Titan Sub Disaster | Warning Signs | 4

Two years later than scheduled, Titan finally takes its first paying passengers to the wreck of the Titanic. But amid the crushing pressure of delivering on his business plan, Stockton Rush ignores red flags about his submersible’s safety, and his dream of deep-sea exploration ends in tragedy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lindsay Graham?

  Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. American Scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research. It's June 30, 2021, in the North Atlantic Ocean. Aboard the Horizon Arctic Support Ship, an OceanGate engineer flicks a switch and a winch motor roars to life.

• 0:41Lindsay Graham?

  A steel cable dripping seawater begins to pull the Titan submersible and its launch platform up a ramp and out of the cold, gray Atlantic. Earlier today, OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush led a pre-dive briefing ahead of Titan's first-ever attempt to reach the wreck of the Titanic. After years of development, he was confident that the company's flagship submersible was finally ready, but the dive has not gone to plan. Titan made it just 23 feet below the surface before encountering technical issues. Rush, who was piloting the sub, made the call to abort, and now all the morning's optimism has drained away. The Titan platform seesaws at the top of the ramp. Just a few more feet and it'll be secure, but the Horizon Arctic moves suddenly in

• 1:26Lindsay Graham?

  the swell and the sub rocks forward, slamming hard against the ramp. An engineer flinches as sounds like gunshots echo across the deck, and the domed titanium end cap of the front of Titan slowly topples forward. For a split second, no one moves, and the engineer recovers his composure and hurries over to the stranded sub. There's a gaping circular hole at the vessel's nose, and the five occupants inside are blinking at the sudden bright sunlight. Oh, gosh, are you guys all right? Inside the sub, Stockton Rush is stowing. Yeah, we're fine. All right, everybody out. Carefully now. The engineer offers a hand, helping the passengers onto the platform, and one by

• 2:10Lindsay Graham?

  one, they're guided to the deck. Last to leave is Rush. He crouches by the fallen end cap. The engineer runs a finger over the smooth titanium surface and peers at the exposed seal. Ah, it looks like the bolts sheared clean off. Rush frowns. They should have held just fine. As Rush and the engineer step onto the deck, one of the passengers is already snapping photos. Another has his phone halfway out of his coveralls pocket to do the same. Rush places a hand on the engineer's shoulder, steers him away from the rail. All right, this is unacceptable. No, imagine if the bolts failed when the sub was in the water. Not the bolts, that. Rush jerks his chin toward the passengers and their phones. You need to stop them. If they post photos on social media,

• 2:55Lindsay Graham?

  it'll be everywhere by this evening. The press will have a field day. But they're passengers. I don't think we can... They're not passengers. They're mission specialists. And that makes them part of the crew. And a crew follows orders, so tell them no pictures. What do you want me to say? Tell them no pictures, that we had an equipment anomaly that is being handled. Nothing to worry about. No pictures. Rush steps closer and then lowers his voice. Take their phones if you have to. Throw the damn things overboard. I don't care. Just make sure this doesn't get out.

• 3:26Lindsay Graham?

  After reassuring the Titans passengers that nothing serious has occurred, the engineer persuades them to put their phones back in their pockets. Any photos they've already taken are deleted. And as far as Stockton Rush is concerned, the bolt failure was just a freak accident. A minor mishap that Ocean Gate will quickly overcome. But this isn't the only alarming incident that Rush has tried to sweep under the carpet. And if Titan failed to go 23 feet underwater today, how likely is it that it will survive the 12,500-foot trip to the wreck of the Titanic?

• 4:03Speaker 01

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• 5:11Lindsay Graham?

  From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American Scandal.

• 5:35Lindsay Graham?

  In 1912, the White Star Line built the largest and most technologically advanced passenger ship the world had ever known. Some famously called the Titanic "unsinkable," and with its Marconi radio system, electrically operated watertight doors and sheer size, it was arguably the safest ship on the planet at the time. But even that was not enough. In the unforgiving North Atlantic, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage. More than a century later, another vessel with a similar name returned to those same waters, but the Titan submersible had been built with far less care. If not for bad luck, Titanic would likely have enjoyed a long career of incident-free crossings.

• 6:18Lindsay Graham?

  Titan, on the other hand, was an accident waiting to happen. This is Episode 4: Warning Signs.

• 6:28Lindsay Graham?

