The family of French deep sea explorer Paul-Henri Louis Emile Nargeolet, who died as part of a crew of five during the dive of the Titan deep-sea manned vehicle, became the first to file a claim for causing death by negligence against operator of the OceanGate submersible, as well as the heirs of the owner and CEO of the company, Stockton Rush, writes TechSpot.
Image Source: TechSpot
The lawsuit, filed in King County Court in Washington, accuses OceanGate and others of “gross negligence” in connection with the fatal incident that occurred on June 18, 2023. The document states that OceanGate and Stockton Rush, who also died in the incident, “failed to disclose” key facts about the condition and strength of the underwater vehicle, knowing which Narjolet would never have agreed to participate in the dive on Titan.
Specifically, the Titan was reportedly made from carbon fiber, which can crack when subjected to repeated compression, rather than the titanium commonly used in submarines. It was also noted that the device had not been tested and did not have the appropriate certification.
Image source: Logitech
In addition, it is mentioned that to control the deep-sea vehicle, instead of a special controller, a $30 Logitech F710 game controller was used, connected to the system via a Bluetooth connection rather than via a wire. It is also noted that in the main compartment of the Titan there was only one physical button – to turn on the power, and all other equipment, including indicators and sensors, was touch-sensitive.
However, the lawsuit does not indicate any element that caused the disaster. Instead, it states that the incident was caused by a sequential chain of failures of multiple incorrectly designed or manufactured parts and systems.
The victim’s family is seeking $50 million in damages. “We hope that through this lawsuit we can get answers for the family about exactly how this happened, who was involved and how they could allow it to happen,” said plaintiff’s lawyer Tony Buzbee (Tony Buzbee).