is William Kohnen with Hydrospace Group Inc. He is also the chairman of the Manned Underwater Vehicles Committee. His testimony is set to begin at 11 a.m. EDT.
Afterward, Bart Kemper, principal engineer of Kemper Engineering, will testify.
See it: New images of Titan sub wreckage revealed
Wednesday 25 September 2024 14:47 , Katie Hawkinson
Dr. Don Kramer ends testimony as hearing moves to questions
Wednesday 25 September 2024 14:32 , Katie Hawkinson
Dr. Don Kramer, a National Transportation Safety Board engineer, has ended his testimony, during which he analyzed the wreckage of the Titan sub.
Members of the board now have the opportunity to ask Kramer questions.
Proceedings begin
Wednesday 25 September 2024 13:48 , Rhian Lubin
Today’s hearing has started.
Jason Neubauer, the board chairman, is currently opening proceedings.
The first witness, Dr Don Kramer, is sworn in.
Recap: Testimony has focused on troubled nature of the company
Wednesday 25 September 2024 13:40 , Rhian Lubin
The hearing is due to conclude on Friday after two weeks of evidence. Much of it has so far focused on the troubled nature of the company.
Former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge told the hearing how he frequently clashed with CEO Stockton 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.”
Lochridge and other previous witnesses painted a picture of a company that was impatient to get its unconventionally designed craft into the water.
On Monday the investigative panel heard testimony from Guillermo Sohnlein, Roy Thomas and Phil Brooks.
Sohnlein co-founded OceanGate with Rush in 2009 but left the company in 2013. Despite the panel’s efforts, Sohnlein said the world may never know what led to tragedy.
Thomas, an engineer for the American Bureau of Shipping, one of the main classifying agencies for submersibles, spoke about complications with using carbon fiber materials. After repeated dives, the materials are susceptible to becoming “deformed” and subsequently “fail,” he said, adding OceanGate never tried to seek classification with the agency.
Rush designed the vessel with a carbon fiber hull. The agency would not have classified the sub using that material.
Brooks, a senior hardware engineer, spoke about his role in analyzing data for OceanGate and the company’s lack of funds.
The “company was economically stressed” and asked him to go without paychecks, he said.