  It's July 7th, 2021, at the harbor in St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland. Forty-year-old Alan Estrada bounds up the metal steps to board the Horizon Arctic. He carries a small suitcase with a few changes of clothes and a backpack stuffed with electronic gear: GoPro cameras, battery packs, everything he needs to document the voyage ahead. Estrada makes his living as an actor in Mexico, where he's appeared in stage productions and on television. But lately, his side hustle as a travel influencer on YouTube has taken off, and he's hoping that today's expedition will deliver his best content yet, because he's secured a seat inside the only submersible in the world taking tourists to the Titanic.

• 7:10Lindsay Graham?

  Estrada drops his bag in his cabin and then immediately grabs a camera. Over the next few minutes, he films a quick walkthrough of the Horizon Arctic. His expectations of the 300-foot vessel had been modest, so he's impressed to find a laundry room, a well-stocked galley, a lounge, even a small gym. When he's finished his tour, Estrada then goes looking for OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush. He wants to ask him about the previous expedition to Titanic, the one that had just returned to port, but Rush refuses to speak on camera about it. It's not until that evening's official briefing that Estrada discovers the Titan has not yet made it to the Titanic. On the first expedition of the summer, the crew faced technical challenges which forced them to abandon all the dives.

• 7:52Lindsay Graham?

  Still, Rush insists that only makes the second expedition more exciting, because now Estrada and the other mission specialists in the room may be the first to reach the Titanic in the Titan. At the end of the briefing, Estrada returns to his cabin where he records an update for his followers. He tells them that OceanGate is confident that their earlier glitches have been resolved, so his dive is scheduled to go ahead. Estrada is buzzing. He's about to become part of Titanic history. But Estrada does not have the full picture. He's not been told that the first dive only made it 23 feet, or that when the submersible was winched back onto the Horizon Arctic, the entire front end cap fell off. During the investigation following that incident, Ocean Gate's engineers quickly discovered the problem.

• 8:37Lindsay Graham?

  The titanium end cap was designed to be secured to the carbon fiber hull with 18 bolts. But Rush had told the support crews they should only use four to hold it in place. He thought that the pressure of the water outside would create a strong enough seal while they were on dives, and using fewer bolts would make it much faster to load and unload passengers. Unfortunately, Rush had not considered whether four bolts would be enough to support the weight of the 3,500-pound end cap when the Titan was out of the water. As it turns out, it was not. And after the submersible was suddenly jolted while being winched back onto the support ship, the bolts snapped. So after the cause was identified, Rush revised the launch procedure. All 18 bolts would be secured before every dive.

• 9:22Lindsay Graham?

  And with this new rule in place, the second expedition of the summer departs as scheduled on July 7, 2021. Still, after all the problems they experienced last time, Rush decides the first dive on Expedition 2 should just be a test. Only three people will be on board: Rush himself, co-pilot Scott Griffith, and Titanic guide P.H. Nargile. And this time, Titan does successfully descend to the ocean floor and reaches the Titanic debris field. But there, the sub's sonar stops working, and Rush can't locate the main wreck. Their only option is to search visually, but it's pitch black, and the sub's lights don't penetrate far in the murky water. Eventually, they give up trying to find the Titanic and then ascend.

• 10:06Lindsay Graham?

  But even on the surface, their troubles don't end. The Titan's docking platform malfunctions, leaving the submersible bobbing in the waves for eight hours until the support crew can fix the problem. But despite these setbacks, Ocean Gate quickly issues a press release celebrating Titan's first descent to the Titanic. The dive is described as historic and a superb demonstration that innovation and safety can go hand in hand. But that journey ends up being the only deep-sea dive of Expedition 2. Still dissatisfied with Titan's performance, Rush decides to head back to shallower waters for more tests. And there, Estrada and the other paying passengers finally get their turn inside Titan, but their experience is limited to a single dive to just 330 feet.

• 10:51Lindsay Graham?

  So after seven days at sea, Horizon Arctic and Titan are back in port again. Ocean Gate staff disembark Expedition 2's disappointed passengers and pick up the next batch for Expedition 3. The process of loading and unloading passengers and supplies is getting smoother, but there's still little progress with the submersible's mechanical issues. On Expedition 3, Titan does make it back to the ocean floor, and this time with paying passengers aboard, but a battery failure leaves the sub unable to maneuver to the Titanic. Worse, the loss of power means that Rush can't release the external weights that allow Titan to return to the surface. So the passengers can do nothing but watch while Rush tries to find a workaround. He reassures them that there's no reason to worry.

• 11:36Lindsay Graham?

  If all else fails, the rope holding the weights will eventually dissolve on their own. Still, it takes them four hours to finally solve the problem. By the time they reach sea level and the hatch is opened, the passengers have spent almost an entire day trapped inside the sub without a single glimpse of the Titanic. Expedition 4 brings yet more issues. On the first dive, Titan loses communications and suffers a propulsion unit failure that makes steering nearly impossible. Rush tries to return to the surface, but again encounters a problem with releasing the ballast weights. This time at least, though, he's thought of a quicker solution. He asks the passengers to shift from one side of Titan to the other, rocking the sub from side to side.

