Doomed Titan submersible 'malfunctioned' days before fatal trip to Titanic

Dr Steven Ross, Oceangate's scientific director, has told a panel about a malfunction aboard the Titan submersible days before its doomed trip to the Titanic in June 2023

The Titan submersible which imploded with the loss of all hands during a dive to see Titanic had malfunctioned days before the fatal dive, a hearing into the disaster was told.

Dr Steven Ross, former scientific director for Oceangate - the company which owned the doomed vessel - has been called to speak before a US coast guard panel Today he told the board about a "platform issue" the experimental sub experienced in June 2023. During the incident, passengers onboard "tumbled about" and it took an hour to get them out of the water.

Days later, the submersible was lowered into the Atlantic. British adventurer Hamish Harding and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood died alongside OceanGate Expeditions' chief executive Stockton Rush and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet when it imploded on its journey into the deep. 

Mr Ross said the submersible pilot, OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush, crashed into bulkheading during the malfunction. He added: "One passenger was hanging upside down. The other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap."

He added he did not know if an assessment of the Titan hull was performed after the incident. Earlier this week, the Coast Guard opened a public hearing as part of a high-level investigation into the cause of the implosion. The public hearing began on September 16 and some of the testimony has focused on problems the company had prior to the fatal 2023 dive.

Earlier inthe hearing, former OceanGate operations director David Lochridge described how he frequently clashed with Rush and felt the company was committed only to making money. He said: "The whole idea behind the company was to make money. There was very little in the way of science." 

Coast Guard officials noted at the start of the hearing the submersible had yet to be independently reviewed, as is standard practice. Titan's unusual design also subjected it to scrutiny in the undersea exploration community. OceanGate, based in Washington state, suspended operations after the implosion. The company currently has no full-time employees but was represented by an attorney during the hearing.

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.

Earlier this week footage was released showing "the aft dome, aft ring, remnants of the hull and carbon fibre debris." It also shows the port hole from which the men would have viewed the ill-fated liner. The hearing is expected to run through Friday, with more witnesses to come.