On Countdown tonight they had a segment on the Coast Guard's response. I found it kind of lacking to be honest. So how about some more information. On May 27th National Geographic TV ran a hour long special where there were videos and interviews I've not seen anywhere since. By far the best coverage. Period end of conversation IMHO.
In that response the words bravery and hero could and should be used. It is staggering actually.
I don't even get why National Geographic has only run it a few times since then. The videos and interviews were stunning beyond words. Below the fold some details on what happened that faithful night I bet many folks are not aware of.
Again, for some bizarre reason at the landing page for the show, the video is only a couple minutes long and almost worthless. No clue why the entire thing is not posted. On their YouTube channel I did find this, which is kind of the core of what happened but lacking some important context and detail.
When the call came into the Coast Guard duty officer at the Command Center that night he pulled up the specs on the rig in their database and saw there could be between 130-150 souls on the Deepwater Horizon. A panicked (understandable so I'd say) person said the entire rig was engulfed in flames and people were jumping off of it.
Problem, each of the Coast Guard helicopters could only rescue three maybe four individuals. Within minutes they deployed every asset they had. Even ones scheduled for maintenance and with crews that had already reach their max flight hours.
They took off 115 miles from the Deepwater Horizon. Almost as soon as they hit the Gulf of Mexico, one pilot says:
I could see the glow of the rig from 90 miles out, I knew this was hell on earth.
Another pilot comments:
I could see this immense glow on the horizon, it looked like I was flying toward New York City.
The first pilot continues:
We were about half a mile to the east of the burning rig and I could feel the intensity of the heat through the fuselage of the aircraft. I was looking into this burning hulk of metal and it was like looking into the face of the devil.
As I think most folks know the saving grace for about 85 folks on the Deepwater was a supply ship was close by and after hearing and seeing the explosion went back, which let the Coast Guard team pull people out of the water and deposit them on the ship, one by one over hours, and go back and help others. That is how most people survived.
In an After the Catch special on Deadliest Catch that was done in New Orleans, filmed strangely enough right after the Deepwater happened, they talked to a 24 year old Coast Guard guy that rescued 37 people off of rooftops after Hurricane Katrina. Well he thinks that is the number, nobody kept count they were so busy.
He was also on site for Deepwater.
My gosh I hope if I am ever on a sinking ship the US Coast Guard comes for me. Cause those guys and gals flat out rock. Heck, I've written a handful of Diaries here where I use this title: "
How About A Happy Story." As sad as all of this is. The lose of life on the rig. The damage to the wildlife and the folks that live on the Gulf. Without the Coast Guard dozens and dozens could have died that faithful night.