BBC ON THIS DAY | 6 | 1988: Disaster in the North Sea About This Site | Text Only 1988: Disaster in the North Sea The ill-maintained and overloaded North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha was destroyed in a fire which also killed scores of workers . Leaking gas on the Occidental Oil drilling platform ignited late in the evening of 6 July 1988, causing a devastating blaze in which 167 of the 226 men on board perished. Many of the oil workers leapt 100ft (30m) into the sea to escape the fire and toxic fumes, despite being told their jump would almost certainly be fatal. It is still the world's worst-ever offshore oil disaster. Your stories: My grandad, Edward Crowden, died on the Piper Alpha in the explosion on the night of July 6th. To this day I remember the pain and turmoil my mum and aunties went through, although I was only four years old. There is always a longing in my heart for him and I know that we all miss him so bad. But he loved his job and his family - unfortunately he never got to meet all his grandchildren.

I still have the last thing he ever gave me and I will never let it go. I send my heart felt thoughts to everyone who lost someone that night because it should never have happened. Amy Mcleod, UK Although I was only a young boy (nine) when this disaster struck, I do remember the upset and stress that my father suffered. He worked as a offshore platform inspector and was doing a routine visit to Piper Alpha that day! He was offered the choice to stay and sleep over that night to continue his work the following morning, but due to a backlog of paperwork and not having all the equipment he needed, he left Piper Alpha around 6pm that evening. I feel very lucky that my father did not lose his life that night but I know he suffered very badly from depression after the event. A Lee, England I worked on the Piper Alpha for a period spanning five years, during its construction and up to full production. One of the original Offshore Installation Managers (OIM), Clyde Bradley, eventually asked for a transfer. He couldn't get to sleep at night as he was convinced that one day the rig would blow. I was of a similar opinion and left early in '82. Some friends were still there when it blew.

I'll always remember them. Peter Usher, England I worked on the Piper Alpha in my days on the rigs. I was on the drill deck and Piper A was my first rig. I will never forget it, as it was and looked a mess. My sleeping room was directly below the helideck. I left the drilling company contracted to Piper Alpha but was contacted by them later and asked to work for them again with the promise of promotion, better pay and an immediate start. I considered the offer and asked where the job was. "Piper Alpha" was the reply. I rejected the offer. A few days later the tragedy struck. How lucky I was. My heartfelt feelings go to all the families and friends of those who perished, some of which I knew and worked with. Howard Forster, Austria I know one of the lawyers who worked on getting compensation for the families, but when you read of memories like the two Michelles and Jodie, below, you know that money doesn't compensate. I lost my own dad at a young age too, and that belief that "he's on an island somewhere" is more common than you'd think.

Euan, Carnoustie, Scotland My dad was one of the 167 men that lost their lives on the Piper Alpha. I was only 13 at the time and a true "daddy's girl". Losing my dad was the worst thing that has ever happened to me and to this day I miss him terribly. For many years I thought that he might have survived and be living somewhere on a remote Scottish island. Sounds silly, but that way I didn't have to think that he'd never be coming home. My life has a vacant space in it that no-one will ever fill. My heart definitely belongs to daddy. Michelle, UK My dad, Andy Mochan, survived the horror that was Piper Alpha. Sadly, he died on 2 April this year (2004). The sense of loss I feel is immense. I have, however, taken solace from the fact that my father came home after 6 July 1988. I have 16 extra years of memories. My dad lived with the terrible burden that he survived whilst others perished. His legacy to the oil industry is the campaigning he did at every available opportunity to improve safety on the rigs and in work places in general.

His spirit will live on in Aberdeen as his remains were cast in the Piper Alpha memorial gardens and in the North Sea. My thoughts are with everyone who was blighted by Piper Alpha. Helen Becker, France I was working in the Computer Room at Occidental's head office in Aberdeen when the blast occurred. Just half an hour before I was talking to one of the guys who didn't make it about a problem they were having with a printer. I remember his voice to this day but can't remember his name. The whole night shift was taken up with making sure that we had all systems running to assist in the rescue effort. The pictures we saw in the morning were so devastating that I didn't sleep at all that day and into the next night. The whole of Aberdeen was in shock but everybody pulled together and made sure that the families of those affected weren't left wanting. I only wish that I could remember the guy's name who I was speaking to half an hour before he died. Victor Ward, Canada On 7 July 1988 I was seven years old, and on that day my life changed dramatically. When I woke up, hearing voices downstairs, my mum came upstairs to tell me about an accident which had happened the night before.

My daddy died on the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster in the accommodation deck, of smoke inhalation. I was seven, and didn't understand what my mum meant when she said my dad was missing and presumed dead. For the next seven years I convinced myself that the body that was brought home to us was not my dad. My dad had amnesia and was living on an island somewhere where I would find him, eventually! When I turned 14 and my dad had been gone for half my life, I realised that he was not coming home. I cried and cried, because it took half my life before I realised that he was really dead. My brother never got over losing his dad, and after struggling with drug addiction, he hung himself in the year 2001. My sister was very brave and after accepting her own denial, she is now a wonderful wife and mother to four beautiful children. My mum remained single for nine years until she met her current husband. As for me, I'm myself. I feel like I always have been and always will be.

I am the strong one in my family, which is ironic considering I'm the youngest, but I am the tree on which all my family lean, and I love being able to help them. Jodie Noble, Scotland Being brought up in Aberdeen I know so many people whose lives have been changed due to this tragedy. A few of my friends had dads, uncles, brothers, etc who died on that horrible day. Thankfully my father survived the disaster, which so many people in this city say was Aberdeen's blackest day. Ryan C, UK I cannot begin to imagine the distress this would have caused to the families of the men who worked on the Piper Alpha. I was only 14 at the time and could only watch in horror at the disaster which unfolded in front of us. I now have a partner who works in this environment and constantly worry about him whilst working offshore. I only hope that all health and safety checks are carried out regularly so this never happens to families like myself again. Helen, UK I was a shop steward on the West Soul gas field. We resigned en masse from this field two days after the disaster.

