The CEO of the company operating the ill-fated Titan submersible disregarded safety warnings regarding the craft, labeling them as unfounded protests and an affront to his character.
According to a set of emails scrutinized by the BBC, Rob McCallum, an advisor for OceanGate, cautioned Stockton Rush, the company’s chief, that by not obtaining third-party certification for the submersible, he was endangering the lives of his clients.
While descending towards the Titanic wreckage, the Titan experienced a “catastrophic implosion,” leading to the fatalities of Rush and four other passengers. The wreckage of the vessel was discovered on Thursday.
“In your pursuit of reaching the Titanic, you are emulating the infamous declaration: ‘She is unsinkable’,” expressed McCallum in a message to Rush in March 2018. “I urge you to exercise utmost caution during testing and sea trials, adopting an exceedingly conservative approach. Despite my appreciation for entrepreneurship and innovation, you are potentially jeopardizing an entire industry.”
McCallum informed the British news agency that he had consistently voiced these concerns to the company. The Titan vessel had never undergone classification or certification by any external organization. However, Rush remained obstinate and refused to heed the warnings.
“We have heard far too many groundless accusations of ‘you are going to kill someone’,” retorted Rush in response to McCallum. “I perceive this as a grave personal insult.”
{Matzav.com}
They think they are so smart but it is the risk taker who has taken the bait.
I hear criminal charges are pending.
he is dead and it’s no longer a question of bringing criminal charges against him, of course he is burning in hell, but he very “cunningly” exploited a void in international law. There is no designer for this vessel (he copied publicly available methods of gluing metal to composite, which apparently did not fail). No manufacturer certified the carbon fiber cylinder, it was originally built for aerospace and sold as-it-is because it was past its expiration date. Even the hublot was only certified up to 4000 ft, as it was not in compliance with guidelines and the manufacturer refused to certify it for 12000 ft – that is 4000 m, and I wonder if every customer noticed the detail. That’s the manner he “operated”.
The man was clearly an obstinate moron. His contract with those who took his tour says it all, and yet people signed on as if it were a rowboat rental on lake placid.
I was thinking, I wonder what he would say now, if dead men could talk? Would he still maintain that the safety claims are an affront to his character? Just wondering…