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Deepwater Horizon in Flames
Photograph courtesy Steadfast TV
The BP-leased offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon begins sinking on April 22 in a rare picture of the aftermath of the April 20 explosion that spawned the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
More exclusive footage of the explosion appears in the National Geographic Channel's Gulf Oil Spill documentary, premiering Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET/PT. (National Geographic News is owned by the National Geographic Society, which partly owns the National Geographic Channel.)
At the time of the explosion, 126 people were aboard the Deepwater Horizon, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Venice, Louisiana (map). Eleven people died in the disaster.
When the burning rig sank on April 22, so too did the pipe connecting the rig to the 5,000-foot-deep (1,500-meter-deep) oil well. That bent, ruptured pipe is the source of the thousands of barrels still spewing daily into the Gulf.(Related pictures: Heavy Oil Seeping Into Louisiana Marshes.)
Published May 27, 2010
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"Hell on Earth"
Photograph courtesy Steadfast TV
Fireboats battle the blazing hulk of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in an exclusive picture taken in the Gulf of Mexico on April 22.
Remembering his air approach, U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Lim said in the new documentary (see a trailer), "I could see the glow of the burning rig at 90 miles [145 kilometers] away. I knew this was big … like seeing hell on Earth."
(Related: Coast Pipelines Face Damage as Gulf Oil Eats Marshes?)
Published May 27, 2010
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Oil Rig Tips
Photograph courtesy Steadfast TV
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig begins capsizing on April 22—a blow not only to its crew members but also to the teams that had fought for nearly two days to keep it afloat.
"When you lose a vessel, it’s a somber moment," salvage master Jim Waitt said in the Gulf Oil Spilldocumentary. "You feel the loss, you feel the failure.
"Unfortunately for us, we were fighting a losing battle from the start," he added. "Unless that oil was cut off, there wasn’t really too much anybody could have done to prevent the eventual outcome that we witnessed."
(See satellite pictures showing the Gulf oil spill's early evolution.)
Published May 27, 2010
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Extinguished by the Sea
Photograph courtesy Steadfast TV
Fireboats struggle to put out the Deepwater Horizon fire as the oil rig lists on April 22. In the end only the Gulf itself could extinguish the flames.
On Thursday, a little more than a month after the rig explosion that spurred the Gulf oil spill, the U.S. Geological Survey released new estimates that confirm the Gulf disaster be the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
(See more photographs from the Gulf Oil Spill documentary.)
Published May 27, 2010
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