I was interviewed on the BBC World service on the day of us all leaving the installation - 500 of us to be precise. I knew a lot of the guys that died - five from my home town of Greenock. I don't know what to do with my pain from this time, I still fight tooth and nail but to no avail. All that happens is I get the boot. I wish people could get it - no job is worth dying for. Kenny Kilday, Canada My dad died on the oil rig a month before my first birthday. My mum was left alone with me and my older brother who was four at the time. I feel so sorry for my mum, being a single parent for so many years, I just wish that my dad (Michael Scorgie) was with us now, but I know that's not possible. I think the worst thing is, my dad was supposed be coming home that day but he stayed on because my mum and dad were saving up to go on holiday as a family. I just hope that other people who knew someone involved with the Piper Alpha, managed to get their life back on track like my mum. I wish I had known my dad too.

Michelle Scorgie, Scotland I was only seven years old when the Piper Alpha disaster happened. I can still remember vividly the pictures on television and hearing that many men had died in the accident. Two boys I went to school with lost their fathers on the Piper alpha, and the entire community I lived in reeled from the horror of what happened. I now, like many other Scotsmen, work offshore in the north sea. Safety standards have indeed dramatically improved since that dark day and thankfully, a similar incident has never occurred. I will continue to enjoy working offshore, as long as the safety of everyone on board is of paramount importance, Its a shame we had to lose so many, to have the standards we have today. Gary Hay, Scotland I'm a son of a Piper Alpha survivor. Fortunately, I was too young to remember the events at the time (16 now and nearly 17), but the accident has moulded me into the person I am now. My "old man" was David Kinrade, the radio officer who sent out the mayday. Being based in the radio room, near the helipad, he was left one way out and that was to jump, which he did.

This has impaired his ability to throw a rugby ball or kick a football around with me in the back garden. He still has nightmares and has trouble sleeping at night, which leaves him in a state of shock when he wakes. I'm sure it still affects many generations of those who perished and survived to this day. Such a tragic loss that should never ever be repeated. C Kinrade, Isle of Man, British Isles At the time of this disaster I was 11-years-old and my best friend's father was an offshore oil rig worker. On the morning of July 7 1988 when I awoke, my mother asked me what oil rig Steve's dad worked on because there had been an explosion through the night. Immediately, a feeling I've never experienced since came over me. Somehow, although I didn't know what platform Steve's dad worked on, I had a gut feeling that he was on the one that exploded. I found out later in the day that my instincts were correct. The pain and sorrow for everyone involved was tangible and although Wullie is gone, he'll never be forgotten.

Brian, Dundee, Scotland I worked on Piper Alpha as a Petroleum Chemist in 1978-1979. When the disaster happened I had moved to Shell and worked on the Cormorant Alpha. My wife took many calls from friends and family who worried that it was Piper I still worked on. I have worked for 26 years now in the oil industry and ever since the disaster I have always acted to improve safety awareness offshore as a safety rep and latterly safety officer. I challenge all safety infringements and take great care to check all isolations are correct.The North Sea became safer after Piper but there is no room for complacency..... In June 2005 I was working on an oil platform called Holstein in the Gulf Of Mexico and attended a safety briefing which started with a video of the Piper Disaster so the oil industry continues to remember and learn from what happened. I still visit the memorial in Aberdeen and am filled with sadness everytime I read through the names. Charlie Hind, Scotland I am currently in a psychology human factors class and recently been studying the Piper Alpha disaster. We have been looking at all errors that lead to the disaster and today's advancements in human factors to prevent it from happening.

Men and women on rigs today must speak up about people who do not follow procedure because the big guys don't care as long as the rigs keep pumping. Employees must be aware for the potential hazards waiting for the right situation. Because of the disaster, many psychologists have chosen to go into fields that study human error and organizational disasters. It was a horrible disaster and could have been prevented, and that is the saddest part. Lee-Anne Wade, student studying Piper Alpha Piper Alpha Platform, North Sea - Offshore Technology The Piper Alpha offshore oil and gas platform was owned by Occidental Petroleum. Piper Alpha Platform, North Sea, United Kingdom Piper Alpha is an offshore oil and gas platform that suffered an explosion in July 1988, still regarded as the worst offshore oil disaster in the history of the UK. The 25th anniversary of the disaster was commemorated across the country in July. The accident killed 165 out of 220 crew members, plus two crew from the standby vessel Sandhaven. The accident was attributed mainly to human error, and was a major eye opener to the offshore industry regarding safety issues. Property damage from the explosion was estimated to be approximately $1.4bn.

Piper Alpha, owned by Occidental Petroleum, started production in 1976 from the Piper Oilfield, which is owned by the OPCAL joint venture. It was initially constructed as an oil production platform and was later converted to facilitate gas production with a new gas recovery module added. Piper Oilfield produced oil from 36 wells. "The 25th anniversary of the disaster was commemorated in July." Construction details and specifications of Piper Alpha Platform Piper Alpha Platform was constructed in two sections by McDermott Engineering and UIE at Ardersier and Cherbourg respectively. The assembly of the two sections was carried out at Ardersier. The gas processing system of the platform comprised two high-pressure condensate pumps. The platform was around 300m high and was modular in design, comprising of four main operating areas. The operating areas were separated by firewalls and the platform was equipped with both diesel and electric seawater pumps to supply water to its automatic firefighting system. The platform had a capacity to accommodate more than 200 people, and featured a helideck. The height of the helideck from the water was around 175ft.

