• Ex-Titan passenger Aaron Newman said safety was "always the most important thing" for OceanGate.
  • He said CEO Stockton Rush's wife watched over him to ensure operations were safe.
  • "The thing that he may be guilty of was not following the crowd," Aaron Newman told Fox Business.

A man who went on the Titan submersible two years ago said safety was "always the most important thing" for OceanGate — even if the company's CEO Stockton Rush didn't always follow "the crowd."

Aaron Newman, who visited the Titanic wreck on the sub in August 2021, criticized OceanGate's critics on Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria," dismissing claims that safety wasn't its top priority as "absolutely ridiculous." 

"Safety is an incredible priority and was always the most important thing there," said Newman, who was also friends with Rush.

He added that OceanGate carried out "extensive testing" and that Rush's wife, Wendy, was always "looking over his shoulder."  

"The thing that he may be guilty of was not following the crowd, not listening, and doing whatever everyone else wanted to do," Newman told Fox Business. "It's very easy to attack a man that can't defend himself at this point." 

Former passengers of the Titan sub have spoken out about their experiences on the sub since its "catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber."

Mike Reiss, a writer and producer for "The Simpsons," went on four dives in OceanGate's submersible. He told CNN on Tuesday that the sub briefly lost communication "every single time."

Arthur Loibl, who took a dive on Titan sub in August 2021, called it a "suicide mission" and said he was "incredibly lucky" to survive his visit to the Titanic shipwreck.

He claimed that on his trip the sub was five hours late "due to electrical problems" and that before the dive a stabilizing tube bracket had to be reattached with zip ties after it broke off.

A former OceanGate consultant also reportedly warned Rush that he was putting passengers in danger because the vessel was not classed or independently certified.

The OceanGate founder responded, according to emails seen by the BBC, and said: "We have heard the baseless cries of 'you are going to kill someone' way too often." He added: "I take this as a serious personal insult."

OceanGate did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside of normal working hours.