• 12:18Lindsay Graham?

  This process takes 30 dizzying minutes before the weights finally dislodge and the Titan ascends to the surface. But despite all these problems, Ocean Gate eventually delivers on its promise. On the third dive of Expedition 4, Titan reaches the Titanic. The passengers are the first people to see the wreck with their own eyes since researchers dived there in a different sub almost two years earlier. It's a haunting and breathtaking experience. And when Titan returns to the support ship, the mood onboard is jubilant, a combination of celebration and relief. But there's little opportunity for Ocean Gate to build on the success. Fall is approaching, and as the weather shifts, there's only enough time

• 13:00Lindsay Graham?

  for one more week-long trip into the Atlantic. On this final expedition, Titan manages to reach the wreck again on one dive, but all the others are aborted. So Ocean Gate's first season ends with just two successful trips to the Titanic, and plenty of disappointed customers. As they head back to port, Stockton Rush can only hope that they've worked out all the kinks, and that the following year, things will be smoother. And when the expeditions resume in the summer of 2022, there are some familiar faces. Among those hoping that Ocean Gate's problems are a thing of the past is Mexican actor and YouTuber Alan Estrada. And when it's his turn to dive again, he climbs into Titan and sets up his camera to record the descent. Last time, the submersible bottomed out at

• 13:45Lindsay Graham?

  just 330 feet, but this time they go far deeper. Estrada stares intently through the viewport window as Titan reaches 12,500 feet. After a two-hour descent, they are at the bottom of the ocean. Suddenly, a ghostly shape materializes out of the darkness. It's the Titanic. The hull is encrusted with rust, hanging like bronze icicles from the railings and portholes. They're so close that Estrada feels like he could almost reach out and touch them. And as the Titan maneuvers across the wreck, their guide, P. H. Narzale, points out the landmarks: the bridge, and the wheelhouse, a lifeboat crane frozen in its lowered position,

• 14:26Lindsay Graham?

  the iconic bow made famous in the 1997 movie. Estrada is elated. At last, his dream of seeing the world's most famous shipwreck has come true. But this successful dive will prove the exception rather than the norm in 2022. That summer's expeditions are plagued by just as much bad luck as the previous years. On one dive, Titan explores the debris field but never manages to find the Titanic. On another, the dive is aborted at 37 feet because floats on the launch platform aren't secured and drift away. It seems that on almost every expedition, something goes wrong. There are thruster problems and battery issues, but the real danger is the damage no one can see.

• 15:09Lindsay Graham?

  With each descent into the crushing pressure of the deep ocean, Titan's carbon fiber hull is growing weaker. And thirteen days after Alan Estrada's trip to the Titanic, it's the turn of another veteran of Titan's first season. Just like Estrada, businessman Fred Hagen's hopes of seeing Titanic were cut short by technical difficulties last year, but this time, everything goes smoothly. Ocean Gate's second pilot Scott Griffith successfully guides Titan to the bottom and explores the wreck. Then the sub begins its descent to the surface, and the passengers are left to process what they've just seen. Each seems lost in their own thoughts. Hagen had expected to be awestruck by the Titanic itself,

• 15:50Lindsay Graham?

  but he hadn't anticipated this strange sense of being suspended between two worlds. Beside him, pilot Scott Griffith tweaks the thrusters using the Titan's adapted PlayStation controller before letting it settle in his lap.

• 16:07Lindsay Graham?

  Well, folks, ballast looks good, oxygen levels are good, no alarms, Titan's behaving herself today. We'll be on deck in no time. Well, it's certainly been a smooth ride, Scott. Thank you. My pleasure, Fred. Hope it was worth the wait. I don't know where to begin. I mean, I've seen that ship so many times in books and films, but to see it with your own eyes and to realize that this is where it all happened. Yeah, yeah, you guess me every time. After thinking a few years, there won't be any of it left. Well, nature's doing a slow-motion salvage job, I guess, eating her alive, one iron railing at a time. That makes us some of the last who will ever see her. They drift back into comfortable silence as the first hints of brighter water filter through the viewport.

• 16:51Lindsay Graham?

