OceanGate co-founder Guillermo Sohnlein defends the company's deceased CEO against claims he dismissed safety warnings, as officials work to decide who will investigate the disaster.
Rob McCallum said he had urged Mr Rush's company to certify the Titan before taking it on commercial tours, but was ignored.
"We've made thousands and thousands and thousands of dives to these depths and have never had an incident," he said.The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, went to explore the wreckage of the sunken SS Titanic.Canada's Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the Polar Prince, the Titan's mother ship and Canadian-flagged support vessel which had 17 crew members and 24 others on board.
On Friday, the NTSB said the US Coast Guard would lead the investigation and the NTSB would join, but the Coast Guard has not confirmed this.
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