The wreckage of the Titan submersible on the ocean floor is shown in a video released by the U.S. Coast Guard, as hearings continue in North Charleston, South Carolina, investigating the causes that led to the sub’s collapse while it was on its way to explore the Titanic wreck, resulting in the death of all five onboard.

The sub made its fateful dive on June 18, 2023. Two hours later, it lost contact with the support vessel. The newly released video shows the destroyed hull of the sub on the seabed after its collapse in June 2023.

“The tragedy could have been prevented”

Meanwhile, testimonies from former employees are ongoing. David Lochridge, the former operations director at OceanGate, expressed disappointment with the decision of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) not to follow up on his safety complaint about the sub.

“I believe that if OSHA had investigated the seriousness of the concerns I raised multiple times, this tragedy might have been avoided,” Lochridge said during his testimony to the committee investigating the accident.

Lochridge testified that 8 months after filing the complaint, an OSHA employee informed him that the agency had not yet started investigating it, as there were 11 cases ahead of his. By that time, OceanGate had sued Lochridge, and he had filed a countersuit. About 10 months after submitting the complaint, he decided to leave. The case was closed, and both lawsuits were withdrawn.

Earlier in the day, Lochridge stated that he frequently clashed with the company’s co-founder and felt that the company’s primary goal was profit.

“The whole idea behind the company was to make money,” Lochridge said. “There was very little scientific research involved.”