  But then, a sharp sound rips through the submersible, echoing around the curved interior. Hagen looks at Griffith, who peers at the screens. Hold on, folks, hold on. No one panic. Griffith scans his display. Yeah, yeah, everything looks normal. There's no pressure loss. There's no breach indication. We can all breathe easy. It might have just been an exterior flex. We're ascending, so the pressure differential can get a little weird, but we're okay, I promise. Well, it sounded like something snapped. It was possibly the carbon fiber in the hull. You've got to remember, there are millions of tiny strands in there. One or two of them breaking isn't a big deal. So that sound was normal? Uh, normal's probably pushing it, but it happened right from the start with Titan.

• 17:33Lindsay Graham?

  Stockton says that the first time he went down, he heard a bang so loud, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Hagan shakes his head, takes a deep breath. Griffith pats him on the shoulder. Do you think you were a goner or something there, friend? I don't think your time is up just yet. Just like the Titan, you've got plenty more adventures to come.

• 17:52Lindsay Graham?

  A few minutes later, Titan breaches the surface, the submersible rocks and the waves, while Ocean Gate's divers secure it to the floating launch platform. Then it's slowly pulled back up the ramp and onto Horizon Arctic. The sub is inspected, and there are no obvious signs of damage from the loud bang the passengers heard. But hidden within the submersible's hull, there is now a flaw, one that will get worse with every dive, slowly spreading like a cancer. Titan has already been pushed beyond its limits, and it will not recover.

• 18:26Speaker 03

  Ghosts aren't real. At least, that's what journalist Tristan Redmond always believed. Sure, odd things happen in his childhood bedroom, but ultimately, he shrugged them off. Until he discovered that he wasn't alone, that everyone who lived thereafter him also had bizarre experiences they couldn't explain. And it gets even weirder. It just so happens that his wife's great-grandmother was murdered in the house next door. Is this ghost somehow connected to her murder? He decides to go where no son-in-law should, digging up a cold case and asking questions that nobody wants answered. Like, could his wife's great-grandfather have gotten away with the perfect crime? This is a podcast about family secrets, overwhelming coincidence, and the things

• 19:10Speaker 03

  that come back to haunt us. For the best bingeable series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can get all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. Journalist Tristan Redman goes where no son-in-law should ever go. Deep into his wife's family history, digging up the cold case of who murdered her great-grandmother. Because, I should mention, he thinks the murderer might actually be the beloved family patriarch. For the best binge-watch series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

• 19:57Lindsay Graham?

  When Fred Hagan, Scott Griffith, and the other Titan passengers returned to the Horizon Arctic, they learned they weren't the only ones who heard the cracking noise. The sound was so loud that even the crew on the surface heard it. And by the time of the post-dive debrief the following morning, it's all many people on board the Horizon Arctic can talk about. Still, when Stock and Rush bounds into the ship's conference room, he's upbeat. The most important thing for him is that the Titan has reached the Titanic again and that Ocean Gate's passengers feel they've gotten their money's worth. So he minimizes concerns about the crack heard during the ascent. He acknowledges that it was a pretty loud bang, but he repeats a claim that he's made before: noises in a submersible are normal.

• 20:39Lindsay Graham?

  As far as Rush is concerned, a component probably expanded or moved because of the temperature and pressure changes, and it's nothing to worry about. But one contractor working on Titan's navigation and communication systems isn't reassured. Antonella Willby has spent years working with submersibles outside of Ocean Gate, and in her experience, even a remotely operated sub that made such a loud, unexplained noise would be removed from service until it had been properly checked. But Rush intends to send the Titan back underwater with passengers in just a few days. But when Willby voices her concerns with Amber Bay, Ocean Gate's Director of Administration, her argument is dismissed, and instead, Bay responds that some people at Ocean Gate

• 21:23Lindsay Graham?

  have questions about Willby. They wonder whether she has the right mindset to work in such a cutting-edge, experimental environment, whether she's enough of an explorer, a risk-taker for Ocean Gate. Willby is stunned by the criticism, but the conversation also helps make up her mind. She concludes that maybe she's not the right fit for OceanGate. And even before the expedition is over, Willby and the company agree to go their separate ways. So with Willby's intervention brushed aside, Titan returns to the bottom of the ocean four days later. And just a few days after that, the sub descends and explores Titanic again. In all, Titan reaches the wreck site three times in eight days. So at last, the submersible seems to be operating as Stockton Rush intended,

• 22:08Lindsay Graham?

  ferrying high-paying clients to and from Titanic on the adventure of a lifetime. But just as Titan seems to have turned a corner, the 2022 dive season comes to an end. Horizon Arctic returns to St. John's in Newfoundland, and OceanGate's equipment is unloaded from the support ship. Now that the dives are over for the year, head of engineering Phil Brooks wants to examine Titan more closely. Ever since that loud crack was heard, the acoustic monitoring system built into Titan's hull has been picking up more sounds than usual. It could be a sign that carbon fiber strands are breaking at a higher rate than before, and Brooks wants to check it out. He suggests transferring the Titan to OceanGate's facility in Washington for a full health check.

