What Caused the Giant Piper Alpha Oil Rig Explosion?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ต.ค. 2024
- At 14,000 tons and 2.5 times the height of the Statue of Liberty, the Piper Alpha oil rig was one of the largest in the world. But on July 6, 1988, the entire structure became consumed by a devastating and deadly fire.
From the show Make It Out Alive: Oil Rig Explosion: bit.ly/2xTAiqC
The two subordinate rigs continued to pump high-pressure gas into the Alpha rig until the connection was physically broken by the second explosion, even though the operators could clearly see that the Alpha was actively on fire. Reason? They were afraid of getting sacked, because only HQ could order a shut-down (under penalty of sacking), and there was no official emergency procedure aside from "do what HQ tells you". So they watched it burn. Money money money, corporate greed and piles of filthy oil money.
This was tbe part that shocked me the most. Gives an insight into Oxy's corporate culture at tbe time. A lot of safety improvements resulted from tbis terrible accident, such as PtW and SSIV requirements but more importantly we oilfield workers should never accept this type of management regime again.
Regardless to what is said. Even if you use the stop card authority because of unsafe acts you still get sacked because you are stopping production. They preach safety is number one but dare you use your full right to speak out, your chopper will be waiting for you in the next hour and you can kiss your career goodbye
@@El_Jefe_S3 Are you saying 'safety when it suits them?'
@@El_Jefe_S3 I'd gladly take that chopper and sleep very well that night. I wouldn't even say I told you so if God forbid the worst happened.
I worked in oil and gas and i always did what was best for the plant and safety irrelevant of perverse commercial benefit. I was not liked much.
Stopping production is always better than creating a disastrous catastrophe, you lose twice with the intention to continue production
British minds don't understand that.
It is always just carry on doing shobby job.
I think it was more of a flawed management practice than negligence that played a major part in the disaster. The control room didn't stop production because they had no clue and hadn't been informed of the missing valve. The paperwork was there and the crew followed the standard "flawed" procedures but that meant the control room would never know about the previous maintenance.
@@rosewhite--- not really they didn't know how the condition of the pump was
They didn't know it had missing parts it was a good idea
OIM’s on nearby rigs witnessed the e plosion and fire yet continued to pump oil into piper . We don’t have authority to cut the pipe , need word from head office onshore ‘ I mean ffs !
There was no handover between shifts, and valves were left loose, very poor communications, very tragic
Was it owned by Scotland 🏴 or Norway 🇳🇴 or idk 🤷♀️
@@mikeyy2510 Neither. The field was owned by the UK. Rig was owned by Occidental (Now Repsol Sinopec Resources).
Very avoidable with some communication.
My dad worked on the piper alpha and should have been on it. (Before the grace of God go I.) He had swapped shifts to go to a wedding. He lost good friends he had worked with over the years and a lot of good men as he would always say.
My dad is now deceased he would be 80years on April. I will never forget seeing it on GMMTVwhen I was going to my work 6.30a.m running upstairs to tell him. He then told us that the fish had been floating to the top of the sea for days! I therefore ask your big oil companies "Could this have been avoided?)
I was on it for 8 years,and my back to back was getting married and I could have been on that night,but they did not want me doing 6 weeks on so they got somebody else.
Now multitudes of the sea creatures are floating to the top of the waters a lot these days and that's not from oil and gas obviously.
Jacqueline Caulfield i heard about that boy that swopped shifts, was that your old man, i cannot imagine what you must have gone through, and your da losing his work pals, you must feel so lucky but also sad
It happened get over it people die every day
Yeah my grandad. ,David lee Gorman. Was the single safety operator on the rig and now my father has gotten the same job on the biggest rig in the world
Insane that not more people talk about this
I only found out today. Never knew Scotland had a modern disaster on this scale.
@@thomasdurrant2313 nat geo wild right
hard for feminists to make a story out of this... that's why
Nah its always talked about in the petroleum industry
Corporate greed and combustibles are never a good mix. The single worst rig disaster in history, and it all could have been prevented so easily.
