US Coast Guard Recovers Final Parts of Titan Sub Wreckage, More ‘Presumed Human Remains’
As a reminder, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush didn’t hire ’50-Year-Old white guys’ with experience to guide the sub because they aren’t ‘inspirational’.
Legal Insurrection readers will recall that in June, a deep-sea submersible carrying five people on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic was found in pieces from a “catastrophic implosion” that killed everyone aboard. Our own James McNault did a detailed assessment of the sequence of events that led to the disaster.
U.S. Coast Guard officials have now announced that the final parts of the wreckage and additional “presumed human remains” were recently recovered from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Marine safety engineers for the US Coast Guard recovered several parts of the wreckage, including the 22-foot vessel’s intact titanium endcap, from the ocean floor Wednesday.
The artifacts were located roughly 1,600 feet from the Titanic, the submersible’s destination when it imploded in June, killing all five passengers on board.
“Additional presumed human remains were carefully recovered from within Titan’s debris and transported for analysis by US medical professionals,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The salvage mission was the second, and likely final, to the watery grave. Other human remains and pieces of the Titan were recovered 10 days after it imploded on June 18.
It is being reported that an international investigation into the disaster will continue, and the Coast Guard plans to have a public hearing at a future date.
US court documents uncovered after the implosion indicated that Mr Rush ignored safety warnings about the submersible. OceanGate, which organised dives in locations around the world, suspended all operations after the disaster.
The hull of the Titan was made from carbon fibre, with titanium end plates and a small window at one end. Carbon fibre is cheaper than titanium or steel and is extremely strong, but it is a largely untested and unusual material for deep sea dives with human passengers.
As a reminder, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush didn’t hire ’50-Year-Old white guys’ with experience to guide the sub because they aren’t ‘inspirational’, and also directed the company to skim on safety inspections.
Stockton Rush, 61, added that such expertise was unnecessary because “anybody can drive the sub” with a $30 video game controller.
“When I started the business, one of the things you’ll find, there are other sub-operators out there, but they typically have, uh, gentlemen who are ex-military submariners, and they — you’ll see a whole bunch of 50-year-old white guys,” Rush told Teledyne Marine in a newly resurfaced undated Zoom interview.
“I wanted our team to be younger, to be inspirational and I’m not going to inspire a 16-year-old to go pursue marine technology, but a 25-year-old, uh, you know, who’s a sub pilot or a platform operator or one of our techs can be inspirational,” he continued.
CEO of #OceanGate Stockton Rush explaining that he didn’t want to hire “50 year old white guys” as subject matter experts. Stockton and his submersible are now missing at the bottom of the ocean. pic.twitter.com/cdefHPG8DS
— Revilo P. Oliver☀️ (@SawelSurfer) June 21, 2023
I am just glad that the recovery didn’t cost the life of one of the US Coast Guard personnel.
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Comments
Dude is such a colossal dumbass. I guess the craziest part is that he convinced other people to join him.
I mean the only nice thing I can say about him is that at least he walked the walk and had the good grace to die in his own deathtrap, as opposed to most jackasses like him that only get OTHER people killed.
Well, he did both. Got himself and other people killed. I think it’s worthwhile to spit on his watery grave because he probably had a lot more inside knowledge than his passengers did.
I agree. Anyone involved with submarines should have a healthy respect for pressure. Deep in the ocean is perhaps the most hostile environment on the planet, and in a lot of ways is far more dangerous than outer space. Rush cut corners and seems to have just assumed that because his little sub made a few successful dives that it was safe. And I think there’s an assumption with this sort of “adventure tourism” that everything is under control and safe. It’s like the people who pay immense amounts of money to climb Mount Everest… how many corpses litter the mountain? Every one of those people thought they’d be fine at the start of their journey.
Why is the Coast Guard wasting taxpayer money recovering and analyzing the remains of a private venture? OceanGate should have paid for it. If not, then the remains should have been left at the bottom of the ocean.
That was my post. My first thought was “why is America paying for this when it’s a British Company”? but I was mistaken as it is an American company. I still don’t know why we are paying to recover it. Leave is where it is.
gain evidence for asset seizure from the sure to be upcoming civil suits?
British company or American company doesn’t matter. The question remains: Why is the Coast Guard expending resources to recover the wreckage of this privately owned vehicle and the remains of the occupants? The costs must run to the millions just in crew costs, maintenance, and fuel. Would they go to these lengths to recover the wreckage of a small deep sea fishing vessel?
It’s not the government’s responsibility to collect evidence for use by either side in civil lawsuits.
One could as easily condemn the entire “boating safety inspection and enforcement” mission of the CG as “wasting tax money.” But it’s what they do.
The inspection and enforcement mission is to a) generate revenue and b) show who’s boss to the masses out for a boat ride, or those who wish to drown some string.