OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush crashed a submersible into a shipwreck and then threw the vessel’s rudimentary controls at a more experienced employee years before he piloted the doomed Titan voyage last summer.

Lochridge. a submarine pilot and inspector, was so frustrated with operations and safety issues at OceanGate that he sounded the alarm, and was dismissed from the company for allegedly violating a nondisclosure agreement. He then sued the company arguing that he was dismissed for being a whistleblower.

OceanGate's former engineering director said he had refused to pilot the ill-fated submersible which imploded more than a year ago.

I'm not getting in it,'” Tony Nissen said he told Stockton Rush, co-founder of the OceanGate company that owned the Titan submersible.

Titan engineer felt 'under pressure' to get doomed submersible out to sea - Engineer Tony Nissen told an inquiry into the Titan which imploded killing five that he had previously flagged safety concer

Tony Nissen said he refused to pilot the Titan years ago because he didn't trust the operations staff, and that he stopped the submersible from going to the Titanic in 2019.