Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion, testimony says

This undated image courtesy of OceanGate Expeditions, shows their Titan submersible beginning a descent. Ross told the hearing that the earlier dive had to be aborted due to a valve malfunction that left at least one passenger hanging upside down, and took ‘considerable time’ to correct. — AFP/OceanGate Expeditions

NEW YORK: The Titan submersible had to abort a dive just days before the implosion that killed its five passengers as they explored the wreck of the Titanic, an ex-employee of the company that operated the vessel testified on Sept 19.

The testimony from former OceanGate scientific director Steven Ross came as the US Coast Guard began a two-week hearing on Sept 16 into the 2023 catastrophe, which will feature evidence as to what went wrong and whether physical or design failure contributed to the accident, which garnered worldwide attention.