The Netflix documentary Titan: The OceanGate Disaster reveals how CEO Stockton Rush ignored repeated warnings before his submersible imploded during a Titanic wreck expedition, killing all five people on board. The film uses insider accounts and never-before-seen footage to show how arrogance and cost-cutting led to tragedy.
The Titan submersible disaster shocked the world in June 2023. The vessel, owned by OceanGate, collapsed under deep-sea pressure during a dive to the Titanic wreck site. All passengers died instantly, including Rush, British billionaire Hamish Harding, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood with his 19-year-old son Suleman.
The documentary explains this was not an accident waiting to happen—it was guaranteed. Engineers had warned Rush for years that his carbon-fiber design would fail. Former employees describe how Rush fired anyone who questioned his decisions. He even ignored loud cracking noises during dives, calling them normal “seasoning” of the material.
“It was a mathematical certainty that Titan would fail,” says an expert in the film. “Carbon fiber breaks down with each use. Rush knew this but kept pushing forward.”
OceanGate avoided safety checks by calling passengers “mission specialists” instead of tourists. This legal trick let them skip strict rules for commercial vessels. Rush openly admired billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, wanting their “big swinging dick” confidence. His wife Wendy, whose ancestors died on the Titanic, supported his risky plans.
One shocking scene shows Rush firing his chief pilot, David Lochridge, for demanding safety checks. Lochridge warned the hull could fail at any moment. OceanGate then sued him to silence his complaints.
“Wankers. That’s on camera,” Lochridge says about Rush’s team.
Viewers hear the sub’s haunting final moments. A government microphone 900 miles away recorded the implosion. The sound reached OceanGate’s support ship before their last text message, making them think Titan was still safe.
The film also reveals:
- Rush used a PlayStation controller to steer the $250,000-per-seat submersible
- Boeing engineers warned him in 2012 that the design would fail
- The carbon fiber hull made popping sounds during every dive
- OceanGate’s own sensors showed damage after a 2022 dive, but Rush ignored it
“Those cracking sounds though. How could anyone think that death trap was safe?” wrote one viewer online.
Titan: The OceanGate Disaster doesn’t just blame Rush. It shows how systems meant to protect people failed. Government agencies were too slow to act. News outlets turned the tragedy into a spectacle. And wealthy adventurers ignored red flags for a chance to see the Titanic.
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The documentary is now streaming on Netflix. It serves as a stark warning about what happens when rules are treated as suggestions—and when human lives come second to ego.
Credit: Netflix