• 22:52Lindsay Graham?

  But Stockton Rush tells him that the cost of moving the submersible across the country is too high. So instead, Titan undergoes just a brief inspection on the dockside in Newfoundland. There are no obvious defects, so over Phil Brooks's objections, the submersible is stored there in an outdoor parking lot for the winter. For months, it's exposed to temperatures that range from a balmy 84 degrees to deep below freezing, as well as harsh weather including rain, sleet, and snow. It doesn't seem appropriate, so believing that safety is being sacrificed to save money, Brooks resigns from OceanGate, yet another senior employee walking away. But once again, Stockton Rush brushes it off. He's convinced that the carbon fiber hull is still sound

• 23:36Lindsay Graham?

  and that the 2023 season is going to be OceanGate's best yet. But despite a run of successful dives the previous summer, a combination of bad weather and mechanical issues dogs the early expeditions of 2023. For the first three trips, passengers don't even make it out to the Titanic wreck site. Instead, they are restricted to shallow-water dives closer to the Newfoundland coast.

• 23:59Lindsay Graham?

  But in the middle of June, the sky's clear, and Ocean Gate's new support ship, Polar Prince, is able to head into the North Atlantic for Expedition Four. Joining as mission specialists are Pakistani businessman Shazad Ahdawood and his 19-year-old son, Suliman. And on June 18th, 2023, they climb onto the Titan's launch platform on the deck of the Polar Prince.

• 24:24Lindsay Graham?

  19-year-old Suliman steadies himself as his ship rocks in the swell around him. Against the vast gray ocean, the Titan seems unnervingly small and fragile. His dad gives him a playful elbow. Hey, this is exciting, right? Uh huh. I've got my camera all ready. You have everything you need? Right here. Suliman reaches into his pocket and pulls out a Rubik's Cube. I just hope I don't get too nervous. You can do those things in your sleep. You know it. I've never done it with so much at stake. You will have plenty of time to practice on the way down. It's gonna take hours to get there. The titanium end cap is open, and an Ocean Gate crew member gestures them inside. Suliman hesitates, so Shazadah goes first, crawling into the narrow cylinder.

• 25:08Lindsay Graham?

  Once he's inside, he beckons for Suliman to follow. All right, come on. You got a good seat here. Suliman climbs in and takes his place beside his father. Shazadah leans closer. Just think, the next time we're back on that ship, you'll have a Guinness World Record. Suliman Dahdawood, the deepest underwater Rubik's Cube solve in history. The platform creaks beneath them, and Suliman tenses. Shazadah pats his son's leg. It's just the sea, Suliman. I know. Titan's gone down dozens of times before. I know. It's perfectly safe. I know. Suliman nods and flicks around the top layer of the Rubik's Cube. Just then, they hear new voices outside, and Shazadah looks up. Looks like our crewmates are here.

• 25:52Lindsay Graham?

  But before the others join them, Shazadah puts his arm around his son. I'm glad I'm doing this with you, Suliman. Me too, Dad. Happy Father's Day, I guess.

• 26:02Lindsay Graham?

  Over the next few minutes, three more men climb onboard the Titan. Ocean Gate CEO Stockton Rush is going to pilot the sub, and the crew is rounded out with French Titanic expert P H N'Golé and British businessman Hamish Harding. And when everyone is ready, Titan's end cap is closed and bolted shut. Then the submersible and its platform are lowered slowly down the ramp into the water with Suleiman Dahwood nervously fiddling with his Rubik's Cube along the way. Two hours later, communications with Titan will go suddenly silent. And at first, Ocean Gate staff aboard the Polar Prince assume it's a routine glitch, the same kind of technical issue they've dealt with on every expedition so far. But as the minutes slide into hours, they begin to worry.

• 26:46Lindsay Graham?

  Titan has never been out of contact for this long before. And when the sub fails to resurface at the scheduled time, the captain of the Polar Prince summons help from the U.S. Coast Guard. For more than three days afterward, a huge international search effort converges on the North Atlantic. Planes and ships sweep over an ever-expanding patch of ocean hoping to spot the stranded sub drifting on the surface. Specialist sonar equipment scans beneath the waves, listening for any hint that the vessel might be trapped on the seafloor. Hopes briefly rise when acoustic sensors pick up banging noises underwater, but it's a false trail. Rather than a plea for help from Titan's trapped occupants, it's decided it's probably rusted metalwork from the Titanic wreck itself.

