O Acidente da Plataforma Piper Alfa

Piper alpha one of the most productive oil platforms in the North Sea it's a city anchored in the ocean supporting more than 200 workers and pumping oil 24 hours a day then a routine working day ends in disaster 167 men perish in one hour and 30 minutes now using cutting-edge computer technology we reveal exactly what went wrong disasters don't just happen they're caused by a sequence of critical events locked in time unravel the fateful decisions in those final seconds from disaster Europe Scotland the North Sea Wednesday July the 6th 1988 Piper alpha is stationed 176 kilometers out from the city of Aberdeen in the middle of the infamously rough North Sea it's built to survive winds of up to 185 km/h and waves as high as twenty-eight point five meters with more than half of it hidden below the waves the entire structure towers 230 metres above the sea floor two and a half times the height of the Statue of Liberty but today the North Sea is having one of its kind two days there are 226 men on board Piper Alpha electrician Bob Ballantine is one of them he's actually beautiful cluster you get the nasty it was cool to keep the massive rig running smoothly the complex machinery requires regular servicing it's a never-ending job 7:45 a. m. lead production operator Bernhard Curtiss issues permits for the day's maintenance work they strictly enforce the rule that no one can work on the platform without one it's just one of many systems in place to ensure safety on the massive bridge with 226 men living and working so close to such volatile fuel it's vital Piper Alpha has been in service for 12 years its main job is processing oil this happens on the production deck it's made of four modules module D contains power generation module C and B process oil and gas in module a oil is piped up from below the sea floor sitting on top of all this is a self-contained City with living quarters and entertainments for the small army of workers for whom piper alpha is a home away from home it all happens 24 hours a day seven days a week 12 p.

m. on the production deck two maintenance workers are removing a safety valve it's a routine job authorized that morning they're due to finish by the end of the shift at 6:00 p. m.

the control room operated Jeff Mullins it's just another regular day it was meant to be maintenance the oil wells were foreign oil the machines will run in compressing gas it was a higher activity 5:10 p. m. Jeff Mullins begins his final shift in the control room before leaving the rig there was a good shift yes we're all happy on it there was our last shift and we were going home in the morning so it was always a good shift last one Jeff talks to the control room operator he's relieving to familiarize himself with the day's business there's nothing out of the ordinary to report 6:00 p.

m. the day shift ends but on the production deck work on the safety valve isn't finished replacing it we'll have to wait until morning it's not a problem the pump it's connected to is shut down there are now 62 men running Piper alpha on the night shift the other 164 are off duty eating relaxing or sleeping in their living quarters 9:45 p. m.

suddenly an urgent alarm disrupts Jeff Bolin's routine shift it's a logical sound which brings your attention to it before Kip been on a visual basis what's happened and what we call the condensate pump and shrimp condensate is the oil man's term for LPG liquefied petroleum gas a volatile and highly flammable liquid the pump compresses it to a pressure of 78 atmospheres that's 45 times the pressure in a car tire the pump has stopped working but Jeff is still unfazed has seen the condensate pump trick that many times I couldn't tell you about 20 30 100 200 and it was something that needed attention and something that wasn't a major problem and the quickly attended to it the less of a problem it was lead operator Bob Vernon goes down to the pump 9 metres below the control room it should be straightforward to restart it but tonight the production crew can't get it going - alpha continues to produce liquid condensate there's now barely half an hour left before the storage tank fills up and the safety systems shut down the entire rig this could lead to a complete loss of electrical power on the platform although not dangerous it'll stop the rig producing oil and the crew will go to almost any lengths to avoid this they're feeling the pressure things became more the problem so what started off as quite a obtained incident and a minor problem was snowballing normally a second pump would be available but tonight it's out of service for maintenance if they can start that one it should solve the problem Vernon quickly checks the work permit and confirms that the scheduled maintenance hasn't yet begun so that it can take over from the broken pump the lead production operator signs this pump back into service but then at 9:55 p. m. a new problem complicates the situation further an alarm sounds warning Jeff Mullins of a small gas leak on the deck above the pump he silences the alarm and informs another member of the crew who's also down by the broken pump the situation now escalates rapidly as Bolin's receives several more alarms in quick succession warning of further small gas leaks these are followed by something more ominous and they're just coming in one after the other then next thing we know we get the high gas arms which is very rare very serious it's 10 p.

