The preliminary NTSB report was damning.  So blantantly accusatory what one need not read the final report.

Unfortunately what most read is only the conclusion one is suppose to believe.  Most reports do not include how damning those numbers really were.  For example, the front viewer port was only rated for (if I remember) 600 psi.  It was holding back 3000 psi.

Boeing recommended (if a remember) seven layers of carbon fiber.  Every Director of Engineering was constantly in direct confrontation with the owner / developer.   So Oceangate went through something like more than five chief engineers.

This Titan was listed as dive 81.  They forget to mention most all dives were in other Titans - not this one.  They just keep adding the same number to makethis one look like it was fully tested.

Two dives before this one, at about 300 feet from the surface, a large shattering of the hull occured.  So loud that recovery boats on the surge all heard it.  The owner insisted this was normal.

That Titan had a major hull failure that was something more than four feet long.  So the owner had the inside patched with fiberglass.  That failure was only noticed because the pilot, on his own, decided to inspect what nobody was suppose to look at.  Evertually they replace that Titan with a new 'last' one.  Then just kept adding dive numbers from previous craft to its last dive: 81.

In another incident, the CO2 absorber, designed by the owner from plastic tupperware from Walmart, was failing.  A few hundred feet down, the pilot demanded they return to the surface.  The owner refused to grant permission.  So the chief engineer stepped in and ordered it to the surface.  All employees listened to the chief engineer.  He did not last much longer.

Boeing was an early consultant on this design.  They withdrew because the owner intentionally refused to listen to their recommendations.  Stated they could not be responsible for a design that they could not recommend.  This was even before the Titan did its first dive.

The NTSB report intentionally does not list names of any chief engineer.  They note references such as the 'fifth' Director of engineering.  For what may be be obvious reasons.

In a dive just before 81, the submersible barge failed to go down at one end.  Since Oceangate was constantly hiring new people.  Current employees were not fully cognizant of how valves worked.  Oceangate had no training programs (always symptoms of management using cost controls).  Resulting six foot waves (it should have never been launched with waves that high) broke the front end from the barge.  So the Titan was hard crashing onto the barge with each wave.  The owner (who was the pilot then) told the passenger that was normal.  Passengers forfeited their money; refused to go on a next dive.  Were quite blunt about how reckless the owner was.  This crashing may have caused the final cracks that caused its implosion.

However, data from microphones indicates failures were constantly occurring with each dive.

The company claimed to have a VP of Safety.  However, not one employee could name anyone who held that position.

Examination of the hull indicated numerous air pockets between carbon fiber layers.  Those would compress and expand.  Increasing separation between the various layers of carbon fibers.  that may be some of the cracking and failures that were recorded by seven of eight microphones on every dive.  The eighth microphone and strain gauge was never operational.  No attempt was made to fix it.

These are only some of the damning facts that said how irresponsible the owner of OceanGate was.  And BTW, the NTSB report suggests all decisions were based only in money.   Classic of what an MBA type would do.

Demonstrated is why reports must include paragraphs or pages of numeric details.  Otherwise what the report says is akin to a myth or hearsay.  Perspective must always exist in reasons why.

Last edited by tw (10/16/2025 6:37 pm)

TW: Miss the point much?

It took days for the media to discover the name of the boat and about as long to forget it: Adriana

Two of the five adventurers who died on the Titanic exploration were Pakistani.

Pakistanis on the Adriana were not allowed on deck, confined to the hold, but comprised perhaps half the 700 passengers. Only 12 survived. 
They were just refugees.