The platform was placed at the Piper oilfield, around 273km north-east of Aberdeen. The offshore oil and gas platform pumped processed crude oil from the oilfield to Flotta Terminal, located on the Island of Orkney. The export oil lines from the new Tartan and Claymore platforms were further connected with Piper's oil export line to the Flotta Terminal. The platform later served as a hub which processed its own gas, collected gas from the Tartan Platform, and pumped the gas onto the MCP-01 Platform. Piper Alpha was also linked with Claymore via a gas pipeline which received and supplied gas to the latter for gas-lift purposes. Events leading to the accident on Piper Alpha The accident was primarily caused by maintenance work simultaneously carried out on one of the high-pressure condensate pumps and a safety valve, which led to a leak in condensates. After the removal of one of the gas condensate pump's pressure safety valve for maintenance, the condensate pipe remained temporarily sealed with a blind flange as the work was not completed during the day shift. Not aware of the maintenance being carried out on one of the pumps, a night crew turned on the alternate pump.

Following this, the blind flange including firewalls failed to handle the pressure, leading to several explosions. The fire at the platform intensified due to the failure in closing the flow of gas from the Tartan Platform. The automatic firefighting system had remained deactivated since divers worked underwater before the incident. Helicopter operations were hampered due to the amount of heat and smoke. "The accident killed 165 out of 220 crew members, plus two crew from the standby vessel Sandhaven." Cullen inquiry into the platform explosion and recommendations Following the tragedy, an inquiry into the accident commenced in November 1988 headed by Lord Cullen, which was published in November 1990. The inquiry was conducted in two parts. The first part studied the causes of the tragedy and the second part presented recommendations to avert future occurrence. It presented 106 recommendations for changes to North Sea safety procedures. The inquiry brought about great changes in the offshore industry with regard to safety management, regulation and training. A major impact was responsibility for North Sea safety shifting from the Department of Energy to the Health and Safety Executive. Also, automatic shut-down valves were made mandatory on rigs, to starve a fire of fuel.

Related content Explosion in the North Sea (Piper Alpha Disaster) - YouTube Explosion in the North Sea (Piper Alpha Disaster) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jan 9, 2015 Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. The platform began production in 1976, first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production. An explosion and the resulting oil and gas fires destroyed it on 6 July 1988, killing 167 men, with only 61 survivors. The death toll includes two crewmen of a rescue vessel. Total insured loss was about £1.7 billion (US$3.4 billion). At the time of the disaster, the platform accounted for approximately ten percent of North Sea oil and gas production, and was the worst offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost and industry impact.

A large fixed platform, Piper Alpha was situated on the Piper oilfield, approximately 120 miles (193 km) northeast of Aberdeen in 474 feet (144 m) of water, and comprised four modules separated by firewalls.[7] The platform was constructed by McDermott Engineering at Ardersier and UIE at Cherbourg, with the sections united at Ardersier before tow out during 1975, with production commencing in late 1976. For safety reasons the modules were organised so that the most dangerous operations were distant from the personnel areas. The conversion from oil to gas broke this safety concept, with the result that sensitive areas were brought together, for example, the gas compression next to the control room, which played a role in the accident. It produced crude oil and natural gas from 24 wells for delivery to the Flotta oil terminal on Orkney and to other installations by three separate pipelines. At the time of the disaster, Piper was one of the heaviest platforms (along with Magnus and Brae B) operating in the North Sea.

Category Piper Alpha Disaster - Anniversary Of Tragedy In The North Sea – gCaptain Piper Alpha Disaster – Anniversary Of Tragedy In The North Sea July 14, 2011 by John Konrad This week marks the 23th anniversary of the worst offshore oil disaster in history. The Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. It accounted for around ten per cent of the oil and gas production from the North Sea at the time. The platform began production in 1976 first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production. An explosion and resulting fire destroyed it on July 6, 1988, killing 167 men. Total insured loss was $ 3.4 billion. While the environmental damage was not as severe as the loss of the Deepwater Horizon , it remains world’s worst offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost. The Amazing site Oil Rig Disasters writes about the Piper Alpha.

they tell us : On 06 July 1988, work began on one of two condensate-injection pumps, designated A and B, which were used to compress gas on the platform prior to transport of the gas to Flotta. A pressure safety valve was removed from compressor A for recalibration and re-certification and two blind flanges were fitted onto the open pipework. The dayshift crew then finished for the day. During the evening of 06 July, pump B tripped and the nightshift crew decided that pump A should be brought back into service. Once the pump was operational, gas condensate leaked from the two blind flanges and, at around 2200 hours, the gas ignited and exploded, causing fires and damage to other areas with the further release of gas and oil. Some twenty minutes later, the Tartan gas riser failed and a second major explosion occurred followed by widespread fire. Fifty minutes later, at around 2250 hours, the MCP-01 gas riser failed resulting in a third major explosion. Further explosions then ensued, followed by the eventual structural collapse of a significant proportion of the installation. .

Piper Alpha: How we survived North Sea disaster - BBC News BBC News Piper Alpha: How we survived North Sea disaster 6 July 2013 Read more about sharing. Close share panel Image caption 6 July 1988: A series of explosions destroyed the Piper Alpha oil platform in the North Sea. One hundred and sixty seven men died in the world's worst offshore oil disaster. An inquiry blamed the operator, Occidental, for poor maintenance and safety procedures. No charges were ever brought. Image caption 21:45 BST: One of two pumps located under the main body of the platform stopped working. Failure to re-start a pump within 30 minutes would have meant shutting down the entire platform - which accounted for about 10% of all North Sea oil and gas production. Image caption 21:55 BST: To prevent a costly shutdown the second pump was started but it was also faulty. The control room was unaware that earlier maintenance work on this pump had not been completed. Gas started to leak and then exploded. The platform had been built to withstand fire, but not explosions.

