- Stockton Rush once downplayed a loud bang heard coming from the Titan sub.
- On BBC's The Travel Show, Rush said "almost every deep-diving sub makes a noise at some point."
- Rush warned before the 2022 dive that the submersible was "experimental" and that deep-sea diving was dangerous.
OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush once downplayed a loud bang heard from the Titan submersible, saying that most deep-sea vessels make noises.
Rush talked with crew and passengers about the Titan sub and its voyages to the Titanic wreck before a dive in 2022, as seen on an episode of BBC's The Travel Show last year. During the speech, Rush warned passengers that the trek to visit the wreckage 12,500 feet below the Atlantic Ocean would be dangerous.
"It's an open book here," Rush said while speaking to workers and the passengers and opening the floor for questions. "We want everyone going into this fully informed. This is an experimental sub, this is a dangerous environment."
But when Rush began telling a story about a crew member hearing a loud bang while the sub was on the surface, he dismissed it as nothing to be too concerned about.
"Not a soothing sound, but on the surface," he said, before adding that "almost every deep-sea sub makes a noise at some point."
It's unclear where the bang came from, but former OceanGate employees and industry professionals had warned Rush about their potential safety issues with OceanGate's "experimental" Titan sub, including its carbon-fiber hull, glue coming away from the seams of its ballast bags, and a highly flammable floor.
One former passenger said the sub had issues with thrusters, computers, and communicators, requiring "more time or more work" to complete its dives. But Rush never had the Titan sub classed to see if it met industry standards, saying he was pushing ahead to further "innovation."
The ill-fated Titan sub imploded during a trip to the wreck of the Titanic last month. All five people aboard the voyage, including Rush, are presumed dead.