An analysis of the sequence of events on the 20th April which led to the disaster on Deepwater Horizon
By Bill Campbell, Retired HSE Group Auditor, Royal Dutch Shell.
Operating Blind in Deepwater
Only minutes before the blowout on Deepwater Horizon on 20th April everything was reported as being in order. The negative pressure test of the integrity of the well had been good and the displacement of seawater after this test was going fine.
But just 25 minutes after this reassuring message was passed to the senior toolpusher, mud started to overflow from the well onto the drill floor. With only seconds to act and do the right thing mistakes were made which allowed gas to be ingested into areas of the rig where sources of ignition were present. Actions that could have been taken to prevent the ignition of the gas were not taken and four minutes after the blowout commenced most of the crew, on or near the drill floor, were killed in the first explosion.
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