Image caption 22:20 BST: A series of explosions followed as pipelines linking Piper Alpha to two other platforms ruptured and burst. Some of the crew jumped from the rig and survived, but most remained in the accommodation block waiting to be rescued. Shortly after, the platform collapsed into the sea. On 6 July 1988 a series of explosions ripped through the Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea. In the space of two hours, 167 men lost their lives. It remains the world's worst offshore oil disaster. Amazingly 61 men survived - some by jumping 175ft (53m) from the rig's helicopter deck into the sea. A BBC documentary, Fire In The Night, tells their stories in their own words. 21:45 BST - 'It was a routine problem' Image caption Geoff Bollands was a control room operator Geoff Bollands was the control room operator on the night of 6 July 1988. He says: "It's 25 years ago and I can remember it as if it was yesterday. "We had a problem which was very much a routine problem which we had seen a lot of times before.

"What we called the condensate injection pump shut down. "There wasn't a panic about that because the condensate pumps tripped more than any other piece of equipment. "It was just, 'Oops, the condensate pump has tripped.' "We accepted the alarm and then we got the gas alarms coming in. "They just all came in together. "All the alarms are coming in and every time I am trying to stop one, there's another one is coming in, so I couldn't stop the klaxon coming in. "The explosion came. "Next second, I'm 15ft away up the other end of the control room." 22:00 BST - 'Something is not right' A gas pump which was being upgraded by the day shift was activated in error by the nightshift. Image caption Charles Haffey was on the rescue ship Silver Pit The pump leaked gas and the first explosion occurred. The fire spread rapidly and rescue boats were launched to evacuate the rig. Charles Haffey was on board the Silver Pit rescue ship. He says: "It was our job to man the fast rescue craft. "When we launched for the first time, the fire was still very localised.

"What happened after that was one of the guys started running down the spider deck. "The spider deck was the lowest deck on the rig. "When we looked at his face we thought, 'This is a guy who really does not want to be there.' "Then there were guys coming down the spider deck and most of them were dressed in their normal everyday gear and that's when we realised there is something really not right about this." 22:20 BST - 'There was a massive explosion' The control room had been abandoned and then a major gas pipe from the nearby Tartan rig, which transported gas via Piper Alpha, melted, triggering a second explosion. Up to 30 tonnes of gas per second fed the fireball. Roy Carey, an instrument technician, says: "It wasn't just a big bang. "It was more of a crump and you felt it through the rig. "I mean the instrument container was shaking and you knew it was something big. "I started making my way to the lifeboats and I met two guys from the control room with gas masks on and they said to me, 'No-go Roy, the pumps have been blasted to pieces on the initial explosion.

"'They've been taken out and the lifeboats have been smashed as well.' Find out more Watch the whole programme, Fire In The Night, on Tuesday 9 July at 21:00 BST on BBC Two or catch it later on the BBC iPlayer "We saw the divers had gone down a knotted rope and they left the rope there so we said, 'We'll follow them.' "I had a life jacket on at the time. "So I took it off and at this moment there was a massive explosion. "I didn't know what was below me. "I just knew I had to get out of that flame. "Most of the lads who I was standing with never made it. "Three dead that I know of. "You wonder why people would jump out of a 30- or 40-storey block window when fire is at their back. "Well, I know why now, because I jumped as well and I was very lucky to survive. "When I hit the sea, I went very deep, but you could see above that the flames were lighting up the surface of the sea. Image caption Roy Carey was an instrument technician "So I started swimming up towards the surface.

"As I got towards the surface I was struggling then for breath. "I didn't think I was going to make it. "I started swimming a bit more and you start panicking a bit and finally I did hit the surface. "I looked up and I was under a grill. "There is no other way to describe it. "The top of my head started to cook. "Steam was rising off the water. "I was really in a bad way, then I thought, 'I'm either going to burn to death or be drowned.' "And I said, 'I think I'd sooner drown. "'I think that's a more peaceful death.' "And I plunged myself under the water and pedalled down under the water and thought I was maybe going under for the last time. "I got an image of my younger daughter and I had promised to give her the same sort of wedding I had given my older daughter and this sort of clicked with me and I said, 'I have got to survive this.' "I had to push through the barriers and make this happen.

"When I hit the surface again, I was away from the rig and the flames were curling up a little as you got further away from the rig and the currents were taking me away as well, thank goodness. "I started swimming then and I noticed a body quite close and he had a life jacket on. "I thought I'll go over see how they are and I swam over towards him and realised he was face down and he was not moving at all and I realised he was dead. PIPER ALPHA FACTS It had a crew of 226 men It was producing about 300,000 barrels of oil a day for Occidental Petroleum The dead included two crewmen from the standby vessel Sandhaven "He had a life jacket, which I didn't have now. "I thought, 'I can't steal his life jacket.' "I just couldn't do that. "I thought, 'What I'll do is rest against him.' "I didn't want to lift him up to find out who it was because it could be someone you knew and you wanted to treat him with respect. "I leant on him and it gave me a little boost. "Even now I feel a little guilty about doing that.

