Did OceanGate Really Think A Game Controller Was Fit To Pilot Its Submarine?

An expedition to visit the sunken wreck of the Titanic ended in tragedy last year when the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded, killing all five people aboard. The company still exists, despite the death of founder and CEO Stockton Rush in the Titan incident. The estate of another Titan victim has filed a lawsuit against OceanGate, claiming the vehicle was poorly designed and prone to failure. As evidence, they point to the bargain basement Logitech gamepad that was the only means of navigation.

In the wake of the tragedy, the public learned several concerning details of the Titan submersible. For one, the titanium and carbon fiber vessel was never certified by a ship classification society for deep sea exploration, and the entire vehicle was controlled via a Logitech F710 wireless gamepad. The estate of seasoned Titanic explorer Paul-Henri Louis Emile Nargeolet, who was onboard as a guide, has filed a $50 million lawsuit (PDF) in King county Washington, citing the use of this controller as a contributing factor to the sub's failure.

The $36 F710 might get the job done in a video game, but it's not the kind of device intended for mission-critical applications like this—it's the kind of controller you'd give to your little brother. Game controllers can show up in unexpected places, like in military and industrial applications. However, the Titan submersible did not have any other means of control. It is believed the craft lost power during its controlled descent, causing it to tip down and drop into the abyss. This is speculative, though. The implosion that instantly killed the passengers also turned the submersible into a pile of unidentifiable debris.

Stockton was warned about the danger of using a game controller with no physical back up systems, according to the lawsuit. However, the company disregarded those concerns because Rush believed Titan was sufficiently similar to the company's successful Cyclops I submarine. Moreover, Rush had a team of either current or recently graduated engineering students design the control system, which relied on wireless connectivity. The filing also calls out OceanGate for the use of materials with varying compression properties, the use of carbon fiber throughout the design, and insufficient structural strength of the porthole.

It's unclear what specific factor led to the implosion, but the lawsuit says the controller and other noted flaws could have led to a "daisy chain of failures" that doomed the vessel. The $50 million lawsuit names OceanGate, the estate of Stockton Rush, and several contractors. The plaintiffs aim to prove in court that the defendants were "careless, negligent, grossly negligent, and reckless."