Why were passengers allowed on OceanGate’s experimental Titan sub? - The Fifth Estate

The 2023 implosion of the Titan submersible shocked the world. In collaboration with Radio-Canada’s program, Enquête,The Fifth Estate’s Mark Kelley investigates how an experimental sub was allowed to take passengers to one of the most unforgiving places in the ocean to explore the Titanic wreck. Also, how they did it via the port in St. John's Newfoundland, one of the most monitored and regulated harbours in Canada.

00:00 - Stockton Rush pitches OceanGate
11:57 - Inside a sub: How safe is it?
21:30 - Firsthand: What it’s like to dive in the Titan
24:51 - Taxiing in Newfoundland and Titan’s Canadian support ship
34:31 - The hours after communication was lost

CORRECTION (March 28, 2024): A previous version of this documentary incorrectly identified the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador based on information posted by that office.

#Titan #Titanic #Submersible

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About The Fifth Estate: For more than four decades, The Fifth Estate has been Canada's premier investigative documentary program. Hosts Bob McKeown, Mark Kelley and Steven D'Souza continue a tradition of provocative and fearless journalism. The Fifth Estate brings in-depth investigations that matter to Canadians — delivering a dazzling parade of political leaders, controversial characters and ordinary people whose lives were touched by triumph or tragedy.

The Fifth Estate airs Fridays at 9pm on CBC-TV and steams on CBC GEM.

96 Hours

producer/director
Scott Anderson

writer
Mark Kelley

associate producers
Ivan Angelovski
Leanne Stepnow

additional research
Matthew Pierce

video editor
Naire Bahjat

senior videographer
Jonathan Castell

additional cinematography
Art Brown
Jean-Pierre Gandin
Andy Hincenbergs
Jean-Philippe Pelletier

graphic designer
Tim Kindrachuk

post audio
Ron Searles

colourist
Scott McIntyre

for enquête

producer/director
Sophie Lambert

producer
Gabriel Allard Gagnon

associate producer
Daniel Tremblay

reporter
Julie Dufresne

executive producer
Alain Abel

managing editor
Luc Tremblay

for the fifth estate

archival material
AFP
Alan por el Mundo
CBS Sunday Morning
Facebook
Getty Images
Horizon Maritime
Jake Koehler
Marine Traffic
NBC
Pond5
Pelagic Research
Reuters
Triton Submarines
YouTube

special thanks
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
Ryan Cooke
Kayla Hounsell

visual research
Leslie Morrison

media management
Astoria Luzzi

theme music
Steve D'Angelo

rollout producer
Leanne Stepnow

social media producers
Alex Migdal
Britt Purdy

digital producer
Janet Davison

project manager
Ella Shi

resource coordinators
Marc Cormier
Dragan Maricic

associate director
Nanci King

packaging editor
Alessia Protomanni

coordinating associate director
Rhonda Kirkpatrick

senior producers
Raj Ahluwalia
Emmanuel Marchand

executive producer
Allya Davidson

original broadcast
March 29, 2024

[bas]

As a retired engineer myself, I have often advised young engineers that if you think too far outside the box, you will usually quickly find out why the box was there!

[raycarl]

Finally, a quality OceanGate documentary offering new footage and journalism. Well done

[robokill]

Love how he kept talking about how there hadn't been a single injury in 35 years, without realising that the reason there hadn't been injuries and deaths was because of the regulation and commitment to safety that everyone in the field was committed to apart from him.

[whererosemaryflourishes]

Stockton Rush will certainly get his wish of being remembered for his rule breaking.

[brianthomas]

In terms of Stockton Rush, James Cameron said it best. “I think that if you’re building a hull where you need to have sensors to tell you that it’s failing, in the process of failing, you have no business designing subs”. Spot on.

[Spindrift_Productions]

David Lockrige is the hero of this story. Very few employees ever open their mouths and yell "STOP THIS IS WRONG!!" He is the whistle blower hero of this tragedy.

[kentk]

Port Authority of St. John's Harbour sure brought the hammer down on a camera crew doing an interview on the bay while turning a blind eye to a non-certified, unregulated, multi-million dollar disaster in the making. Excellent documentary by the CBC's Fifth Estate. Well done as per usual.

[tomservo]

I just can't wrap my head around the fact that as a lowly welder my first thought at seeing the titanium ring epoxied onto the carbon fiber tube was dissimilar materials at extreme pressure and temperature contracting/expanding at different rates creating weak points that tons of seawater WILL find a way to get through.

[Echo_rox]

There's an irony in knowing that both the Titanic and Oceangate were confidently sold as "unsinkable" to their passengers.

[apaulotroughtzmantz]

The fact that you had to be BOLTED into the thing with no means of escape without outside help would stop me

[dopamining]

Considering how DIY that sub looked, you couldn't pay me to get in that thing. The glorification of risk, the contempt for certification and peer opinion, the overconfidence/arrogance. This has a Darwin Award element to it.

[johnnunes]

This wasn't about exploration, it was about greed. Stockton Rush built a sub as cheap as he can while charging people a fortune.

[gregsmith]

The "Unthinkable" now lies next to the "Unsinkable".

[jamesotayza]

"You will be remembered for the rules you break." Ohh how right he was.

[admiralstiffplank]

This is a good example of how stupidity is not a victimless crime

[jhnnyknxvlle]

I'm not an engineer, I'm college educated. But even in the mid 90s, when were hardcore mountain biking - when we bought bikes we knew that carbon fiber options were out there - so was aluminum and steel. And the difference between each was well known. Carbon fiber, yep, it's light, and can be strong, but it stresses over time. And those mountain bike frames will crack at some point. I knew that at age 20. This guy had way more education on this stuff than I did, and still decided, let's do it. Just unreal. Preventable and Rush's company and widow should be holding the bag on this one.

[hreader]

Definitely one of the better documentaries on this subject if not the best - not sensationalised and obviously well-researched. I hadn't realised that the St John's port authorities were so relaxed about the Titan - interesting. Well done, 5th Estate team!

[willenhallred]

The " OCEANGATE TITANIC EXPERIENCE " takes you to somewhere you've never been before, THE AFTERLIFE

[matthewmacneil]

That man actually talked about safety and breaking the rules in the same sentence. I'm speechless.

[laurenurban]

Stockton Rush will be remembered for his stupidity, horrific death and the four souls he took with him.