Do you remember Piper Alpha?

[billynomates]

.

1988: Piper Alpha oil rig ablaze
A fire on a North Sea oil rig is feared to have claimed the lives of most of those on board.

The fire is believed to have started after explosions at about 2230 BST (2130 GMT) on the Piper Alpha drilling platform, 120 miles (193km) off the north-east coast of Scotland.

Helicopters and boats were immediately sent out to rescue the oil workers in an operation co-ordinated by the Aberdeen coastguard.

Pilots reported seeing an "inferno" up to 350ft (107m) high and a platform wrenched apart.

It is thought approximately 225 men were working on the rig owned by Occidental Oil.


Survivors are being airlifted to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary - some are said to be seriously injured.

Most of those who have been rescued so far said they survived by sliding down pipes or jumping hundreds of feet into the sea which was covered in burning oil.

The Piper Alpha platform is the largest and oldest platform in the North Sea oilfield.

It was last inspected two weeks ago but last week there was a small fire on the rig.


Since drilling began in the North Sea in the 1970s there have been 300 deaths on Britain's 123 oil installations, often in accidents caused by bad weather

In Context
A total of 167 people died in the Piper Alpha fire making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster.
Most of the victims suffocated in toxic fumes which developed after a gas leak set off the blasts and sparked the fire.

In November 1990 Lord Cullen's report into the disaster severely criticised safety procedures on the rig owned by Occidental Oil.

[billynomates]

Noone think it worthy of comment? Noone can remember? Maybe didn't hit the headlines. 167 dead ththrough the negligence of an American oil company. That's 167 human beings btw not a 167 birds.

[maverick35]

Old Mav realizes Gpes exactly old Mav recalls and so remembers that oil platform fire it wuz a real serious thing whutever and so back in those days and so that American oil company has a reputation of being all dirty American b**t**ds and so of course America blames the British for it and so old Mav realizes America may claim to be the good guys butt they r all dirty American b**t**ds who think suppose imagine believe whutever and so that they may cheat attack monetarily and so economicialy strangle and so hypnotize old Mav butt they better hope old Mav no not geta the miracle old Mav needs before it is too late for old Mav and so they may pay dearly for it and so lucky for old Mav they no not take old Mav seriously and so old Mav needs a miracle sorry right... sorry old Mav