Two years after the world was stunned by the tragic implosion of the Titan submersible, Netflix’s new documentary Titan:
The OceanGate Disaster has added fuel to the fire with the release of a haunting audio recording.
In it, OceanGate’s co-founder Stockton Rush is heard firing his director of operations, David Lochridge—the man who had dared to question the safety of the ill-fated vessel.
The clip doesn’t just reveal a tense moment in the company’s history; it lays bare the internal conflict that may have foretold the disaster waiting to happen.
The Conversation That Changed Everything
Back in 2018—years before the sub’s final descent to the Titanic wreck—Rush can be heard in the recording brushing off Lochridge’s concerns.
His words were blunt and unwavering.
“I don’t want anybody in this company who is uncomfortable with what we are doing,” Rush said, insisting he wasn’t like others in the industry and would keep pushing the limits.
Despite someone in the room vouching for Lochridge’s value to the team, Rush remained unmoved.
When Lochridge asked outright if he was being let go, Rush confirmed, “I don’t see we have a choice.”
Warnings That Went Unheeded
Lochridge, who had worked at OceanGate for three years, said the conversation hit him hard.
But it wasn’t just the dismissal that hurt—it was what it meant for the future of the Titan and those who would one day step inside it.
He had been raising safety red flags long before that moment, warning about the sub’s design flaws, construction shortcuts, and malfunctioning equipment.
In the Netflix documentary, he explains that his warnings weren’t isolated incidents.
Every OceanGate expedition, he said, had some kind of problem.
From Concerned Insider to Whistleblower
After his firing, Lochridge didn’t walk away quietly. He took action, reporting his fears to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
He had already filed a lawsuit against OceanGate, laying out a list of deeply concerning issues—things like faulty mounting bolts and ballast bags that were literally glued together, risking structural failure under intense pressure.
In his view, Rush wasn’t just taking risks—he was gambling with lives.
Cost-Cutting Over Caution
Lochridge later testified at a Coast Guard hearing that Rush was obsessed with doing things “on the cheap.”
He showed officials photos of critical life-support components made from plastic storage containers and computer fans—equipment that looked more like it belonged in a DIY garage than on a submersible headed for the Titanic.
He said he tried to be diplomatic and “humor” Rush’s approach, but in the end, the tech just didn’t hold up.
The Dive That Ended in Tragedy
In June 2023, Rush and four passengers—Hamish Harding, Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet—boarded the Titan for what was meant to be an awe-inspiring dive to the bottom of the Atlantic.
Instead, the sub imploded roughly 90 minutes into its descent, just 330 yards from the Titanic’s bow.
One of the most chilling moments in the documentary shows Rush’s wife, Wendy, aboard the support vessel when a loud bang is heard.
“What was that bang?” she asks, a moment that investigators now believe marked the instant the Titan failed catastrophically.
Echoes of a Foreseen Catastrophe
In hindsight, Lochridge’s fears were painfully accurate.
He had once written that he believed Rush would “kill himself and others” in his relentless pursuit of deep-sea glory.
The tragedy has since prompted a reckoning within the world of private underwater exploration.
As Titan: The OceanGate Disaster continues to gain attention, many are left wondering how close we came to avoiding it—if only someone had truly listened to the man who spoke up.