• 27:31Lindsay Graham?

  Then, five days after Titan went missing, the U.S. Coast Guard announces that debris has been found on the ocean floor, Titan's distinctive tail fin, the sub's titanium dome end caps, and part of its carbon fiber hull. Later that day, the Coast Guard confirms the news, Titan suffered a catastrophic implosion. The hull collapsed under the immense pressure of the water, killing those onboard instantly. With this announcement, the search mission in the North Atlantic loses its urgency. But the team from the maritime engineering firm Pelagic Research Services remains on the scene. Inside a shipping container on the deck of the Horizon Arctic, monitors glow with live video feeds. Ignoring the rocking motion of the waves,

• 28:14Lindsay Graham?

  Jesse Doran sits at the control panel. Every tiny movement of his fingers fires a thruster on the Odysseus 6K remotely operated submersible, more than two miles down at the bottom of the ocean. Odysseus is inching closer to one of Titan's domed end caps, but the currents sweep unpredictably through the debris field. Sitting beside Doran, Pelagic CEO Ed Casano watches the feed, pointing out hazards as they drift across the screen: shreds of carbon fiber hull and torn cabling, pulverized electronics fluttering through the water like snow. Any scrap of this could snag a thruster or foul an arm of the submersible, so Doran acknowledges Casano's interjections with a nod, but never takes his eyes from the monitors,

• 28:58Lindsay Graham?

  his posture tightening each time a loose shard drifts too near. For days, Pelagic staff have tirelessly mapped the Titan's debris field. After each dive, they return with more fragments of the submersible and Odysseus's mechanical arms, but the end cap is one of the largest and most crucial pieces. It will be invaluable for investigators, but only if it can be recovered intact. Closing in on it, at last, Doran edges the ROV close enough. He closes the claw around the end cap and murmurs that he has it. Casano exhales and reminds him to retreat slowly. On the monitors, the debris field recedes into darkness as Odysseus begins to descend. Control room settles into quiet focus.

• 29:41Lindsay Graham?

  In a few hours, the shattered dome will break the surface. Not long ago, it was part of a vessel that Stockton Rush hoped would redefine deep ocean exploration, but now, it's evidence that will be used to explain his death.

• 29:58Speaker 04

  Imagine you're reading Pride and Prejudice, except you're not reading it. Harris Dickinson and Marissa Abella are reading it to you on Audible. Her barbs sting you. His coldness sends a shiver up your spine. Your heart aches. Your ears burn. You yearn for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to profess their undying love for one another. You can't bear it any longer. Well, maybe a chapter longer. Performance is so good, you'll give love a second chance. Audible.

• 30:26Lindsay Graham?

  Stories that speak to you. By 1779, Benedict Arnold had sacrificed more for the revolution than almost any other man in America. One of George Washington's most effective commanders, he had nearly lost a leg in the Second Battle of Saratoga. But in return, Arnold believed he had been humiliated by Congress and cheated of his glory by lesser men, so he decided to make them pay. Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of the podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history: presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, Benedict Arnold turns his back on his comrades in the Continental Army and secretly defects to the British.

• 31:07Lindsay Graham?

  With the help of his wife, he plots to hand over the most important colonial fortress to the enemy and doom the revolution he once served. Follow American Scandal wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.

• 31:40Lindsay Graham?

  Following the Titan's catastrophic implosion in June 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard launches an immediate investigation into what happened. For over 12 months, experts comb through every aspect of the submersible's design, construction, and operation. They review internal ocean gate e-mails, technical reports, and dive logs dating back years. Engineers specializing in composite materials like carbon fiber examine the recovered fragments of the hull, while experienced submersible pilots are brought in to try and recreate Titan's final descent. Parallel inquiries by Canadian authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board share information, but the Coast Guard's investigation becomes a central clearinghouse for evidence.

• 32:21Lindsay Graham?

