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OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush allegedly declared that he would “buy a congressman” to make issues surrounding the Titan sub’s certification go away, a witness testified.
Matthew McCoy, who worked at the submersible company for six months from April 2017, addressed the Titan Marine Board of Investigation panel on Friday for the final day of the two-week long hearing into Titan’s disaster voyage in June 2023.
After raising concerns about an alleged lack of certificate of inspection for the first Titan sub in 2017, McCoy testified that Rush told him, “I would buy a congressman” to make problems disappear during a lunch meeting. The ex-OceanGate employee said that he quit soon after.
“He was either trying to intimidate me or impress me,” he testified.
McCoy also alleged that the OceanGate engineering department was “full of college interns” during his time at the company, adding that he “doesn’t believe” there was a professional engineer on staff.
Captain Jamie Frederick, member of the US Coast Guard who oversaw rescue mission of the Titan and its five crew, began testifying after McCoy. Coast Guard Search and Rescue Specialist Scott Talbot was the last person to testify.
OceanGate CEO ‘understood’ regulations but ‘didn’t hire’ a safety officer, ex-employee says
When asked if OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush understood the regulations in place at that moment of time, ex-employee Matthew McCoy, who worked at the submersible company for a short stint from April 2017, replied that “I absolutely do”.
McCoy then testified that he “doesn’t believe” there was a professional engineer on staff. He added that he believes there was no safety officer working at OceanGate at the time.
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 21:22
‘First subsurface search and rescue case in my 30-year Coast Guard career,’ witness testifies
Captain Jamie Frederick of the US Coast Guard detailed the unprecedented situation that the Titan search and rescue mission brought with it.
He said that in the entirety of his 30 year Coast Guard career, most of which was conducting search and rescue missions, he’d never been deployed on a subsurface mission.
Frederick testified that he isn’t aware of any other subsurface S&R missions conducted by the Coast Guard before.
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 21:07
The Coast Guard’s nearly two-week hearing on the Titan sub tragedy has concluded
Coast Guard and NTSB officials gave a brief statement before concluding with the hearing on Friday.
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 20:32
Hearing about to conclude with closing statements
Talbot has finished speaking. After a quick break, Coast Guard officials will return to begin closing statements.
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 20:20
OceanGate refused to execute search patters sent by Coast Guard
Talbot says the company did not do the search patterns given by the Coast Guard because they were “more concerned [Titan] had not resurfaced and were focused on finding its location sub surface with the equipment they had on board.”
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 20:00
US Coast Guard has not updated safety protocols after Titan submersible tragedy
Talbot says the federal agency has not made any changes to their standards when responding to sub sea incidents after the Titan tragedy but suspects that an after action report could yield some changes.
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 19:43
Read it: OceanGate confirms earlier prototype of imploded Titan submersible was struck by lightning
Citing public records, the representative explained that it was, in fact, an earlier prototype hull that was struck by lightning in 2018.
This comes after OceanGate’s former engineering director, Tony Nissen, testified on Monday during the US Coast Guard’s public inquiry into the implosion, saying he believed the hull had been compromised by a lightning strike during the test dive in the Bahamas.
Read more by Emma Guinness.
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 19:16
Scott Talbot, a search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard, is currently testifying
Talbot is testifying about the US Coast Guard’s response to the OceanGate tragedy.
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 18:52
Coast Guard captain who led Titan search and rescue efforts will testify later this morning
A member of the US Coast Guard who oversaw the rescue mission of the Titan submersible in June 2023 is set to testify today.
Captain Jamie Frederick will give testimony at approximately 10.45am ET in front of Titan Marine Board of Investigation’s panel.
Frederick, of the First Coast Guard District Response Department, regularly spoke to press to provide information on the search for the Titan and its five passengers on board.
Michelle Del Rey27 September 2024 18:38