m. captain Michael Clegg is aboard the maintenance ship Leland Cavalier stationed just 25 meters from the southwest leg of Piper help us suddenly he sees an explosion as a flash of blue flame shoots out below the platform [Music] in the housing block Bob Ballentine is carrying a hot drink on his way to his bunk this obey th poison what's it a platform a of it seemed to like the layoffs in OC and just she kept a like her rank by sheer chance on another nearby vessel Charles Miller is taking pictures for his son's school project when he hears the explosion as he clicks the shutter a second explosion rocks the platform he catches the first evidence of what will become a major disaster there are 226 men stranded on the rig and it's on fire on July the 6th 1988 at 10:00 p. m.

an explosion shatters the calm of evening on the North Sea oil rig Piper alpha 226 men are working on board 10:00 p. m. in the control room of Piper alpha operated Jeff Bolin's thinks he's on a routine ship until the explosion throws him from his desk my experience of the explosion was finding myself 15 20 foot hook the other end of the controller lights going out turbines tripped everything's down not a small immediately Jeff does what he's trained to do he hits the rig emergency shutdown controls and stumbles out of the wrecked control room Valve's automatically closed all the main oil and gas lines the huge electricity generators shut down but the main alarm panel has been destroyed so no emergency alarm sound and eerie silence descends on the normally noisy platform 10:05 p.

m. this Ana de home movie shot from the nearby ship shows Piper alpha just after the first explosions on the blazing platform Jeff Bolin's and 20 of his colleagues are surrounded by flames and smoke they're trapped 29 metres above the waves they need to think fast there's nowhere to go except downwards one lads found a floor which he tied to the handrail and we started coming down the hall they scrambled down to a deck just six meters above the water and jump into the sea [Music] a safety boat is always close to the rig and tonight other ships are also nearby laying undersea pipes they all launch small rescue craft to pick up survivors within five minutes Jeff and his colleagues are plaques from the water they are some of the lucky ones 10:20 p. m.

fiber alpha is shaken by a second colossal explosion captured on this video a large section of the rig is engulfed by a roaring fireball Jeff Mullins sees it all from the rescue boat he was just intense seamen or members a hundred yards away that huh farms just look like the kind of things you see in the disaster movie about 100 men have gathered in the canteen it's one of the main emergency meeting points because it's close to the helicopter landing deck but they don't know that the heli deck is already engulfed by smoke and flames a helicopter rescue is impossible smoke begins to creep in the trapped workers now fear for their lives some did show today that it live it afraid he'll the boys crying by said you deflate after but is afraid the evacuation plan calls for them to wait in the canteen for rescue but it doesn't come as the situation worsens rigor Jim McDonald decides to make a run for it but others trapped with him cling to the belief that help will arrive ask you to run Wayne's turned off Michelle as if his maker fear not my sister humbly TRAI Jim's had 12 years experience on Piper helper he thinks there's an escape route through the laundry room and in a laundry there weren't no laundry I wasn't in the laundry I was in somebody's room she was Jesus good I just sat in the corner recorded on the corner disoriented by the thick smoke Jim McDonald is lost and every moment he sits there the odds against him grow 10:30 p. m. Dave Lambert and some colleagues also flee the canteen unlike Jim they find their way out under the blazing deck but they're surrounded by the fires the flames are getting closer and closer and closer the only option we had a call back into the platform or going to the this little metal hood but once they're inside the huts it hits them there's no way out I didn't think that a chance again now it look white honest will block with fire there was no exit basically we were trapped in the living quarters Jim McDonald comes to the growing realization that he's one deck higher up than he should be he makes one last effort to find the escape route through the laundry what mrs.