"My strength was building up again a bit and then I heard voices shouting me and it was lads who were clinging to a quarter of a lifeboat and so I let go of the body and swam over to the lifeboat. "The Silver Pit went past us. "It never saw us and then it came back the other way and it saw us then. "They came up to us and dragged us on board. "At that point we felt euphoric because we had survived. "We had lived through it. "You did not realise just how many people had gone in that night. "We look back on that now and say that was day one in our new life. "That's the way some of us look at it." 22:30 BST - 'We are not going to get off this' Image caption Barry Goodwin was a rigger The Tharos, a large rescue vessel equipped with huge firefighting hoses, drew near to Piper Alpha as most of those on the rig crammed into the canteen area, hoping to be rescued. But some, including rigger Barry Goodwin, tried to find an escape route. He says: "We were going up and down trying different doors.

"You would crack open a door and you would hear the rip of the fire. "Every door we tried was the same. That's when all the lights went out. "I thought, 'Crikey, we are not going to get off this.' "This is when I bumped into my roommate Bill. "I didn't recognise him. "We were making our way down different levels. "Some parts you could get down the stairs. "Other parts were on fire. "We had to go along the beam, down a column, just sliding down here, jumping about there, down different areas. "I'm used to walking along the beam, but Bill was a painting foreman. "It wouldn't have been so easy for Billy. "He came down like a good 'un. "We got down a rope into the sea and it didn't feel cold at all. "I think I could have swum in it all night after getting off that. "Then Billy is starting to come down and I thought, 'He can't swim.' "One minute he's in the water, the next he's up in the air like a bell-ringer going up and down.

"Then a fast rescue boat came round and hooked him in." 22:50 BST - 'What have I done?' Image caption Joe Meanen was a scaffolder A second major pipeline exploded and 1,280 tonnes of gas ignited. About 187 men were still on the rig, although many were already dead. Scaffolder Joe Meanen says: "I decided to go up on to the heli-deck, but just as we got over to that side the major explosion - a 36in [91cm] pipe I think it was - fractured, and that's when the huge fireball engulfed the rig. "I ran over to the north side of the platform. "I had a look over, took my life jacket off, threw it in in front of me and I took two steps because there is safety netting round the heli-deck and jumped off. "I just thought to myself, 'What have I done?'" 'I never saw him again' Image caption Billy Clayton also worked as a scaffolder Billy Clayton, another scaffolder, says: "I learned later on it was 175ft from the sea level.

"I walked across the heli-deck trying to work out what I was going to do and there was a fella just staring. I said, 'You cannae stand there, mate, you have got to try to get off.' "He just looked at us and never said anything. "I walked away into the smoke and never saw him again. "I was down on my knees. "I think I was just trying to get a rest. "I was speaking. "I spoke to my wife [in my head], and I said, 'I'm not going to get stuck on here, I'm going to get off.' "I was trying to think what to do next. "I just stepped out off the heli-deck into the water." 23:20 BST - 'The deck was very hot' A gas pipeline connecting Piper Alpha to the Claymore platform exploded. Flight officer Mike Jennings says: "It must have been an hour I'd been going around the platform trying to get off. "I was quite fatalistic by that time. "The platform was beginning to break up. "I could hear the gratings breaking. "The noise was an eerie creaking and grinding as if the welding was melting.

"Supports gave way and the area we were on actually tilted. "Everyone just shook hands and we were saying that was it, 'This is the end.' "I thought, 'I have got to do something, keep trying to get away from this.' "I came out of the tool store and that's when I could see clear air. "The crane operator had dropped pipes on to the deck and they were creating a bridge to walk along. "I could see this guy at the end of these pipes. "He'd been walking along these pipes and he jumped off into the sea, and I thought, 'I'm going the same way, that's where I'll go.' "The deck was very hot. "It was hot to the touch. Image caption Mike Jennings was a flight officer "I could feel it through my feet. "It definitely was melting. "I had my life jacket on and I had my survival suit on and I stood looking down. "I could not see if there were any obstructions, but I did as you should do - hand across your lifejacket, hand over your nose to stop the water going too far up - and went to jump. "As I was doing that someone from behind said his feet were on fire and gave me a shove.

"In I went, head over heels, and I remember thinking, 'I'm getting away from the flames, but I'm going to break my neck hitting the water now.' "I don't remember hitting the water, but I came up on my back, marvelling at how warm the water was. "I came across a partition floating, and paddled away from the platform. "I was thinking, 'Thank God I'm away from that inferno, away from the smoke.' "I think the smoke was as bad as the heat. "To be in clear air floating away from the platform was a great relief." 23:50 BST - 'I'll never forget that noise' The module, which included the fireproofed accommodation block, slipped into the sea, followed by the largest part of the platform. More than 80 men were trapped in the accommodation block. Charles Haffey says: "As the night wore on, we were aware that we were finding less and less guys. "The last time we went to the rig, the whole world seemed to be on fire. "The noise was absolutely deafening.

"If you could imagine a blow-torch and magnify the sound of that blow-torch maybe 3,000 or 4,000 times and you will get an idea of the noise. "It was a cacophony of hell. "It is the only way I can describe it. "I'll never forget that noise." 'The rig was in its death throes' Roy Carey says: "You could hear the rig in its death throes. "It was a big moaning of metal as it melted and it was bending. "It was not doing it silently. "It is a sound that will be with me forever. "It was the death of the platform I was hearing. "I don't know if they were still alive at that point but anyone who was remaining there - that was them right down to the bottom of the sea." 'I'll never forget' By 00:45 BST the entire rig platform was gone and all that remained was the shell of Module A. Billy Barron, a painter, says: "I should never have stood and watched it. "It's a thing I'll never forget." Piper Alpha: Fire In The Night will be shown on BBC Two on 9 July at 21:00 BST.

