OceanGate whistleblower details experience as Coast Guard Titan hearings resume

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Financial woes, safety concerns, a lightning strike and final messages sent by the Titan submersible were highlighted as a Coast Guard hearing was underway in North Charleston.

Here’s what happened Monday before Day 2 of the hearing begins.

MORE ON THE TITAN SUBMERSIBLE

The day began with a basic breakdown of facts gathered regarding the Titan, a manned submersible set out to explore the Titanic wreckage when it imploded. Following the breakdown came an animation revealing Titan’s last messages to its support vessel, POLAR PRINCE, before all contact was lost.

The former OceanGate Engineering Director Tony Nissen was the first witnesses called to the stand. Throughout his testimony, he maintained developing the Titan and its prototypes had problems that heightened throughout his employment including being struck by lightning while in the Bahamas.

Nissen said he later discovered a crack in a prototype hull which he attributed to the lightning strike. When he notified Stockton Rush, OceanGate’s founder and CEO, that the vessel was likely compromised, Stockton said, “It would be okay,” Nissen alleged.

These events led Nissen to not sign off on a July 2019 expedition, Stockton wanted the Titan to perform as the crack had not been addressed. Nissen was fired in July 2019 for not signing off, he testified. This was not out of character, according to Nissen. He explained Stockton always got what he wanted or it was “death by a thousand cuts.”

Next up to the witness stand, virtually, was Bonnie Carl, OceanGate’s former human resources and finance director. Carl said that while she was there from March 2017 to her exit in February 2018 money was always tight.

The company rarely had money coming in and shareholders were mainly Stockton’s friends and family. Sometimes when money was low, Stockton would provide a temporary loan to the company for payroll payments, Carl testified.

Despite this, she said the reason for her exit was OceanGate’s attitude towards safety concerns raised. In one instance, Carl recounted seeing what she estimated to be 18-year-old’s “wrenching away on equipment.”

As the day came to a close, Coast Guard panelists called Tym Catterson, a longtime former contractor for the company, to speak. Catterson also reinforced the theme of safety concerns among OceanGate employees.

He told panelists that he himself would not have felt comfortable going down to the Titanic in the submersible although he was present on the dive platform the day of the implosion.

Catterson explained he brought his concerns to Stockton and other top employees over six times however he was told several engineers were working on the vessel and Stockton was confident in it.

For day two of the Titan Marine Board of Investigation hearings, former Marine Operations Director David Lochridge will be questioned the entire time.

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2:26 p.m.

Lochridge says after signing the settlement agreement, he understood that he could not share with the Coast Guard or any other agency his experience at OceanGate unless subpoenaed.

2:21 p.m.

Lochridge reads full settlement agreement below.

2:15 p.m.

Lochridge stated that he dropped his OSHA claim and settled with OceanGate. Lochridge did not pay anything and neither did OceanGate.

2:03 p.m. – 2:05 p.m.

Lochridge said the day he and his wife were traveling back to Scotland for his father-in-law’s funeral he was served with lawsuit papers from OceanGate attorney’s.

On July 10, after reaching out to OSHA, he received a letter back saying the organization would investigate as soon as possible.

1:52 p.m. – 2:01 p.m.

March 16, 2018 Lochridge was sent a settlement agreement to OceanGate where they wanted him to pay $10,000. Lochridge declined to pay and sent that proof to OSHA.

Lochridge said OceanGate’s filings against him were threats but not an official countersuit. The threats were on the basis that his claims were invalid. He said he did not release any records to anyone but OSHA.

Continuing Lochridge said he was looking for advice from OSHA further as he thought he was protected under the Whistleblower Protection Program, but was getting nowhere.

12:19 p.m.

OSHA sent a letter to OceanGate and the Coast Guard informing them of Lochridge’s complaint on Mar. 7, 2018. OceanGate responded demanding Lochridge settle and pay their lawyer expenses for dealing with the suit, Lochridge testified.

11:59 a.m. – 12:04 p.m.

Lochridge details correspondence.

11:58 a.m.

Allegedly, Lochridge was under the Whistleblower Protection Program for 10 months.

11:46 a.m.

In February after his firing, Lochridge said he informed OSHA of his concerns over his time at OceanGate and started the process to placed under whistleblower protection.

11:44 a.m.

When he was fired on January 19, 2018, Lochridge said OceanGate was waiting on only two components for the Titan.

11:37 a.m.

Lochridge recommended that Titan testing be unmanned. He said companies do not typically do manned testing until after several pressure tests have been run on submersible hulls. He said Stockton wanted to do manned testing on the Titan before normal testing had been ran.

11:33 p.m.

Lochridge said he had “zero confidence” in former Engineering Director Tony Nissen and his capabilities when it came to building the Titan.

11:28 a.m.

Stockton spoke on a taped recording about Titan carbon fiber hull saying, “It doesn’t just implode, it screams like a m*****f***** and then it implodes,” Lochridge testifies.

11:23 a.m.

Lochridge was not allowed to go into board meetings because they were “afraid he would open his mouth”, according to his testimony. He explained he would report everything to senior management and not shy away from raising safety concerns.

10:53 a.m.

A former Coast Guard petty officer named Matt was also brought on to the Titan project in the beginning stages however left after a period due to disagreements on safety, according to Lochridge.

10:47 a.m.

Lochridge testifies OceanGate’s former human resources employee who testified on Monday was with him as a trainee when refused to sign off on the production pieces of Titan.

10:40 a.m.

One example of Stockton keeping things cheap was by using a vacuum bag on the balast bag for initial engineering of the Titan, according to Lochridge. Lochridge did testify that he does not know whether any of Stockton’s engineered pieces made it onto the final Titan.

