19 July 2023 , 08:01
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The CEO of the firm behind the doomed Titanic submarine knew his experimental approach to submersibles would end in tragedy, his friend has sensationally claimed.
Stockton Rush was CEO of the submersibles company OceanGate and was creator and pilot of the Titan submersible that went on its last expedition to the wreck of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on June 18, killing him and four other passengers.
Mr Rush had done this trip multiple times before, but friend and submarine expert Karl Stanley, who had also travelled in the Titan, has shockingly told a documentary his pal was fully aware of the risks and could have predicted the catastrophic outcome.
Mr Stanley, a Honduran tourist submarine operator, was among the first to step foot in the Titan while on a test dive in the Bahamas back in 2019.
Speaking in a documentary, he had harsh words for the late Mr Rush and his risky expeditions.
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Karl Stanley makes stunning allegations about his deceased friend (@60MinutesAU/YouTube)Mr Stanley told 60 Minutes Australia: "He definitely knew it was going to end like this. He literally and figuratively went out with the biggest bang in human history that you can go out with."
He noted that the OceanGate boss had accomplished a rare feat by being responsible for the demise of two billionaires, who even willingly paid for the service.
"And [he] was the last person to murder two billionaires at once, and have them pay for the privilege," he said.
Stockton Rush did not listenMr Stanley blasted that Mr Rush had created a "mousetrap" for his high-profile customers.
"I think Stockton was designing a mousetrap for billionaires," he said.
When asked by the interviewer, "so you're saying, he had a death wish?" he replied: "The only question in my mind is when (he had a death wish).
"He was risking his life, his customers' lives, to go down in history. He's more famous now than anything he's ever done."
Titan submersible passengers (L-R, top to bottom) Hamish Harding, CEO Stockton Rush, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood (Dirty Dozen Productions/OceanGat)It is a stunning allegation from a man who had been friends with Mr Rush, and knew his submersible well.
When describing the events he witnessed inside the submarine, Mr Stanley stated that there were frequent loud noises resembling gunshots occurring approximately every three to four minutes.
He emphasised how eerie and unsettling it was to hear such sounds while being submerged deep under the ocean, especially in a vessel that had ventured to such depths only once before.
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The sub imploded due to the extreme pressure at 12,500 feet - the depth at which the Titanic wreck lies (AP)He said: "I would say every three to four minutes there were loud gunshot-like noises. It's a heck of a sound to hear when you're that far under the ocean and a craft that has only been down that deep once before."
He was convinced those noises were the carbon fibre hull cracking and breaking down - and he told Mr Rush in a series of emails.
And a frustrated Mr Stanley says he even created a visual representation of the wrecked submarine at the ocean's bottom.
Stockton Rush created a 'mousetrap for billionaires', submarine expert Karl Stanley said (AP)He was - and is - convinced the mechanical part, the carbon fibre tube, was the major culprit behind the unfortunate incident.
He noted: "I literally painted a picture of his wrecked sub at the bottom and even that wasn't enough. There was no doubt in my mind that the biggest failure was the carbon fibre tube that was the mechanical part that failed."