OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush planned to die at Titanic wreck, friend claims

Key Points:

• OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush reportedly planned to die during the Titanic wreck dive, according to his longtime friend Karl Stanley, who accuses Rush of intentionally endangering wealthy tourists for fame.
• Stanley claims Rush designed the Titan submersible to implode at the sea floor, seeking to become part of "Titanic mythology" by orchestrating a fatal, high-profile incident.
• The 2023 dive ended in tragedy, killing Rush and five tourists who paid up to $250,000 each, including notable figures such as French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet and British adventurer Hamish Harding.
• Rush named the submersible "Titan" after a fictional ship from an 1898 novel eerily similar to the Titanic, reinforcing claims that he knowingly created a "futile" vessel as a murder weapon.
• Stanley, who testified during the US Coast Guard inquiry, described Rush as a "criminal" and recounted warnings ignored during earlier test dives, while colleagues at OceanGate were reportedly terrified after the disaster.