darkness is please God Peter Peter Mundy not just tone down just touch that oh they wash machines once outside he runs across the blazing deck and down to a platform on one leg of the rig he jumps 21 meters into the bitter cold north sea sorry Ben but the water went rate dinner and it was grief you and that was very really quite and very very still and then all of a sudden I just short back up Jim grabs onto the leg of the rig until a fast rescue craft picks him up [Music] the theater don't under my nose unless young life is so you don't have to climb your mastery system you're safer since I'm just crying half and as I was up it was a happy you know working under the platform on another rescue boat is Ian Letham these photographs show his crew in action they managed to haul six survivors out of the water we've picked up the last two people and thought right we'll take off now but it's rent to leave we realized we're entangled on ones debut from the platform with the inferno blazing out of control over head they'd battled desperately to clear the debris 33 meters above them electrician Bob Ballantine and a group of colleagues are also escaping down the rig but Bob decides he doesn't like this escape route I don't know why I change my mind but I said no I don't accord are we while his friends climb down the west side of the platform Bop against the clam precariously down the east side it's a choice that will save his life [Music] ten forty nine pm beneath Bob on the water rescue boat driver Ian Letham is trying to free his craft from the debris the heat is relentless it was like being under a giant grill I mean it was so hot I can remember saying to my colleagues you know we're gonna have to get out of here this is getting really bad and I think it was about a split second after that there was just a huge bush and I woke up in the war I came to in the water 10:50 p. m. another colossal explosion tears through the platform scattering debris over 800 meters ships one and a half kilometers away feel the vibrations the fireball engulfs inlet ins boat Ian never sees the boats is true all the six men they picked up again he swims to a leg of the blazing platform another survivor is clinging to it I've looked around one side and general equation was Bob Ballantine was on the other side of the lake so even can float down the platform Wagner told them and they say [ __ ] is fun she went company that he needed someone barb and in cling to the structure and the whole platform shakes as the fires devour it for every bangin of this sink shook I mean his leg was he - it was huge and we're hanging on to it was really hot my ears were starting to blister barb and in leap into the sea with the last of their strength they swim to a nearby ship and the crew haul them out they're suffering from burns and exhaustion up on the blazing platform Dave Lambert is trapped in a steel hut but the colossal explosion at 10:50 p.

m. rips the end of it and opens up a new escape route if that I explosion have blown the end of it I don't think we just about requires know that no the world Dave races out of the hut and onto the blazing platform 45 metres above sea level as he reaches the guardrail another explosion blows him over the edge and into the sea amazingly he survives the fall and can see the rescue votes but totally exhausted from his ordeal he can't reach them I had no energy left and I got this terrible thing and God don't let me get this far and drown but Dave's incredible luck holds out at the last moment a rescue boat spots him and Horsham from the water as the last survivors are picked up Piper Alpha begins to collapse [Music] 11:20 p. m.

another violent explosion shakes the platform Piper alpha is now in its death throes one of the cranes collapses then the drilling Derrick the whole platform begins to tilt to the east the main living area containing the canteen where the workers gathered to be rescued tips to the north and slips below the waves there'll be no rescue the rest of the platform follows it into the North Sea by 12:45 a. m. the 20,000 ton Piper Alpha platform is gone this tiny piece part of a section called module a is all that remains there were two hundred and twenty six men on Piper alpha 167 including two rescue workers died the tragedy takes everyone by surprise North Sea oil is the Pride of Britain the country earns huge profits from it no offshore platform has ever been lost before anywhere suddenly oil rig workers worldwide can sense a new threat the Piper Alpha disaster takes just one hour and 30 minutes now by rewinding events and going deep into the investigation we can discover what truly happened what started the catastrophic chain of events and how had this massive rig that had operated reliably for 12 years become an inferno at bust computer simulation will take us where no camera can go into the heart of the disaster zone [Music] when the UK government launches one of its biggest ever inquiries senior judge Lord Cullen brings in 89 expert advisors to analyze every second of the disaster [Music] but the extent of the destruction leaves very little evidence rod Sylvester Evans spent two years working on the investigation there was no scene left part from part of module a which was a standing proud from the sea the rest of the the platform all the areas of interest had in fact had been lost with the wreckage of the rig scattered across the seafloor 145 meters below the surface all they have is eyewitness testimony plus Charles Miller's vital photographs from these scraps of information they have to solve the entire mystery investigators begin to interview survivors of crucial importance was the evidence of the control room operator mr.