  And in September 2024, the Coast Guard convenes a two-week public hearing in Charleston, South Carolina. There, a board will hear evidence, following the basic format of a trial. Witnesses will be called and questioned by investigators. Each speaker has the right to legal counsel, but no charges have been brought against anyone. Instead, right now, the aim is simply to cut through the rumors that have circulated ever since the Titan went missing and find out the truth. The first witness to appear is Ocean Gate's former Director of Engineering, Tony Nissen. Easing into a stiff-backed chair, he tries to ignore the buzz of the overhead fluorescence. The room is colder than he's expected, or maybe it's nerves. In front of him, on a raised platform, sit three members of the U.S. Coast Guard Board

• 33:06Lindsay Graham?

  of Investigation. Each has a thick binder of documents, a silent reminder of why he's here. Nissen clasps his hands to still the tremor in them, and then exhales slowly. One of the board members adjusts his microphone. Mr. Nissen, thanks for appearing today. When you're ready, we'd like to begin. Nissen swallows. Yeah, of course. So for the record, please state your name and your role at Ocean Gate. My name's Tony Nissen. I served as Director of Engineering at Ocean Gate until early 2023. And what were your roles and responsibilities in your job as Director of Engineering? Well, that's an interesting question. I was recruited by Ocean Gate when Titan was nearly complete, in the sense that all the items were in place.

• 33:50Lindsay Graham?

  They just needed someone to take it over the finish line. In my mind's eye, I was just going to put together the parts. Oh, my apologies. That's my watch telling me I have an abnormally high heart rate. Nissen smiles nervously. Investigators remain stone-faced, though. Let's get into your role a little further, though. As the Director of Engineering, did you make all engineering decisions that affected Titan? Oh, no. Did you make any engineering decisions? Yes, but not that many. So who would make the majority of the engineering decisions? That was Stockton. Stockton rushed. And was that Mr. Rush's management technique, just with you, or was that employed throughout Ocean Gate? All Stockton. Stockton would always fight for what he wanted, and he wouldn't give an inch.

• 34:34Lindsay Graham?

  But you were the senior engineer at the company. Did you challenge decisions you believed were unsafe? I tried, many of us tried. Can you give us an example? Oh, I can give you dozens. Anytime we raised concerns about testing protocols, about how fast we were pushing toward passenger dives, about the carbon fiber hull, about anything, Stockton would just wave us off. He'd say we were being overly cautious, that innovation required risk. Were there consequences for pushing back, professionally or otherwise? Not directly, not in the sense of any actual punishment or anything. But there was a culture. If you questioned too much, you weren't seen as a team player. You were told you didn't have the explorer mindset, or you weren't visionary enough. People internalized that.

• 35:18Lindsay Graham?

  Good engineers started second guessing themselves. Most people would just eventually back down and give Stockton what he wanted. It was, it was almost like a death from a thousand cuts. Nissen feels himself choking up. He stops speaking for a moment and exhales, trying to settle himself. The board member leans into the microphone. Mr. Nissen, thank you. But can we continue with additional questions regarding decision-making structures at Ocean Gate? Yes, yes, of course.

• 35:48Lindsay Graham?

  Tony Nissen is far from the only witness to question Stockton Rush's leadership. And the stories begin to echo. Nissen's successor as Director of Engineering, Phil Brooks, recounts how Titan was not properly checked after a loud cracking noise was heard on a dive. Contractor Antonella Wilby describes how she left Ocean Gate after becoming convinced that the company lacked the discipline needed to keep people safe. Former Director of Marine Operations, David Lockridge, then takes the stand to accuse Rush of arrogance by refusing to tolerate any criticism of the company's approach. Bonnie Carl, the company's Director of Finance, describes how she followed Lockridge out the door when the scale of his concerns became clear. Submersible experts Carl Stanley and William Conan each recount their attempts to intervene

• 36:33Lindsay Graham?

  when they identified flaws in Titan's design, and how they eventually concluded that Rush was determined to sidestep all scrutiny in his hurry to get his vessel in the water. The pattern is obvious. People repeatedly tried to warn Stockton Rush about the dangers of what he was doing, but he never listened. Instead, he fell back on a familiar defense, that Ocean Gate was an innovator, operating at a level his critics simply could not understand. The U.S. Coast Guard's final report reveals the truth. Released in August 2025, almost a year after the public hearings, it condenses thousands of documents and transcripts into 335 pages. In meticulous detail, it explains how Titan's carbon fiber hull weakened over time

• 37:17Lindsay Graham?

  until it could no longer cope with the pressures of the deep ocean. Eventually, it imploded with such force that the noise was audible 12,000 feet above on the deck of the Polar Prince. Even Stockton Rush's wife Wendy heard it, as she monitored the sub's tracking, though she thought it was just a door slamming on the ship. But the report doesn't just say what happened, it explains why. And the Coast Guard's judgment is scathing. It calls the tragedy preventable, and blames Ocean Gate's critically flawed design practices, inadequate safety protocols, and toxic working culture. The greatest criticisms are reserved for Stockton Rush himself. According to the Coast Guard, he exhibited negligence.

• 37:58Lindsay Graham?