Its almost like an off-shore chernobyl
It was the governments fault. Government regulations made it produce natural gas which it wasn't designed for
Still not forgotten, rip brave souls
Another extraordinary thing about this disaster is that some of the men jumped from the Helo Deck which is about 175 feet off
the water. That's pretty insane that anyone of them survived that jump. And worse once they hit the water they had to deal with
flames,fire and all other kinds of mayhem that were going on around them.
I believe we can all agree that thank God production wasn't stopped. I've worked in industrial safety for several decades now and I'm heartbroken at how many people have been injured or killed just so wealthy people can make more money or save a couple thousand dollars.
I remember working in Brazil and while on the bridge i heard the mayday on 2182 and to this day every time I visit Aberdeen i pay respects to those who died
The mayday was heard as far away as Brazil?
The hardest hitting thing about this whole disaster is 87 people were still in that accommodation block when it slid off into the north sea... The absolute terror those men must have gone through. My only hope is they were already dead from smoke inhalation. the 30 bodies that were not found I believe were incinerated from the horric second blast.
I still can't believe that the claymore and other platform just stood there and put their jobs over human life.
If from what I'm assuming, most were possibly already dead, as the autopsies on the men inside after they brought it back up showed 13 had died from drowning, the rest were from smoke inhalation.
Should be physically impossible to start pump with propper lock out procedure.... We slipped up! The lock out procedure is absolutely essential to follow! RIP!
My uncle died on that and was filling in for his mate who’s wife was pregnant and my father was told by a survivor who pushed him off the rig as he ran back into the control room to turn off the pumps and he told my father when he ran in he hit the water and a second explosion went off when he went inside. RIP uncle Kevin you’ll be missed by all❤️and peace be to all those in heaven who losses their lives and too family and friends who lost a love one that night. Finally if anyone reading this works or has worked offshore where do you get a job like that from as I’m only 15 but interested in a career offshore.
Rip and respect
If your uncle filled in for a guy called Joseph I thank your uncle soo much for saving my great grandad
@@byroncondron9998 one life in exchange for another
May your uncle forever rest in peace mate. 🙏
I was on the USS HAYLER DD-997 and we were the onsite American Command Ship that took on survivors and fataly burned people and I had to toe tag ppl and it was a terrible to see and do..It was the worst time in my navy career and the lowest..GOD bless them all!!
At least you helped save those who got off 🙂
And you, too.
Imma toe tag you for your inconsiderate comment
am a petroleum student from uganda but the problem usually pressurize engineers and you find them neglecting health and safety.This in reverse increases the pressure at work with the aim of inreasing production to the level of the client"s expectation.Hence they never wanted to stop production but to add on that British Petroleum should analyse because it happened at macondo and texas which is a good record for BP
My grandfather was supposed to be on piper Alpha but he swapped roles with someone else who also died, that means my grandfather could have been killed R.I.P for these hardworking men all 167 of them
This is so very sad. My prayer's go out to the families that have lost their loved ones. God bless them.
Kathleen Bemis learn english jc
I did read that gas was still coming from another rig to piper alpha. Nobody wanted to take responsability to stop production
Heard an excuse that even if the other platform feeds into the header had been shutdown, the existing header pressure would still have taken a long time to depressurise. Doesn't excuse what happened to 167 men though.
Dang, this is very sad to see.
My father worked on this rig and was on it the week before it went up . Such a sad thing
@zorozes not a place for children
Whenever someone bangs on about how bad Deepwater Horizon was i just sigh. Then i tell them that Deepwater Horizon was nowhere near as horrific as Piper Alpha. A close friend of mine lost their grandfather in this disaster.
People mostly bring up Deepwater Horizon because of the environmental damage. The loss of life was not as bad, but the ecological destruction was far worse.
The Ocean Ranger is another from the early 80s. Tragic loss of life there too. My former neighbor was on the rig a few days before it went down.
