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WSJ: There Was 'Nobody in Charge' (Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Fire )
Wall Street Journal ^ | MAY 27, 2010 | DOUGLAS A. BLACKMON, VANESSA O'CONNELL, ALEXANDRA BERZON And ANA CAMPOY

Posted on 05/29/2010 8:14:04 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

[horizon_fire] Associated Press

In this aerial photo taken in the Gulf of Mexico more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burned on April 21.

In the minutes after a cascade of gas explosions crippled the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, confusion reigned on the drilling platform. Flames were spreading rapidly, power was out, and terrified workers were leaping into the dark, oil-coated sea. Capt. Curt Kuchta, the vessel's commander, huddled on the bridge with about 10 other managers and crew members.

Andrea Fleytas, a 23-year-old worker who helped operate the rig's sophisticated navigation machinery, suddenly noticed a glaring oversight: No one had issued a distress signal to the outside world, she recalls in an interview. Ms. Fleytas grabbed the radio and began calling over a signal monitored by the Coast Guard and other vessels.

[OilCrisisLogo]

"Mayday, Mayday. This is Deepwater Horizon. We have an uncontrollable fire."

When Capt. Kuchta realized what she had done, he reprimanded her, she says.

"I didn't give you authority to do that," he said, according to Ms. Fleytas, who says she responded: "I'm sorry."

Part Two of a Journal investigation finds the doomed oil rig was unprepared for disaster, hobbled by a complex chain of command and a balky decision-making structure.

Part One: BP Decisions Set Stage for Disaster

An examination by The Wall Street Journal of what happened aboard the Deepwater Horizon just before and after the explosions suggests the rig was unprepared for the kind of disaster that struck and was overwhelmed when it occurred.


(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: bp; deephorz; deepwaterhorizon; energy; obamaskatrina; offshore; oil; oilspill
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1 posted on 05/29/2010 8:14:04 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: All
Related thread:

WSJ: BP Decisions Set Stage for Disaster

2 posted on 05/29/2010 8:16:30 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ( Support Geert Wilders)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

A guy named Murphy was in charge that day


3 posted on 05/29/2010 8:16:45 AM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom sarc ;))
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Wow. Just the parts you excerpted are terrifying. It sounds like there is plenty of culpability to go around.


4 posted on 05/29/2010 8:17:27 AM PDT by Fantasywriter
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

how many lives did Andrea save?


5 posted on 05/29/2010 8:18:13 AM PDT by lack-of-trust
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

All those government bureaucrats looking over their shoulder, and no one was in charge?

What strikes me about all this is the government’s double talk. On one hand, we’re told that without the government, private enterprise would destroy the Earth. On the other hand, we’re told that government is powerless to fix this, and that BP must do so.

Yet the liberals don’t seem to see the contradiction in that.


6 posted on 05/29/2010 8:18:58 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: al baby

Not so according to Olbermann. It wasn’t Murphy. It was Cheney.


7 posted on 05/29/2010 8:19:46 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: Brilliant

“Not so according to Olbermann. It wasn’t Murphy. It was Cheney.”

That was brilliant.


8 posted on 05/29/2010 8:21:41 AM PDT by Fantasywriter
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To: Brilliant

Oh the Twins


9 posted on 05/29/2010 8:22:47 AM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom sarc ;))
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

I thought Obammer was in charge. Of Everything.


10 posted on 05/29/2010 8:28:17 AM PDT by bigbob
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To: Brilliant
Not so according to Olbermann. It wasn’t Murphy. It was Cheney.

Brilliant, you broke the rules. Every time you mention the former Vice President, you must use Haliburton in the same sentence. Shame on you.

11 posted on 05/29/2010 8:29:30 AM PDT by VRW Conspirator (Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. - Ronald Reagan)
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To: al baby
A guy named Murphy was in charge that day

Murphy's greatest victim: perception.

12 posted on 05/29/2010 8:33:15 AM PDT by VRW Conspirator (Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them. - Ronald Reagan)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

This was sabotage; no accident here.


13 posted on 05/29/2010 8:36:36 AM PDT by gedeon3 (Wake up America!! The enemy is among us!)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

There is still nobody in charge at the White House.


14 posted on 05/29/2010 8:37:22 AM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama = Epic Fail)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
terrified workers were leaping into the dark, oil-coated sea.

This goes against their training, but probably saved their lives.

15 posted on 05/29/2010 8:38:15 AM PDT by Hoodat (.For the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

When I read the article yesterday, all I could think of was the Titanic. Everyone who should have stopped it, didn’t or wasn’t able. It was a scenario of everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Either by accident or human error. Just one part of the guy who was roused from sleep to hit the emergency shut down was getting dressed to do it when the explosion hit. When you are digging in methane fields, why would you have to get in touch with TWO senior people to use emergency shut down procedures?

BP is really going to take a hit on this. Not just in their errors, but in the procedures as well.


16 posted on 05/29/2010 8:38:47 AM PDT by autumnraine (America how long will you be so deaf aInd dumb to the chariot wheels carrying you to the guillotine?)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

David Axelrod is in charge. He’s been working 16-hr days since Day One - no vacation, no time off.


17 posted on 05/29/2010 8:39:43 AM PDT by Hoodat (.For the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.)
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To: All

I meant to add too that when I say it reminded me of the Titanic, I was thinking of the Senate investigation that displayed who did what after the sinking.

**************

When I read the article yesterday, all I could think of was the Titanic. Everyone who should have stopped it, didn’t or wasn’t able. It was a scenario of everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Either by accident or human error. Just one part of the guy who was roused from sleep to hit the emergency shut down was getting dressed to do it when the explosion hit. When you are digging in methane fields, why would you have to get in touch with TWO senior people to use emergency shut down procedures?

BP is really going to take a hit on this. Not just in their errors, but in the procedures as well.


18 posted on 05/29/2010 8:39:50 AM PDT by autumnraine (America how long will you be so deaf aInd dumb to the chariot wheels carrying you to the guillotine?)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

“There is still nobody in charge at the White House.”

I would say Murphy was in charge in the WH but that would be wrong because O only allows Murphy to be white. Anything else is racist.


19 posted on 05/29/2010 8:42:31 AM PDT by A Strict Constructionist (We are an Oligarchy now and worse if we fail. TeaParty On...)
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To: autumnraine

Hmmm....

It is a TransOcean vessel...they are the operator....


20 posted on 05/29/2010 8:43:06 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ( Support Geert Wilders)
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