Former OceanGate employee told colleague he was worried CEO would get himself and others killed in leaked email
A former Oceangate employee expressed fears about the safety of the Titan submersible in emails which have since been leaked.
David Lochridge worked as Oceangate's director of marine operations until 2018, when he raised concerns about the safety of the submersible.
The worries were raised during the construction of the Titan sub, which imploded on a trip to the wreck of the Titanic on 18 June.
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Now, it has been revealed that Lochridge had emailed Rob McCallum, a project associate at Oceangate until he too left over safety concerns, expressing his fears over the ill-fated project.
The series of messages communicated his fear that Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush would end up dying on the submersible, fears which ultimately would be proven correct as Rush was among the five people on board the vessel when it suffered a 'catastrophic implosion'.
According to The New Yorker, Lochridge said in an email: "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.
"I would consider myself pretty ballsy when it comes to doing things that are dangerous, but that sub is an accident waiting to happen.
"There’s no way on earth you could have paid me to dive the thing."
Just a few days before he sent the email, Lochridge had reportedly inspected every important element of the submersible. The result of the report had been a forest of red flags.
For one, court documents from a lawsuit, which has since been settled, indicated that glue at the seams of ballast bags in place had been coming away. There was also allegedly the problem that improperly placed mounting bolts had threatened to cause a rupture in the submersible.
In addition, the sub reportedly had 'snagging hazards'. These were made up of important components being attached to the sub with zip ties.
This came alongside Lochridge's concerns of flammable flooring and a lining that would emit toxic gases if it caught fire.
And key among his concerns was the fact that the hull was made out of carbon fibre, a material which was completely untested at the depth where the Titanic rests.
In a report refusing to sign off on the sub, Lochridge wrote: "Verbal communication of the key items I have addressed in my attached document have been dismissed on several occasions, so I feel now I must make this report so there is an official record in place.
"Until suitable corrective actions are in place and closed out, Cyclops 2 (Titan) should not be manned during any of the upcoming trials."
Kit Roberts