Tragic Titan sub had malfunctioned days before fatal Titanic dive according to US Coast Guard inquiry

The Titan submersible, which killed all five people aboard when it imploded during a dive to see the Titanic in 2023, had a 'platform issue' days before the fatal trip, a hearing into the disaster was told

The Titan submersible, which tragically imploded with the loss of all on board during an expedition to view the Titanic wreck, had reportedly malfunctioned just days before the ill-fated dive, a US coast guard hearing was informed.

Dr Steven Ross, former scientific director for OceanGate, the company that owned the ill-starred craft, has been summoned to testify in front of a US Coast Guard panel. Today, he recounted to the authorities about a "platform issue" that befell the experimental submarine back in June 2023.

This mishap saw passengers being thrown around inside the vessel, resulting in an hour-long rescue operation to extract them from the water.

Subsequently, the Titan was deployed into the Atlantic where British explorer Hamish Harding and the father-son duo Shahzada and Suleman Dawood lost their lives. They were accompanied by OceanGate Expeditions' CEO Stockton Rush and French national Paul-Henri Nargeolet when the submersible catastrophically collapsed under deep-sea pressure.

Dr Ross pointed out an instance where the sub's pilot, also co-founder of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, collided with the craft's interior bulkheads amid the malfunction. He detailed: "One passenger was hanging upside down. The other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap.", reports the Mirror.

Further, Dr Ross admitted his uncertainty over whether the Titan's hull integrity had been thoroughly assessed post the June incident. Earlier in this week, the Coast Guard commenced public hearings as part of an extensive inquiry into what caused the sub to implode.

These proceedings began on September 16, with some testimonies delving into issues the company had encountered prior to the devastating dive in 2023.

Earlier in the hearing, former OceanGate Operations Director David Lochridge described regular disagreements with Rush and expressed his belief that the company prioritised profit over science. His remarks were clear-cut: "The whole idea behind the company was to make money. There was very little in the way of science."

Coast Guard officials emphasised at the beginning of the ordeal that the submersible had not undergone independent inspection, a typical protocol. The unique design of Titan garnered additional attention from those in the field of undersea exploration.

Following a catastrophic implosion, OceanGate, hailing from Washington state, momentarily ceased its operations. Although the firm now lacks a full-time staff, it was represented by legal counsel throughout the proceedings.

During the submersible's last mission on June 18, 2023, communication was lost following a text exchange regarding the Titan's descent specifics. Subsequently, the support vessel Polar Prince attempted multiple times to establish if the submarine could visually detect the shipping vessel through its onboard systems.

At the start of this week, released footage divulged "the aft dome, aft ring, remnants of the hull and carbon fibre debris."

Additionally, the video captured the porthole that would have been used by the crew to observe the doomed ocean liner. The hearings are set to continue until Friday, anticipating further testimonies.