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.
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.
Lochridgehad raised of the submersible ahead of its doomed voyage.
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 .
“I’m sure the industry thinks I’m a f****** idiot.
“That’s fine, . 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.”;
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.
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.”;
Lochridgewas 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.”;
Lochridgewould 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.