@@marksavage1744 there was barely anything left of the rig.
I was there and i can tell you it was bad management and the bottom line is they kept feeding oil even after it was on fire.....They should have shut the platform down....it was a screw up....
money, money, money...la la la la
We’re u a worker?
You were there but you say they kept feeding oil, when it was natural gas.
OK.
@@Tipo-F120b why attach a blank if you're not going to bother tightening it?
"he didn't have time" is not a valid reason. You do not leave things like that.
And if the pump was not in a state to be started, why was it not locally tagged out (isolated) to prevent operation? An operator cannot start a pump that is locally isolated.
More than paperwork. Something of this scale doesn't happen due to one mistake or one act of negligence, it is a chain that could have been stopped at many points.
@@Tipo-F120b My ol man was on the 135. Watched a lot of his mates burn that night. He was well rattled for a few months after that. There is more to the story, but... They knew. And proceeded anyway.
Came here after seeing the seconds from disaster documentary. The cause was due to an ineffective permit to work system failing to notify the night shift that the safety valve for that pump was removed by the day shift.
Rest In Peace to the lives lost
This is important info and a good brief summary but longer better videos explain the compound mistakes and procedures and decisions that led to this tragedy. This one event was one of the biggest reasons lockout ragout and work permit procedures in many industries were reassessed going forward. Another key piece of the tragedy was onshore leaders specifically chose maintaining production from another connected platform as long as possible over probably preserving lives. Overall one of the worst industrial tragedies in modern history.
My great uncle survived this he broke both of his legs
Lack of risk assessment then shortcuts work is a bad habit.
The Permit to work system and shift handover were inadequate and these were major contributors to this disaster happening.
I worked on the Piper Bravo platform for 13 years, it replaced Piper Alpha.
A simple LO/TO system would have prevented this.
@@googleplex7097
The Permit to Work for the isolated Pump got lost in the shift handover and the Nightshift never knew the pump was out of service.
I think the Pressure Relief Valve was taken off for change out and the pipework was blinded off, when the pump kicked in pressure built up and blew out at the temporary blinded joint.
@@googleplex7097 Piper Alpha is the reason LO/TO came in to force a year later in the US, two years ahead of schedule.
Divers had previously been working in the water, so the platform's fire pumps were switched to manual to protect the divers and thus could not start automatically, Sadly, no one was able to reach the pumps for a manual start. The nearby Tharos semi-submersible platform also tripped their fire pumps, as they tried to move closer to help and took a long time to restart them. RIP to all who died.
The Pumps are more likely set to manual because they don’t false alarms to trigger them. They’re not supposed to be set to manual but they alotta times they are.
@@googleplex7097 In the case of Piper Alpha, it was to prevent divers being pulled towards or into the fire pump suction, if the pumps started automatically - for example on a low pressure demand. The only way the fire pumps could have been started would be locally, as the local selector switch would have been on manual.
Piper Alpha and Deep Water Horizon
they all need is to stop a few day to avoid this
sensor alarm and they always ignore, believe nothing bad could happen
'stop a few days'=millions lost in revenue you moron.
You valued money over life
100 odd grunts dead are not worth millions.
It's all very well and good to say 'stop the job' when you're watching a TH-cam video.
Try being in that position for real, with company men screaming at you. It is a brave thing to do.
The other 2 rigs that pumped gas to it didn't stop even when they heard the explosion and could see quite clearly on the horizon that it was completely engulfed in flames. They (the company) also knew that it shouldn't have been pumping oil & gas due to alterations that had been made a few months earlier.
Another example of greed outweighing safety
Some months later I was offshore on a construction vessel we had to pick off 2 ROV operators from the Claymore Platform same platform design as Piper A…..from the sea alongside looking up…it was really eary….with this shrill whistling sound of high pressure gas passing thru piping and an almost ghostly quiet with nobody seen moving around….I was glad to get away from claymore as it was like someone walking over my grave…..
lack of hand over for the work permit was the main reason of this accident
In loving memory of all those lost to the piper alpha disaster! My uncle survived the piper alpha disaster
The pumpu A should not operate before taking clearance from maintanance team. Communicationg gap, poor work system, workforce may be in panic due shutdown of plant
Worked offshore production for 30 years......we call that "Operator Error".