Engineering Disasters: The Failure, Explosion, and Sinking of the Piper Alpha Platform slide 3 of 18 Overview of the Piper Alpha Oil and Gas Platform The Piper Alpha started life as primarily an oil production platform installed in the North Sea 170 miles N/E of Aberdeen. It pumped processed crude oil to Flotta Terminal on the Island of Orkney. She is shown below from The installation of Tartan and Claymore platforms nearby followed Piper’s installation, with these platforms also producing crude oil and gas and their export oil lines joining Piper’s oil export line to the Flotta Terminal. Piper Alpha then became a hub, processing its own gas, collecting gas from the Tartan, and pumping this gas onto the MCP-01 Platform. A gas pipeline was also installed linking Piper with Claymore, receiving and supplying gas to Claymore as required for gas-lift purposes as shown in the images below. slide 4 of 18 slide 6 of 18 Cause of the Piper Alpha Disaster High pressure condensate pumps are an integral part of the gas processing system on offshore platforms. The Piper had two of these pumps, which were identified as condensates pumps A and B.

These were located in the gas processing module "C," with one operating and one on standby. As well as being exported to MCP-01, Piper also used the processed gas to fuel the main power generators that supplied the electricity to the platform. On the morning of the accident on July 6, 1988, a Pressure Safety Valve (PSV #504) had been removed from pump “A” for routine calibration checks, with the statutory “Permit to Work” being raised and left in the Main Control Room. Two blanks (machined blind flanges) were bolted to the inlet and outlet flanges, in place of the removed PSV, as shown below. Permit to Work (PTW In any offshore installation a “Permit to Work” is raised before any work can be carried out. This notes the identity and location of the component that the work is to be carried out on, along with mechanical and electrical isolations in place such as valves shut, electric motors isolated, etc. It is raised by an engineer from standing instructions, signed by him and the Oil Installation Manager (OIM) and also signed by the fitters/electricians working on the component.

It is an extensive, normally foolproof safety document kept in the control room. Once the component is back into service, the PTW is signed off and filed for future reference. On the day of the explosion, condensate pump A pressure safety valve was still undergoing calibration, so the PTW was still "live" and in force. Just before 10 PM that night, condensate pump B tripped and could not be restarted. The control room engineer checked the permit to work boxes, but did not find the one for condensate pump A. So upon finding no PTW, he started pump A. The pressure in the line built up, and gas escaped between the blind flanges and the pump pipework. The escaping gas ignited and exploded. This was the main and initial cause of the Piper Alpha incident. Next: The Fire and Explosion Sequence, the Survivors Escape and Rescue slide 7 of 18 Piper Alpha Evolution of the Disaster The Piper Alpha descent to disaster initially started with the main condensate pump tripping and despite several attempts to restart it failing to come on-line. The Control Room Engineer checked for any outstanding Permits to Work on the standby pump and finding none started this pump.

Unknown to him a PSV had been removed from the standby pump and had a live Permit to Work in operation, showing the pump was undergoing maintenance and had a live Permit to Work covering the maintenance of it. The PSV piping was blanked off using steel blinds, but once the gas pressure built up, it escaped from these and ignited. This caused a massive explosion that ripped apart the firewalls, projectile from these penetrating gas and oil pipework in the gas module and adjoining modules. Gas and oil continued to be supplied from Claymore and Tartan platforms adding fuel to the fire, these risers eventually rupturing in the high temperatures and destroying the Piper Platform. slide 8 of 18 The Piper Alpha Fire and Explosion Sequence The escaping gas triggered numerous gas alarms in the control room, but before the operator could respond to these alarms, a massive explosion disintegrated the firewalls of gas module C. (Because Piper was originally designed for oil, firewalls, and not blast walls, were installed between modules.) This caused many projectiles to be flung at great velocity and force into condensate and oil pipelines. These penetrated the piping, adding both oil and gas to the fire creating thick black smoke and toxic fumes to the area and below C module.

The control room was badly damaged in the explosion, but the operator managed to punch the emergency shutdown button that effectively shut of the oil and gas supplies to the platform. This action should have been sufficient to kill the fire, but gas was still being supplied from Claymore and Tartan, and would continue for some time, despite the fire on Piper being visible from both these platforms. The fire water pumps, operated from the control room could not be remotely started as there were divers in the water, and it had been switched to manual “hand control.” This was a standard safety measure as there was the danger of pump suction inlet pipes pulling the divers into the inlet grills if the pumps were operated. This meant that the pumps had to be started by hand in the fire-pump room, but the black, choking smoke prevented access. Two men, Bob Vernon and Robbie Carroll, donned BA Sets (breathing apparatus) and made their way down to the start the fire pumps manually. These brave men were never to be seen again. So, with no firewater ring-main or sprinkler system, the fire raged on, still being fed by gas from the Claymore and Tartan platforms, creating very high temperatures and causing steelwork to melt.

Eventually at around 10.20 PM, twenty minutes into the Piper Alpha disaster, the gas riser from Tartan burst, adding 20-odd tons of gas to the fire and causing a horrific instant inferno that engulfed the Piper Alpha. Those left alive were now faced with the decision to stay on board and perish due to the fire and explosions or jump into the sea. The export oil riser then burst. This allowed the pressurized oil in the subsea pipeline to Flotta from Claymore and Tartan to back-feed to Piper, stoking the established gas fires. This caused black smoke to spiral into the night sky, joining the gas fireballs and creating the worst inferno ever witnessed offshore. At around 11:30, the gas lines to/from Claymore and MCP-01 then burst, sending more fireballs high into the sky and downwards underneath the now doomed Piper Alpha. One of these fireballs of 500 feet diameter engulfed a fast rescue boat from the Sandhaven, a standby vessel from a nearby rig. This killed two of three crew members and cruelly, six survivors it had just pulled from the water.