10:36 a.m.

Stockton like to keep things less expensive, according to Lochridge.

10:27 a.m.

Lochridge explained when the initial Titan hull came in he could visibly see damage and imperfections all throughout it.

10:15 a.m.

Lochridge reads and breaks down engineering report he wrote in January 2018 regarding the Titan.

10:10 a.m. – 10:12 a.m.

Lochridge was initially not apart of the team inspecting parts for the Titan project until he asked to be placed on it. He said none of the components for the project were adequate and he consistently voiced opposition calling the equipment faulty and deficient.

10:07 a.m.

Lochridge said he had “no confidence whatsoever” in how the Titan was being built during in 2017 and voiced the concerns. Himself and several others on the project all voiced concerns over the project.

He said some of the engineering team was coming directly from college and some had not even been to college and they were all brought on by Tony Nissen.

9:54 a.m.

Lochridge said he and the former Engineering Director Tony Nissen, who we heard from in day 1, did not have a relationship at all because Nissen did not like what he had to say.

9:48 a.m.

In August or September 2016, OceanGate wanted to deleted an addition added to Lochridge’s contract that stated the company would have to pay for his wife and his daughter’s residence after immigrating from Scotland.

Lochridge said Stockton sat down with him saying he wanted to delete the addition in the contract so Lochridge told Stockton he was leaving.

The next day Stockton had a change of heart and said he was taking back what he said, however he wanted Lochridge to agree to a contract addendum that said Lochridge would have to pay back what was left of his contract if he left, Lochridge testified. He said he agreed but was also told by Stockton to not tell immigration services about the addendum.

9:44 a.m.

Stockton and Nissen told Lochridge to not have any contact with Dave Dyer who was an applied physics lab teammate. Lochridge said there was talk of having Boeing and NASA involved in the Cyclops 1 project, however he never saw any evidence of this.

He originally believed the Cyclops would eventually be classed “100%.”

9:41 a.m.

After dropping the partnership with the physics lab, Stockton started in-house engineering and brought in former engineering director Tony Nissen, Lochridge said.

9:27 a.m.

Lochridge testifies if Stockton was unhappy he would make things hard on everyone else especially regarding the University of Washington Applied Physics Lab team. He maintained that he himself had a good relationship with the lab.

9:25 a.m.

Stockton was aware that he was required to notify the Coast Guard of dives, although he did not notify for the Andrea Doria dive, according to Lochridge.

9:22 a.m.

Three mission specialists were aboard the Andrea Doria dive and those mission specialists were paid clients, according to Lochridge. “98%” of the time Lochridge would take the mission specialists down on the dives as he was the most qualified, he testified.

9:19 a.m.

In short, Stockton did not listen to Lochridge on a dive to the Andrea Doria in the Cyclops 1 and incorrectly dived, damaging the vessel they were in. While they were on the dive and after the damage, Lochridge said Stockton panicked. Lochridge took over and got the team back to the top.

During this, Stockton allegedly threw the submersible controller at Lochridge’s head during the dive while the submersible was stuck.

Hear the full recounting below.

9:07 a.m.

The University of Washington Applied Physics Lab was phased out and after an incident Lochridge was also phased out of the projects by spring 2017, Lochridge said.

When asked why he was phased out, Lochridge said he embarrassed Stockton on a trip to the Andrea Doria wreckage in summer 2016 accidentally.

9:06 a.m.

The Titan project “was nothing” in 2016 when Lochridge came aboard, he said. They were still testing things on Cyclops 1 and “it was still in its infancy,” Lochridge explained.

9:05 a.m.

Cyclops 1 was initially a classed submersible, but when it came to be owned by OceanGate several modifications were made that took it out of classification. OceanGate did not have the submersible reclassed afterward, according to Lochridge.

9:01 a.m.

Lochridge testifies he never did any work on the Titan and was kept away from the Titan project. He told panelists he raised concerns several times throughout the time he worked there as he “doesn’t like being bullied into things.”

8:58 a.m.

Lochridge said there was no pilot training set for employees when he arrived at OceanGate in 2016.

8:57 a.m.

Lochridge said he was responsible for communications with ABS when the company would get Antipodes, a submersible, classed.

8:55 a.m.

The former operations chief said he was the only pilot qualified for piloting OceanGate’s submersibles in his eyes. He said the three employees he was in charge of did not get qualified to pilot the submersibles in OceanGate’s arsenal.

8:51 a.m.

Cyclops 1 was not classed when Lochridge went for his first meeting upon being hired at OceanGate. He was initially hired for director of marine operations and was taken on as a contractor. Lochridge said he began working for OceanGate in 2016 after getting a work visa to move from Scotland.

8:49 a.m.

Lochridge says the Cyclops 1 was not classified by the American Bureau Shipping classification agency, however he said he believes it is very important that submersibles are classified.

Cyclops 1 was the prototype for Cyclops 2 which became the Titan that imploded.

8:45 a.m.

Lochridge approximates he has piloted about seven to ten submersibles. He had to go through a pilot training for each which he said was about three years.

8:41 a.m.

Former OceanGate operations director explains his professional background.

8:36 a.m.

Former OceanGate Operations Director David Lochridge called to testify.

8:34 a.m.

Neubauer clarifies that the former OceanGate engineering director who testified on Day 1 about the cracked hull was a prototype that was not used in any Titanic expeditions.

8:30 a.m.

Opening statement and review of hearing rules by U.S. Coast Guard Chief of Office of Investigations Jason Neubauer.

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