Dirty Dave definitely a carton
30 Years Ago this month :(
Too much information is missing on this video. For example, other rigs kept pumping oil to PA as it was a mid station conduit for other platforms.
Seems like we have some “very intelligent people” in charge of rigs
This explosion was so fatal..
Sometimes the worst disasters occur when everything is calm.
Hello there, I wanted to inquire about using this video in one of my learning projects. HOw do I obtain permission?
Sorry for your lost
Also nobody had the balls to cut the pipes still feeding the fire from other rigs , like deep water horizon ‘ we don’t have the authority to cut the pipe , we need word from onshore ( Aberdeen)
Hi there - I am Offshore Aviation Advisor for the Oil and Gas Industry. Thought Process Aviation Services has been contracted to develop a Safety Awareness Video for new individuals joining the Oil and Gas Industry. Will it be possible to use some of the EKT Interactive videos in this Training Program? Thank you for considering this request (full recognition will be provided)
Work permits not shared between two integrated systems. Recipe for disaster.
the character from fallout 2, obviously
Ah yes, after using 50 stimpaks with his great battle with a towering super mutant in power armor, that was loaded on drugs, fun times
Failed inspection and maintenance due to a faulty bypass junction. As im sitting here discussing it with, Rob.
It's amazing that anybody could survive sonething like that
All because the bottom line was more important than worker safety.
The platform at the beginning is one of the forties
Man someone must’ve ran a scrappy into that thing
Good work,,.
Ahh es tan satisfactorio,encontrarse con un vídeo original y bien hecho!!!
¿Le importa siquiera la pérdida de vidas
@@zafreelazha2524 me refiero al contenido y estructura del vídeo, en ningún momento me alegro por la perdida de vidas, de hecho soy enfermera y el tema del covid-19 que ya afectado mi familia me duele mucho. Solo me refiero a eso por favor no lo mal interprete o lo tome personal.
i could never work an a oil rig
The Chosen One blew it up xD
Lol
It starts from one problem to another
how would no one be informed the pipe was literally no longer in tact, a valve was literally removed and operators were not informed??? How long ago was this my goodness. 1988? My parents could have been working on that rig, that is messed up.
34 year ago.
Today dinner I sat in galley onboard Shelf Drilling Winner looking on the wall next to me there is a poster telling about that event. Reading that realised its 36th anniversary today. RiP to all men lost their lives.
The narrator versus the animation is wrong. The PSV or safety valve looks suspiciously like a manual valve. Fix the animation.
He then goes on to say that there was nothing to stop all that gas escaping to the atmosphere ummmm what about the bloody blank installed on the pipe then. Just too bad the blank or the gasket wasn’t rated for the pump pressure, that’s its job after all.
This people should be heros.
This is like the Chernobyl disaster
My uncle was on that rig.😢
Greed kills. If both pumps were down they should have shut down and fixed one.
They should’ve been more careful with their maintenance and double checked everything was in order
How on earth does that happen? No doubt more than one person would have known that the valve had been removed !!
Watch the investigation video. It explains it all.
They're gonna need to rebuild that oil rig.
Do technicians exist in that moment to do re check on that flange to make sure isn't leaking from the blind
So thats what happend to big bosses motherbase
Who decided to turn on the pump A? If something that important is broken...fix it properly...
One hundred AND twenty miles
The description is unclear, at 1: 57 " the faulty pump is switched back on " if the pump was faulty you would not be able to switch it ON . There is a vast difference between the electric motor which drives a pump, an ( impeller or mechanical type pump), or a safety valve inserted into a product flow line. A full description or failure analysis of the event may be elsewhere but the video animation generates many more questions than answers. You have to question the engineering or lack-of in the above depiction of the event. There are flow meters to monitor product flow, pressure switches, level switches for holding tanks % of fill, temperature monitoring of fluid, camera and video surveillance, with numerous controls circuits and devices to detect any anomaly, such as a major leak, so corrective action can be taken quickly before catastrophic events occur then escalate beyond the ability to control them. 20+ yrs. industrial electrician.
