“If you want to be safe, don’t get out of your bed”: Who is Stockton Rush, the pilot who owns the missing Titan submersible

“I wanted to be a kind of Captain Kirk (…) find new ways of life (…) I didn’t want to be the passenger in the back seat.”

This is how it was defined Stockton Rushpresident-founder of Ocean Gate Expeditionsthe company that developed the missing submersible Titan in an interview he gave at the end of 2022.

LOOK: “For many of us who traveled in the Titanic submersible, it was worth the risk in exchange for seeing the majestic sinking of the Titanic”

And, therefore, it was not surprising that the expilot, turned businessman, followed in the footsteps of the character from the famous science fiction saga “Stark Trek” and pilot the submersible that last Sunday left, with four more occupants, heading to the place where the remains of the famous Titanic rest, under the icy waters of Newfoundland (Canada).

However, as the search and rescue efforts for the ship continue, information has also come to light that doubts about the management of Rush and the safety of the boatmade of a combination of carbon fiber and titanium that supposedly would allow it to go up to 4,000 meters into the seabed.

Rush wanted to be an astronaut, but his eyesight prevented him from continuing his career in military aviation. (GETTY IMAGES).

Rush, 61, is an American, but not just any. She is a descendant of Richard Stockton and Benjamin Rush, two of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, as published by CBS at the end of 2022.

In 1980, today’s businessman and explorer entered Princeton University to study aeronautical engineering, some studies that he combined with those of commercial pilot.

In 1981 he became the youngest person in the world to receive a license to pilot a DC8 jet and for three summers he worked for an airline that operated in the Middle East, the OceanGate Expeditions page reads.

In 1984 Rush joined McDonnell Douglas, now part of the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, as F-15 fighter jet test engineer and also participated in a program dedicated to the development of anti-satellite missiles.

“All my life I wanted to be an astronaut. I was part of the crowd that wanted to participate in the Apollo (the Moon travel program). To achieve that goal, I tried to be a fighter pilot, but my eyesight wasn’t good enough,” Rush told CBS.

“Then I had an epiphany. It wasn’t about going into space. It was about exploring (…) And I realized that the ocean is the universe. That’s where life is,” she continued.

In 2009 Rush founded OceanGate and in 2012 was involved in the acquisition of Teledyne, a provider of underwater technology, his resume reads.

In 2018 alerts were launched from inside and outside OceanGate about the way the Titan submersible was developed. (MEDIUM PA).

As several US and Canadian naval planes and ships continue to track the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, the US press has revealed that OceanGate received internal and external warnings about the Titan’s safety.

In 2018, the then director of maritime operations of the company, David Lochridge, presented a harsh report in which he assured that the submersible needed more tests to guarantee that it was capable of descending to a depth of 4,000 meters safely for its occupants.

These criticisms cost Lochridge his job and incidentally a lawsuit, thanks to which his report ended up in the hands of the courts of the Eastern District of the state of Virginia (USA). Lochridge declined requests from the press for comment on the incident involving the Titan.

But as if that weren’t enough, weeks later three dozen oceanographers, explorers and submarine industry leaders criticized Rush for his refusal to submit the Titan to tests by specialized companies that would allow certifying that it could operate at the depths announced by its developers.

However, these warnings were ignored by the businessman, who considered them a burden for innovation, said the American newspaper New York Times.

This newspaper also recalled that in 2021, during the Titan’s first excursion to the area where the remains of the Titanic are, an incident was recorded.

“The submersible had a problem with the battery and had to manually connect to his tail lift,” the newspaper reported, citing a document OceanGate’s legal counsel sent to a court.

Graphic of the place where the submersible was lost.

But not only the internal and external alerts have triggered the alarms, but also some comments that Rush himself made.

In the interview that he gave to CBS in 2022, the businessman admitted that the parts used to assemble the Titan were purchased in camping stores and that the cameras installed on the boat are the same as those that anyone can buy in electronic stores or on the internet.

“It seems that this was improvised,” the journalist snapped at the businessman, who denied it.

“We have worked with Boeing, NASA and the University of Washington,” he said.

“Be sure that the central compartment will not be destroyed by the pressure on the occupants (…) The thrusters can stop working, the lights can go out and everything else can fail and you’ll still be safe.”, he added.

However, the businessman’s explanations did not convince the journalist, who insisted on the safety of the ship and there Rush released: “Security is pure waste. If you just want to be safe, don’t get out of your bed. Don’t get in your car. Do not do anything”.

On that occasion, the OpenGate founder only admitted that his only concern was that his crew members would not hit their heads when they lost their balance while descending or ascending, or that fishing nets could prevent the submersible from returning to the surface.

Rush has been compared to Captain Kirk and therefore has not hesitated to operate the submersible developed by his company. (MEDIUM PA).

Despite these revelations and the statements that Rush made in the recent past, those who know him assure that security is a priority for him.

“Stockton Rush is a visionary and he didn’t take these people there carelessly and riskily. He is very careful and methodical and tried to mitigate the risks as best he could.”, assured Fred Hagen, a friend of the businessman, during an interview.

“Rush knows that the ocean floor is a critical part of solving the climate change crisis,” he added.

Hagen, however, admitted that these types of expeditions are highly risky and that all the Titan crew knew the risks.

In the contracts that those interested in seeing, live and direct, the remains of the Titanic must sign with OceanGate, they are warned that the Titan “It is an experimental ship, which has not been approved by any authority”.

Source: Elcomercio