Did Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Contribute To The Loss Of A Reportedly Dangerous Submersible Sub?
As I write this, the Coast Guard has just announced that they have discovered a debris field in the area that is being searched for the missing OceanGate submersible. Sadly, it would appear that this story is going to have a tragic end. Based on the company’s own oxygen estimates and other experts that believe the sub met with a catastrophic end, the search seems to have taken on a recovery rather than a rescue tone.
Since the drama began to unfold, several aspects of the company’s decision making have come under scrutiny. Stockton Rush who is the company’s CEO and one of the five passengers on the current mission made the statement that he preferred not to hire “50-year-old white guys” with military experience to pilot his company’s vessels.
In a 2020 interview with Teledyne Marine, Rush said this:
“When I started the business, one of the things you’ll find, there are other sub operators out there, but they typically have gentlemen who are ex-military submariners, and you’ll see a whole bunch of 50-year-old White guys. “I wanted our team to be younger, to be inspirational, and I’m not going to inspire a 16-year-old to go pursue marine technology, but a 25-year-old, you know, who’s a sub pilot or a platform operator or one of our techs can be inspirational. So we’ve really tried to get very intelligent, motivated, younger individuals involved because we’re doing things that are completely new. We’re taking approaches that are used largely in the aerospace industry, is related to safety and some of the preponderance of checklists things we do for risk assessments and things like that, that are more aviation related than ocean related, and we can train people to do that. We can train someone to pilot the sub, we use a game controller, so anybody can drive the sub.”
In another interview, Rush revealed the craft is indeed controlled with a modified Logitech F710 wireless gamepad, which retails for $30 on Amazon.
Maybe it’s me, but Rush’s comments seems to contradict themselves on several levels. First, Rush states that a 16-year-old wouldn’t be motivated by a 50-year-old. He then essentially implies that he thinks it’s better to teach a younger person on the fly simply because he believes it to be more inspirational. He then attempts to reinforce that opinion by saying “we use a game controller, so anybody can drive the sub.”
I’m sorry, but those statements don’t jive with his claim that they are making changes that are geared for increased safety. Combine Rush’s statements with these other reports.
Six months ago, A CBS report on this same sub named “Titan,” raised legitimate safety concerns. Reporter David Pogue, visited OceanGate’s operation and was submerged in the now missing and presumed lost vehicle. Before being submersed, Pogue took a tour of the sub and commented on its “improved design” which included lighting from Camping World and the afore mentioned PlayStation controller that’s used to drive the sub. After the tour, Pogue told Rush that, “It seems like this submersible has some elements of MacGyvery jerry-rigged-ness. You are putting construction pipes as ballast.”
Rush pushed back on Pogue’s description:
“I don’t know if I would use that description.” Rush then added that the OceanGate had worked with Boeing and Nasa on the pressure vessel. “Everything else can fail. Your thrusters can go, your lights can go, you’re still going to be safe.”
Really? Pogue stated that he was anxious about boarding the sub and shared some of the wording on the waiver form that he was required to sign. The waiver described the sub as an:
“experimental submersible vessel that has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and could result in physical injury, disability, emotional trauma or death.”
During the report, Pogue related that on a test dive the submersible platform that lowers Titan into the water failed when its floats came loose. On another attempt with CBS still filming and following the sub, the vessel lost contact with its launch ship. This prompted another unidentified passenger to lament that he had paid $250,000 for a ticket and “we were lost for two and a half hours.”
A third dive turned out to be successful, and the “Titan” did reach the Titanic wreckage.
On Tuesday, Mike Reiss, a passenger on one of Titan’s trips last year, again brought up the waiver. In an interview with BBC Breakfast, he stated:
“You sign a massive waiver that lists one way after another that you could die on the trip. They mention death three times on page one and so it’s never far from your mind. You try to put it out.”
Reiss went on to say that he had doubts that a rescue attempt would be successful. “I’m not optimistic just because I know the logistics of it.”
Commenting on the situation after his own experience, David Pogue told Yahoo,
“There’s no way to escape, even if you rise to the surface by yourself.”
Josh Gates, who hosts the Discovery Channel’s “Expedition Unknown” tweeted yesterday that he passed on a second dive to actually film Titanic’s wreckage because the sub ““did not perform well on my dive.”
Gate’s tweet sounded more than ominous:
“To those asking, #Titan did not perform well on my dive. Ultimately, I walked away from a huge opportunity to film Titanic due to my safety concerns w/ the @OceanGate platform. There’s more to the history and design of Titan that has not been made public – much of it concerning.”
My prayers go out to the families of those lost in this tragedy. I’m sure there will be an intense investigation into whether or not this loss of life could have been avoided. Sadly, assigning blame, although necessary, so mistakes that were made are not repeated, it will not replace those no longer in their lives.
Eternal Peace and Infinite Knowledge to those no longer with us.