The pump was marked as faulty because it was attached to a broken valve that had been removed. Upon inspecting the pump they realised it was not faulty and could not work out why it was labelled as such - that is why they turned it back on.
I am watching this during BOSIET training. :/
Scree protocols !! 😮💥🔥☝️
USA: DID SOMEBODY SAY OIL LEAK???
Piper Alpha: um noooooooooo.
*USA wants to know your location
asianbubbleteapilotboiiiBOEING777-8X tbh Britain has invaded more countries for oil than America has
I wonder did Jeff survive
Hello, I am a Korean writer. If you don't mind, can I use this video for about 5 seconds to talk about safety?
Is she yours?
She sells seashells, (2:13) sell oil as well!
Thanks Luigi
God Bless Amen 🙏 🙏🍀🧸💚💚❤️🧸🍀💕
Is oil rig heavier than feather tho?
Who knew deadpool is an author
Poor LOTO procedures. RIP.
motor overload EL-motor 1 . Gasleak in EL-motor 2 . Shut down production 4 hours . Visual inspection, thermal photo and Gas content specrolosis, volt meter . Repair production unit . inspect entire gas and electrical lines on the fault alert circuit . Importance of interpreting instrumentation . after test, no alerts on the control panel . production back online
bravest of men
CONTROL STATION ENCLAVE, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Camp Enclave
This happened again
I live in Aberdeen which is where everyone on the oil rig. Was from
@@ethandonohoe6435 doubt that
@@ethandonohoe6435 your saying he missed the bus on that day? You do realise they work for 3 weeks at a time
@Just Benji You think they do 2 days on 2 days off?
The two English lads in the video were from Aberdeen, aye?
Person to blame here is the Chief Engineer. He had to give go ahead on re opening pump 1. He obviously didn’t follow protocol and rushed the job by not checking paper work.
He did check the paperwork, but due to the valve and the pump being in different parts of the platform the paperwork for them both were kept in different places. When the Chief checked to see why the pump was disabled all he could find was paperwork that said "faulty" - he inspected the pump, found it to not be faulty after all and turned it back on. It was a filing problem.
Just Watched Deep Water Horizon
Same here. I found the DVD at a dollar store. Quite a bargain. My neighbor back in the early 80s was on the Ocean Ranger in the North Atlantic just a couple days before it was sunk by heavy weather. Major loss of life...... and one lucky neighbor. The oil and gas industry is a fascinating and dangerous place.
@@marksavage1744 Ah okay, that's pretty cool.. Yeah I agree its fascinating and can definitely be dangerous.. I didn't follow the trial, but John Malkovichs character was fascinating to me too..
This is an unbelievably safe industry and these occurrences have been extremely rare considering the number of decades of North Sea oil recovery. I knew a guy who was killed on that rig. I didn't like him.
was smoking allowed ?
this happening due to the absence of flow detection system.
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Thanks for clearing that up. I'm sure the investigating team would have welcomed your informed input.
What the movie called please
спасибо
Aqui por causa do CAPSLOCK.
É 2.
This Smithsonian video has many errors that endanger the lives of offshore oil-rig workers. "What Really Happened at the Piper Alpha Oil-Rig Explosions - New Findings - Stop Killing Oil-Rig Workers", by Robert A. Leishear, PhD.
What is the name of the “inferno” that the interviewer mentions at 2:30 while attempting an analogy?
He says "its a cross between titantic and a towering inferno"
@@B355Y *the, The towering Inferno is a movie.
@krashd that's true. I should've caught that, lol
100% Human Error.
Back then they needed to practice safety more not how much money they could make