Titanic sub CEO was on a 'predatory' mission to convince influential people to support his unsafe vessel, says expert
Titanic sub CEO was on a 'predatory' mission to convince influential people to support his unsafe vessel, says expert
Patrick Lahey, the president of Triton Submarines, told the Times that Stockton Rush had a talent for convincing people that the Titan was safe.
The more that comes out, it begins to seem like an extended murder/suicide pact. On the other hand, he likely just believed in his hype and really thought he could slap it all together. Tragic.
He seems to have really thought he was smart enough to outwit all the engineers who told him not to. He called it "innovation" but to others it looked like hubris and delusion.
Even if he had used a safe submersible it would still have been a very risky business to take tourists down there. Experienced submersible pilots have ended up in trouble around that wreck site because the currents are strong and unpredictable and it's easy to become entangled in the wreckage.
It just goes to show that you can bullshit, bully & fire as many engineers as you like but you can't bullshit physics. There's no talking your way out of being crushed at depth.
The hubris that people like that guy have, precludes them from having any doubts about their judgment or ability, while seeing anyone with a contradiction opinion as "just not getting it".
They are high huffing their own jenkum
They could save a lot of words by just saying that he was a capitalist.
If it was predatory, then why was he aboard, risking his own life?
Because even the smartest people can start believing their own "lies".
He had faith in his systems and decried anyone who challenged that faith.
Just remember that faith and facts are not the same thing.
Guess he shouldn't have done that.
Lucky that mission was squashed
Not sure how much of it is "predatory" behavior and how much of it is just a combination of being a masterful salesman + being really, really dumb, "drinking his own Kool-aid"... The dude was piloting the sub on every expedition after all
The thing that struck me is he maybe favored, and maybe only had young inexperienced people working on the project. This can only mean that older people would not work with him, or he did not want people that actually know something asking hard questions. The same would be true for not having a good non-destructive testing campaign and a destructive one too. If true this is a huge organizational issue. He may have been short of money too, so he presumably cut corners for this reason as well. Exactly where was the money coming from for example.
He specifically stated he didn't want to hire older and experienced employees.
Hopefully this serves as a cautionary tale going forward and dissuades other misinformed people about the purpose of regulations. All loss of life is tragic but hopefully it can serve as a warning.
I doubt it. Others died of their own hubris before and he did it anyways, he'll not be the last to refuse to learn.
Yeah, wasn't the first time, won't be the last.
Rich people always assume they know better than the plebs.
It's hows they justify treating everyone else like shit.
Yo, did something happen here or is my connection all messed up?
It looks like a bunch of comments disappeared from this thread, and even one I made is missing from my comment history.
it's sounding like this guy was pretty awful
Okay, can we talk about this headline for a sec? It kinda sounds like we're about to hear from an expert 'predator' :'D "Yeah I've been ripping off investors for over a decade now and I can tell you this is exactly the sort of thing I'd do. Usually I don't die from it, though."
loads of wicked smaht people after the fact. funny that. how about raising the alarm before he killed people ?
how about raising the alarm before he killed people ?
Like the friend who warned him the hull seemed fragile and advised him to do more testing before allowing passengers onboard, only to be told to "keep your opinions to yourself"? Or the engineers who warned not to use carbon fibre and titanium but whose "rule" he was proud to ignore, or his executive who warned him about the implosion risk and demanded regular tests for wear and who sued him after being fired for it, or the three dozen experts who signed an open letter to him warning his sub was unsafe?
He had no shortage of warnings, but seems to have made it a point of pride to ignore them.