Titan owner's scientific director says sub malfunctioned days before fatal dive to Titanic

The scientific director for OceanGate, which owned the doomed Titan submersible that imploded last year on an expedition to see the Titanic, told an investigative panel Thursday that the sub malfunctioned only days before it descended into the North Atlantic for its final, deadly dive.

Steven Ross told the U.S. Coast Guard panel that the malfunction rocked the submersible during that dive, causing people on board to "tumble about" as the OceanGate co-founder Stockton Rush crashed into bulkheading. Ross said he did not know if the hull of the Titan was evaluated after the incident.

"One passenger was hanging upside down," said Ross. "The other two managed to wedge themselves into the bow end cap."