bones and he had witnessed a series of gas alarms that had come up just before the first explosion one hour 35 minutes to disaster these gas alarms are all from the production deck the investigators study the 415 by 46 meter modules that make up this day they conclude that all of the alarms come from one area modules see another clue confirms this captain Michael Clegg on the nearby vessel lowland Cavalier sees a blue flash coming out from the same area these two pieces of evidence are enough to convince the investigators that module C has to be the starting point for the disaster but the flash of blue flame has to have a fuel source what is it Piper alpha produces three highly flammable products natural gas liquefied petroleum gas or LPG known as condensate and crude oil all three are prime suspects for the start of the disaster first they investigate the platform's main product crude oil it burns in a very distinctive manner professor Dougal Drsdale is an expert in flame behavior once you're ignited the surface is burning the flames have a characteristic appearance in that they will tend to be large and [ __ ] but the initial explosion is not a large [ __ ] flame it's a blue flash so dry still concludes it cannot be true Doyle that leaves natural gas and condensate because it's lighter than air natural gas rises condensate on the other hand is heavier than air so it sinks investigators revisit the eyewitness testimony from captain Clegg and make their first major breakthrough he sees the flash coming out from under module C the fuel source for the blue flash must be heavier than air it can only be condensating but investigators believe that this explosion was relatively small barely the equivalent of one car tank full of petrol how does a small explosion in one module escalate into a disaster that wipes out the giant 20,000 ton platform a series of massive explosions and fires has destroyed the huge oil platform Piper alpha and killed 167 men it's a devastating tragedy with worldwide repercussions for the oil industry using advanced computer graphics based on the official report we go deep into the investigation to uncover the chain of events second by second investigators believe that the disaster starts with a small explosion of condensate or liquefied petroleum gas they also pinpoint where the disaster starts in part of the platform called module C but there shouldn't have been any loose condensate in that module where did it leak from to get at the answers investigators turn their attention to the gas alarms jet pollens observed in the control room immediately before the explosion we were able to determine that in fact the only possible way of explaining the pattern of gas alarms was by a condensate release in the eastern end of the module the only condensate at the eastern end of module C is contained in two safety valves but these are safety devices designed to withstand more than twice normal operating pressures how could they leak then the investigators make of vital discovery one of these valves had been removed for a routine safety check could the open pipe be the source of the mysterious leak they dig deeper and discover that in normal safety procedures workers insert a flat metal disk to seal the hole where the valve has been removed and that prevents any leaks if the hole was sealed condensate could not have come from there but they remain convinced that the safety valve is the prime suspect to check their theories they conduct a series of tests on an identical metal disc tightening its bolts by varying amounts this video from the inquiry shows the actual tests the test results show that the ceiling disc could leak if workers tighten the bolts without a wrench leaving them just finger tight as if the bolts were done fairly loosely he would look done up when you looked at it there was a gap this is a vital breakthrough investigators now believe that a leak from a loosely fitted metal disc is the starting point for the entire catastrophe but there's a problem with this theory the valve in question was undergoing maintenance there should have been no condensate in that pipe solving this mystery becomes the new focus for the investigators using plans of the rig they trace the pipe down to a different deck where it connects to a pump but they know this pump was out of service for maintenance it should have had no condensate in it then they talked to the nightshift workers their evidence reveals that another pump in service that night wrote down one hour 45 minutes before disaster the lead operator perished so they can't question him however the evidence suggests he intended to swap the pump in maintenance for the broken pump to keep production flowing but the pump undergoing maintenance was missing its safety valve because the lead operator was seen actually introducing condensate into this pump very shortly before the accident there was not only the intent to start it but there was also the opportunity before starting up a new pump workers must first fill it with a small amount of condensate this happens one hour and 35 minutes before disaster but this small amount of condensate of leaks the loosely fitted sealing disk secured only hand tight triggered the first gas alarm Jeff pollens heard in the control room when the pump was ready to start the lead operator released more gas into it he will conduct a vows to introduce more conversation it was during this period that there was a very major release [Music] up in the control room this much larger leak triggered multiple gas alarms including the high level alarm that Jeff saw just before the first explosion at one hour 30 minutes to go the leaked condensate explodes in module C [Music] investigators are zeroing in on the chain of events but there's a break in the link module see is protected by huge firewalls designed to resist intense flames for up to six hours and this first explosion is not very violent but photographic evidence reveals a surprise less than 10 seconds after module C explodes the picture shows a huge fireball ballooning out of the module next door module B how did it break through the firewalls and spread so fast the investigators carry out a series of computer simulations and experimental explosions seen here the results are surprising while the firewalls are excellent at resisting fire they can't handle explosions even a minor blast can tear them apart the firewalls are made up of 2. 