Chilling audio of doomed Titan sub boss ‘sacking engineer who questioned mission's safety' before imposion tragedy
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CHILLING new audio reveals the moment OceanGate's founder fired the company's operations director who voiced safety concerns about the ill-fated Titan sub.
The audio clip was obtained by Netflix and has been used in its documentary Titan: The OceanGate Disaster.
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The vessel imploded during a June 2023 expedition that initially prompted a major rescue operation
Credit: BBC
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Stockton Rush would go on to be one of the victims of the Titan disaster
Credit: BBC
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Lochridge had branded the Titan submersible as being 'unsafe'
Credit: Netflix
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Lochridge would go on to inform the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of Titan's safety issues after he was fired
Credit: AP
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American businessman Stockton Rush, who would go on to be one of the victims of the Titan disaster, can be heard David Lochridge in the clip.
Lochridge had raised concerns around the safety of the submersible ahead of its doomed voyage.
Rush tells him: "I don't want anybody in this company who is uncomfortable with what we are doing.
"We're doing weird s*** here. I'm definitely out of the mold, I am doing things that are completely non-standard.
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"I'm sure the industry thinks I'm a f****** idiot.
"That's fine, they've been doing that for years. And I'm going to continue on the way I am doing."
A woman can be heard saying: "We need David on this crew, in my opinion we need him here."
Lochridge says Rush's remarks left him "a tad let down" and "pretty gutted".
"This is the first time on paper I've ever put any health and safety concerns," he adds.
"You know every expedition we have had, we've had issues."
'What's that bang?' Chilling moment sound of doomed Titan sub imploding heard from support ship
Rush concedes the point, and Lochridge asks him: "Do you now want to let me go?"
But Rush bluntly replies: "I don't see we have a choice."
Rush would later die on board the Titan alongside Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
The vessel imploded during a June 2023 expedition that initially prompted a major rescue operation.
But the discovery of a piece debris in the North Atlantic dashed any hopes of a successful rescue mission.
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Despite warnings from experts and former OceanGate staff, Titan continued to make dives
Credit: BBC
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Remains of the Titan submersible
Credit: AP
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Stockton Rush wearing life jacket and hard hat
Credit: BBC
Speaking to filmmakers, Lochridge said: "To me it was just sheer arrogance.
"I didn't know what to say, but I was blown away that at this point they were willing to play Russian roulette."
Lochridge was fired back in 2018 after he had worked at the firm for three years.
In one email to an associate, he expressed fears that Rush would be killed, the MailOnline has reported.
"I don't want to be seen as a tattle tale but I'm so worried he kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego," he said.
"I would consider myself pretty ballsy when it comes to doing things that are dangerous, but that sub is an accident waiting to happen."
Lochridge would go on to inform the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of Titan's safety issues after he was fired.
He reportedly got a settlement and release agreement from OceanGate's lawyers after flagging these concerns with OSHA.
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