[cloudbonsai]

Among the interviews, one with the former engineering director was the most eye-opening for me.

https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=17236880&Fi...

It appears that all the engineers -- system designer, material engineer and structural analyst -- thought that OceanGate CEO was going to kill himself:

    If you ever find <name-of-the-engineer>, he’s not going
    to have a whole lot of nice to say. He was very frustrated
    with the company. (...) And I understand why. He thought
    Stockton was going to kill himself.

And the director himself declined to dive on Titan when asked:

    Now, the question is, why wouldn’t the engineer get inside
    his own vehicle? It was because of what I felt -- and I have a
    background in Navy diving in EOD operations. I knew firsthand
    that the operations group was not the right group for that role,
    and I told him as much, that I don’t trust operations and who he
    has there.

[bambax]

The number of stupid decisions that went in the design and construction of the Titan is astonishing. One of my favorites was that, after putting on the carbon fiber around the tube, they would sand imperfections to make the surface perfectly smooth, severing layers in the process! It shouldn't require an engineering degree from MIT to recognize this as ill-advised.

[lazide]

Even without that, the material is just wrong. It’s strong in tension, not so much compression. Tends towards sudden brittle fractures. Doesn’t like impacts, as it tends to have issues with delaminating.

It’s just not what you ever want as a sub hull. It’s dumb.

And weight is not even a huge issue for a sub!

[franktankbank]

I don't like this interpretation of things. Its worthwhile to experiment and try things. They were basically mentally ill as a group and rejected genuine concern. Everyone wants to shit on the build but it was the human relations that killed it.

[bokohut]

'And the director himself declined'

An anecdotal personal story as it aligns with this exact statement although no one got killed but data breaches certainly occurred.

Many years ago now I was propositioned to be on the board of a financial technology company and they spared no expense in literally rolling out the red carpet for my arrival. I found it all very laughable being solely focused on business and the technical details as I was not being fooled by all the schmoozing. After hearing all the unrealistic business objectives and the promise of having the Philadelphia Flyers involved I then asked to meet the technology team that built the product to see a demo. They bring in one young guy who built it all, the executives are still present mind you, and they allow me to ask any and all questions about the platform that nearly no one in management comprehended. After seeing the demo which involved several blatant security issues I asked only one more question of the sole developer: "Would you put your financial information into this system?"

He provided his answer in front of the companies executive board and I can still see their reactions to this very day. I then stood up and thanked everyone for opportunity and left.

[robot-wrangler]

Wow! Man, an insider with these kinds of concerns isn't exactly exonerating or excusing themselves with such a testimony. Whistle-blowing to any relevant authority as hard as possible seems like the bare minimum? And if there's no governing agency to pass the responsibility over to, I think you gotta quietly approach the first customer (or victim) with these concerns if not a newspaper

[idontwantthis]

I read that the pilot was also basically suicidal. His wife had died, and he was completely fine with the danger because he would die doing what he loved, and he didn't really want to live anymore.

[djmips]

Wasn't the pilot Stockton Rush? His wife was alive. Who are you referring to? I tried to check your claim but I couldn't verify it.