A passenger on a Titanic expedition with the company that owns the Titan submersible testified before a U.S. Coast Guard investigative panel Friday that the mission he was on was aborted by an apparent mechanical failure.
The Titan submersible imploded last year while on another trip to the Titanic wreck site. A Coast Guard investigative panel has heard testimony for four days, raising questions about the company’s operations before the failed mission.
Fred Hagen was the first person to testify Friday, identifying himself as a “mission specialist,” which he and other witnesses have characterized as people who paid a fee to play a role in OceanGate’s underwater exploration.
He said their 2021 mission to the Titanic was aborted underwater when the Titan began to malfunction and it became clear they would not reach the legendary wreck site.
The Titan appeared to veer off course on its way to the Titanic, so the crew decided to use thrusters to get the submersible to the wreck site, Hagen said. The starboard thruster did not activate, he said.
“We realized that the only thing we could do was go around, turning to the right,” Hagen said. “At that point, it was obvious that we were not going to be able to sail to the Titanic.”
Hagen said the Titan dropped ballast, surfaced, and the mission was aborted. He said he was aware of the potentially unsafe nature of boarding the experimental submersible.
“Anyone who wanted to go would be wrong if they thought it was not dangerous, or else they would take the risk,” he said.
OceanGate co-founder and Titan pilot Stockton Rush was one of five people killed when the submersible imploded in June 2023 while sailing to the Titanic wreck site.
Earlier this month, the Coast Guard began a public hearing that is part of a high-profile investigation into the cause of the implosion. The public hearing began Sept. 16, with some of the testimony focusing on problems the Washington state-based company had before the fatal 2023 mission.