5 by 1. 5 meter fire proof panels bolted together the first explosion breaks up the fire wall launching the panels around module be like unguided missiles each panel was equivalent to driving a one-ton car at 24 miles an hour into the pipe where investigators believe that these flying panels rupture a relatively lightweight condensate pipe in module be that condensate fueled the fireball seen in the photograph but this fireball lasted only a few seconds it may look big but the investigators don't believe it was lethal enough to destroy Piper alpha [Music] something else caused another massive explosion 19 minutes later that doomed the 20,000 ton platform what was it [Music] investigators are trying to explain a massive series of fires and explosions that destroy the gigantic offshore oil platform Piper Alpha leaving 167 men dead after two explosions a new fire was now burning on part of the platform called module B it was fueled by something but what a sequence of 20 photographs chronicles the early stages of the fire it's not much but it's the very best evidence they have you can see the fireball lifting away from the front of the platform and that leaves behind a very different type of fire producing a huge plume of smoke a smoky flume is characteristic of a crude oil fire module B was one of the worst places to have a fire because it contains tanks that store up to 55 tons of crude oil [Music] with one hour ten minutes left the situation escalates a colossal explosion shakes the ring it creates an inferno that rages on the underside of the platform but this new fire is not in module B where the first oil fire is burning it's below it how did it get down through the deck once again investigators search for clues in the pictures taken just after the fireball if you look at the photographs it's clear that there is a far below module be they realize this can only mean one thing flaming crude oil is running downwards to fuel this fire they're certain that it drips onto an area where the rig's divers prepare for work but this area is covered by grates [Music] the burning oil should drip straight through the holes and into the sea instead it settles there forming a large fire again investigators are stuck then they discover a vital clue the divers have placed rubber matting over these gratings when they diving they didn't want to with their feet and step on very sharp grating and unfortunately above this area was the high-pressure connecting line to Taunton Totten is another oil rig close to Piper alpha this pipeline carries high-pressure gas to it investigators now believe this oil forms a burning puddle on the rubber matting directly under the pipe containing gas pressurized to more than a hundred and twenty atmospheres 70 times the pressure in a car tire without this rubber matting the fire might have been contained the whole catastrophe prevented it but with it the pipe heats up quickly weakening the metal intense heat weak metal high-pressure gas the next event is inevitable and when it bursts there was somewhere between fifteen and thirty tons of high-pressure gas ejected almost instantaneously and that is what has seen in this huge fiber 150 meters in diameter completely engulfed into a hole of the gasps pours out of the burst high-pressure pipeline at the rate of half a ton per second [Music] equivalent to nearly the entire domestic consumption of gas in the UK it continues to do so for a further hour the failure of the high-pressure gas pipeline changes everything there was no way back it's really melting the center out of the platform there are still two more gas pipelines that run from Piper alpha the large ratham contains 1120 tons of pressurized gas three times as much as the one that is already burst investigators realize that it was now just a matter of time before these other gas pipes fail one hour 10 minutes before the breakup of the rig there was no hope of stopping the inferno an even larger explosion shakes Piper alpha one of the two remaining pipelines has burst pop Ballantine survives it his friends on the other side of the rig are not so lucky there was an explosion and a fireball and incinerated the inlet UM's rescue boat was tangled in debris below the rig the explosion destroyed the boat and killed everyone on board except Ian I ended up in the water looked around a place in the whole place which is the light to see was the light everything was light by now the fire is so great photographic evidence is useless so investigators gather electronic data from other oil rigs connected to Piper Alpha 40 minutes to go the investigators discovered that the gas pressure in the larger the two remaining pipelines begins to fall rapidly it's this which is now burst only one gas line connecting Piper alpha to the Claymore platform 35 kilometers away remains intact 10 minutes remaining there's another massive gas explosion it's the final pipeline failing one hour and 30 minutes after the chain of events begins the disaster claims its final victims the living quarters where so many workers took refuge slips off the platform and down to the bottom of the North scene taking with it the last of the crew of Piper Alper one hour after the housing block collapses there's nothing left of Piper Alper except for the burnt-out wreckage of module a from tiny scraps of evidence the investigators have managed to piece together a coherent explanation of the catastrophe but there is still one more shocking revelation a final link in the chain involving not failed technology but simple paperwork the gigantic oil and gas platform Piper Alpha has been destroyed second by second investigators are lining up the thesis the deadly sequence begins at 9:45 p.

m. when workers attempt to start a pump with a critical safety valve missing [Music] what investigators don't understand is why the workers started the pump in this unsafe condition the permit to work or PTW is designed to alert everyone to maintenance work that is underway to prevent just this kind of accident when investigators analyze the PT WS they discover that a permit was issued for routine maintenance on one of the pumps at 7:45 a. m.