  He used intimidation and false claims to evade regulatory scrutiny, and had he lived, he would now be facing the prospect of jail time. But Stockton Rush did not survive. His final resting place is 12,500 feet below the surface, alongside the famous shipwreck that played such a central role in the last eight years of his life. More than a century after the Titanic slipped beneath the waves of the North Atlantic, the once magnificent liner lies broken in two, surrounded by debris. The bow still holds its shape, eerily dignified in the perpetual darkness, while the grotesquely twisted stern reveals all the shocking violence of the liner's final destruction.

• 38:40Lindsay Graham?

  But the most famous shipwreck in the world is not a permanent memorial. Even in the stillness of the deep, it is dying, dissolving grain by grain. Long tendrils of iron-eating bacteria hang from the hull, consuming it in slow motion. Eventually, little will remain of the liner, except a smudge of rust on the ocean floor. But beside it, scattered among the few relics that have resisted corrosion and decay, will be the wreckage of another, far more modern tragedy: a tangle of wiring, a shard of carbon fiber, the last remnants of the Titan submersible, and all that remains of Stockton Rush's dream.

• 39:20Lindsay Graham?

  During his life, Stockton Rush could not understand why his critics were out to get him. He genuinely believed that Titan's design was not flawed but visionary, a stroke of genius that would revolutionize humankind's ability to access the deep. He was convinced that history would recognize his achievements, and that one day he would be hailed as a trailblazer for heroically pushing the boundaries of science and exploration. In all of those beliefs, he was wrong. After the accident that claimed his life and those of his passengers, Stockton Rush's company OceanGate was shut down and its reputation left in tatters. But his failure did nothing to diminish the allure of the Titanic or dampen the dreams of those who long to see her wreck before it disappears forever. Less than a year after the loss of the Titan,

• 40:05Lindsay Graham?

  an American real estate billionaire announced a partnership with a maritime engineer. Together, they intend to build a new submersible capable of transporting people to the wreck of the Titanic. This new generation of would-be explorers insists that it has learned the lessons of the past, and they've pledged that unlike the Titan, their submersible will only voyage to the bottom of the ocean after it's been thoroughly tested and certified as safe by independent experts. If only OceanGate had followed the same path. In 2021, Rush told an interviewer that he hoped to be remembered as an innovator. He quoted the famous WWII general Douglas MacArthur, who said, "You're remembered for the rules you break." But what Stockton Rush never seemed to understand

• 40:48Lindsay Graham?

  was that while some rules can be broken and some can be questioned, many exist because someone, somewhere, paid the price for ignoring them.

• 41:01Lindsay Graham?

  From Audible Originals and Airship, this is episode four of our series on the Titan submersible disaster for American Scandal. In our next episode, we explore the role of trailblazers in American culture, and how the glamour of apparent innovation can mask dangerous behavior, corporate failure, and even outright fraud.

• 41:24Lindsay Graham?

  American Scandal is only possible because of listeners like you, so thank you. And don't miss an episode. Be sure to follow American Scandal on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. And Audible subscribers can binge new seasons of American Scandal early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. And to find out more about me, including my other podcasts, my live show, the history tours I'm arranging, and all sorts of other things, go to historyishuman.com. That's historyishuman.com.

• 41:58Lindsay Graham?

  If you'd like to learn more about the Titan submersible disaster, we recommend the documentaries Titan: The Ocean Gate Disaster from Netflix and Implosion: The Titan Subdisaster from the BBC. This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details. And while in most cases we can't know exactly what was said, all our dramatizations are based on historical research. American Scandal is hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham for Airship. This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves, senior producer Andy Beckerman, managing producer Emily Burke, fact checking by Alyssa Jung Perry, audio editing by Mohamed Shazib, music by Throm, sound design by Gabriel Gould. Executive producer for Airship is William Simpson. Executive producer for Audible is Jenny Lauer Beckman.

• 42:41Lindsay Graham?

  Head of creative development at Audible, Kate Maven. Head of Audible Originals North America, Marshall Louis. And chief content officer for Audible, Rachel Giatza. Copyright 2026 by Audible Originals LLC. Sound recording copyright 2026 by Audible Originals LLC.

• 43:02Speaker 05

  Hi, I'm Kenya Barris.

• 43:04Speaker 06

  And I'm Malcolm Gladwell. We're back for season two of our Audible Original podcast, The Unusual Suspects.

• 43:09Speaker 05

  We're bringing you fresh, new conversations from guests like Anderson Paak, David Zedars, Ryan Howard, Rich O'Neal, Amy Sheldon, and many more.

• 43:16Speaker 06

  Sign up for a free trial to Audible to listen to season two in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts.