Seattle resident Stockton Rush was on the OceanGate Titan that went missing this week.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced earlier today during a press conference that a field of debris from the OceanGate Titan that went missing on June 18 has been found, signaling a “catastrophic implosion.” The vessel had 5 passengers on board including OceanGate CEO, Seattle resident Stockton Rush.
Read on for all we know about Stockton Rush and OceanGate Titan.
Stockton Rush was the CEO and founder of OceanGate Expeditions, which is based in Everett, WA. He moved to Seattle in 1990. His biography on the OceanGate website says he served on the board of directors for Seattle’s BlueView Technologies as well as on the Board of Trustees for Seattle’s Museum of Flight.
OceanGate’s Titan submarine went missing this past Sunday during an expedition to tour the wreck of the Titanic. The private company offers a seat on the submarine for $250,000 per person. The five passengers aboard, including Rush, are now presumed dead due to a “catastrophic implosion,” according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Speaking to David Pogue for his Unsung Science podcast, Rush had this to say about the vessel’s safety:
You know, at some point, safety just is pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed. Don’t get in your car. Don’t do anything.
According to the New York Times Rush is survived by wife Wendy Weil Rush, a descendent of Isidor and Ida Straus who famously perished when the Titanic sank.