TitanSub Malfunctioned Days Before Deadly Implosion, Causing Passengers to Tumble, Ex-Scientific Chief Testifies

Mar. 15, 2025

Remains of the ‘Titan’ submersible that imploded in June 2023, killing five passengers.Photo:HANDOUT/US Coast Guard / Pelagic Research Services/AFP via Getty

HANDOUT/US Coast Guard / Pelagic Research Services/AFP via Getty

A former OceanGate chief scientist recalled that theTitansubmersible experienced a malfunction days beforethe craft imploded last year, killing five people onboard.

At an ongoingCoast Guard hearing into the tragedyon Thursday, Sept. 19, Steven Ross, who was a part of dive 87 of theTitanon June 12, 2023,CNNreported, said that an issue concerning a platform resulted in the five people inside the sub to tumble about while inside the sub.

“The sub submerged on its platform to 30 feet,”Ross told the hearing panel, “and it was determined the pilot [Stockton Rush] indicated to the passengers there was a problem with the variable ballast tank valve and we came back to the surface to try to fix that. There was a malfunction in the platform and that took considerable time to correct, and thus the dive was aborted.”

He also said that, upon the sub resurfacing, the bow of the platform submerged, “tilting the platform and the submersible to a 45-degree angle.”

Ross recalled that as a result of the platform malfunction, the pilot crashed into the rear bulkhead of theTitan”and the rest of the passengers tumbled about. I ended up standing on the rear bulkhead. One passenger was hanging upside down and the other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap.”

According to Ross, nobody was injured and the state that the passengers were in at the time was “uncomfortable and unpleasant, and it took considerable time to correct the problem.” Ross estimated that they were in that position for about an hour. Eventually the “tilt of the platform” was corrected and the passengers were removed from theTitan.

Ross also told the panel that he had a conversation with Rush, who piloted theTitanfor that dive, afterward and recalled him being “upset” about what happened. Ross added that he was unaware if an inspection of the hull was conducted afer the incident.

On June 18, 2023,theTitanbegan its final diveas it descended into the North Atlantic and later imploded, killing Rush, 61;Titanicexpert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77; British-Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman; and billionaire British explorer Hamish Harding, 58. Human remains from the implosion were later recovered.

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The Coast Guard’s hearings into the implosion, which started on Monday, Sept. 16, are expected to last two weeks.

source: people.com