Eventually at about midnight she succumbed to the flames, the topsides sliding away into the waters of the North Sea, taking with it the power generation, utility, and accommodation modules, along with the remaining crew members. Of the 226 crewmembers, 167 were killed, 30 of whose bodies were never recovered. Only 59 men survived and most of these were scarred for life, not only from horrific burns, but from the memory of the explosion and fire on the Piper Alpha on 6th July 1988 and the loss of lifelong friends and workmates. slide 9 of 18 Now all that remains of Piper Alpha are pieces of the production deck flares, angled on the stubs of the steel jacket, with some risers still burning. slide 10 of 18 The Survivors Escape and Rescue As we have seen the fire and explosion created massive fireballs accompanied by clouds of black, toxic smoke, and high temperatures. These combined barred any escape by the lifesaving equipment. The Tharos fire fighting and rescue floating platform was on station and came in close to Piper.

From here it attempted to extend its 30m portable walkway towards the men gathered on Piper, but the operating mechanism failed, maybe because of the intense heat being radiated from the Piper’s blaze. In any case she had to retreat due to the fireballs erupting as the gas risers ruptured. Some men climbed down the platform as far as they could and jumped into the sea. Most of these men survived, albeit with horrendous burns as the sea was by now on fire from Piper Alpha oil spills, but were fortunate to be picked up by the fast rescue crafts. Other men were trapped higher up and jumped from nearly 200 feet; from that height they did not have much chance of survival after collision with the water. The Silver Pit, a converted trawler, was the Piper Alpha’s dedicated safety boat. She along with her fast rescue craft picked up 37 of the 59 survivors from the water. The Silver Pit’s master John Sabourn kept his vessel as close as possible to the burning Piper in order to pick men from the water. This was carried out by him and his crew in the true tradition of bravery, in the face of fireballs erupting and missiles flying through his wheelhouse windows.

The fast rescue craft from the Tharos and other small rescue boats picked up the remaining men from the burning sea. A search and rescue SeaKing helicopter based at Lossiemouth, an RAF base 50 miles north of Aberdeen, was diverted from another incident. It made the journey to Piper in record time, but was unable to land on the heli-deck. Nonetheless it picked up survivors and flew them to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, undoubtedly saving lives and shortening the men’s torture from their burns. slide 11 of 18 slide 15 of 18 Medals and Memorials At a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, HM Queen Elizabeth II bestowed medals to the rescuers and medical staff in the aftermath of the Disaster. George medals for bravery were awarded to the following civilians. George Medals The Sandhaven, a North Sea standby vessel, launched its Fast Recovery Craft with 3 crew members. It had managed to pick up six survivors, but was caught in ropes hanging from Pipers deck and engulfed in a gas explosion. Only crewmember Ian Ketham survived; he received the George Medal, with the other crew members being posthumously awarded theirs and their relatives receiving them from Her Majesty.

James Clarke, the Cox of the Fast Rescue Craft from the Silver Pit, along with crewmembers Charles Haffery, Andrew Kiloh, and James McNeill, all received the George Medal. This was in recognition of their picking up 37 survivors and their craft going very close to fire and explosions. Sea Service Memorial One year to the day after the Piper Alpha Disaster, bereaved relatives of the missing visited the site of the Piper Alpha, which is marked by a wreck buoy. They were aboard the ferry SS Sunnivar and were said to be comforted by the thought that they were near their loved ones final resting place beneath them. Piper Alpha Memorial Safety Scholarship The scholarship was launched on 20th April 2011 by Industry Skills and Safety Body OPTIO as a long lasting tribute to those lost in the Piper Alpha Disaster. Several other memorials were erected in Glasgow and Aberdeen; these are shown below. slide 16 of 18 In July 1991, the Queen Mother unveiled a memorial in the Grounds of Hazelhead Park, Aberdeen, dedicating it to the 167 men who lost their lives in the Piper Alpha Disaster.

This bronze larger than life statue depicts three oil workers atop of a marble plinth that has the names of those lost engraved as a lasting memorial to them. Under the plinth is buried the remains of an unidentified victim. The image of the memorial is from Wikipedia by Angusmclellan. slide 17 of 18 Other memorials were raised to remember those who were lost on Piper; this one is in Strathclyde, part of the City of Glasgow from Wikipedia by Gordon Brown. slide 18 of 18 165 FEARED DEAD FROM OIL RIG BLAST - NYTimes.com 165 FEARED DEAD FROM OIL RIG BLAST By STEVEN GREENHOUSE, Special to the New York Times Published: July 8, 1988 ABERDEEN, Scotland, July 7— About 165 oil workers were feared dead today after a towering oil platform off the east coast of Scotland exploded and burned in what officials said was the worst rig disaster in North Sea history.

Rescue workers said they had pulled 65 workers from the water after the Piper Alpha rig, which rose 150 feet above the sea, erupted into an inferno late Wednesday night and tore in two. The survivors, some unscathed, some with burns over 50 percent of their bodies, were brought back to this port city in northeast Scotland. About 21 were hospitalized. Explosion in Gas Chamber At a news conference here this evening, John Brading, an executive vice president with Occidental Petroleum, which owned the rig, said it appeared that the first of two explosions resulted from a leak in an underwater chamber where natural gas was compressed before entering a pipeline. At the top of the platform, a continuous flame burns off excess gas. Rescue workers said they saw bubbles of natural gas rising that caught fire once they reached the surface. Cecil Parkinson, Britain's Energy Secretary, said this afternoon in a speech at the House of Commons that 16 bodies had been recovered and that 150 other workers were still missing. Rescue workers said they had little hope that the 150 had survived.

''It was a case of fry and die or jump and try,'' Roy Carey, a 45-year-old survivor, his eyes swollen and scorched, told a group of reporters from his hospital bed. ''There was no time to ask -it was over the side or nothing. I just dived - it may have been 60 feet.'' Government and industry officials said that about half the 230 workers aboard the platform, 120 miles offshore, were sleeping when it exploded shortly after dusk. ''The living quarters were destroyed in the blast,'' Mr. Parkinson said. ''That's why it appears that there is a very substantial loss of life.'' Most of those who survived were working, and many of them slid down hoses or dove from the platform into the sea. Several survivors said they had to dodge huge flames in the water and often had to bob their heads underwater to cope with the extreme heat. Indeed, 24 hours after the explosion huge clouds of smoke were still billowing from the blackened wreckage. Mr.

Brading, the Occidental Petroleum executive, said, ''Those who were lucky and able to escape were up and at work at the time and were able to jump straight into the sea and get into rescue vessels.'' Inquiry on Lifeboats Urged Mr. Brading called for an urgent inquiry into the disaster as he questioned why none of the lifeboats, with a capacity for 300 workers, had been used. At dawn, rescue efforts included 15 helicopters and 21 ships, including 6 vessels in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization task force that was performing maneuvers about 100 miles from the platform. The rescue team, which incuded members of the Royal Air Force, searched a 240 square-mile area around the 12-year-old rig. ''When we went on late last night, we certainly could see the fire raging from 60 to 70 miles away and the flames at that time were, we'd estimate, 300 or 400 feet,'' Garfield Porter, a squadron leader with the Royal Air Force, told British television. ''It was really an inferno.

It was a very confused picture, but certainly people were being picked out of the water, especially in the first hours.'' Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, ''We all wish to express our deep sympathy with the people concerned, those who have been injured and the bereaved of the very, very many we seem to have lost.'' Elizabeth Expresses Sympathies In addition, Mr. Parkinson, the Energy Secretary, said he had been asked by Queen Elizabeth to express her ''heart-felt sympathies.'' Rescue team officials said one rescue boat that had rushed to the platform caught fire when the platform exploded a second time. Two of the three rescue workers on that boat are missing. Mr. Parkinson said the explosion appeared to have been so violent ''that the platform was effectively destroyed.'' The worst previous North Sea oil disaster occurred when the accommodations platform Alexander L. Kielland, which housed workers at the Ekofisk field in the Norwegian sector of the sea, capsized in a storm on March 27, 1980, killing 123 men.

Death Toll Since 1968 Above 400 The Piper Alpha explosion has pushed the death toll from North Sea oil and gas accidents to above 400 since 1968. In 1984, an explosion on the Piper Alpha rig injured several workers, and the cause remains undetermined. The Piper Alpha explosion Wednesday night was the third North Sea explosion this week. Last Sunday, the British Petroleum Sullom Voe terminal in the Shetland Islands blew up, causing heavy damage but no casualties. On Tuesday, the Brent Alpha platform exploded, with no casualties. The explosion on Piper Alpha came four years after a smaller explosion in a gas processing module on the platform slightly injured four people. Limited oil production resumed within a few days of that accident but it took more than three months to resume full operations. Britain began drilling in the North Sea in the late 1960's, and its huge discoveries there provided a major economic lift in the 1970's and throughout this decade.

John Garrett, the Labor Party's shadow minister on energy, said he was ''appalled'' by the disaster and called for an ''immediate inquiry.'' In addition, Roger Lyons, assistant general secretary of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union, whose members were working on the platform, told reporters that ''in the interests of the 10,000 oil workers in the North Sea and their families,'' the Government should name an independent health and safety inspection team for the oil rigs. Second Blast Collapses Deck Several survivors said they ran out onto the deck as soon as they heard the first explosion. They said they were standing there when the second explosion came, causing the deck to collapse, and in a sense providing them with some protection as they fell into the sea. ''I was just going to bed and there was a bang,'' said Dave Lambert, a 38-year-old survivor. ''They came in and said there was a fire, get out.'' He said there were flames at all four doors leaving the sleeping quarters. ''I thought I was dead,'' he said. ''I thought I had had it.

All of a sudden the floor opened up - the deck just collapsed.'' Next thing he knew he had fallen some 60 feet into the water. The Piper Alpha platform, which had recreation rooms and a helicopter pad, had six huge steel legs tied to the sea floor. Most of its 649 feet in height was hidden by some 500 feet of water. Oil Carried by Pipeline A pipeline carried the oil the rig produced to a terminal in the Orkneys, Scotland. Gas went by a separate pipeline to Norway's Frigg field. Piper Alpha also served as a transfer point for gas from Texaco's Tartan field and supplied gas to power the nearby Claymore platform. It was one of 123 British North Sea rigs, and its explosion caused the British to suspend production at six other rigs, representing 12 percent of the nation's 2.5 million barrel-a-day production. Last year the 34,000 ton platform, which cost more than $900 million to build, produced 167,200 barrels of oil a day and 23 million cubic feet of gas a day.

photo of wreckage of North Sea oil platform (Reuters); map of the North Sea highlighting Piper Alpha oil platform (pg. A7) BBC ON THIS DAY | 6 | 1988: Piper Alpha oil rig ablaze About This Site | Text Only 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. Safety inspection 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. Piper Alpha disaster: how 167 oil rig workers died | Business | The Guardian Oil and gas companies Piper Alpha disaster: how 167 oil rig workers died Report into the 1988 disaster made over 100 recommendations about how safety should be improved in North Sea 167 out of 228 workers either on the rig or one of the safety vessels patrolling it died during the Piper Alpha disaster.

Photograph: I.T.N./Rex Features Oil and gas companies Piper Alpha disaster: how 167 oil rig workers died Report into the 1988 disaster made over 100 recommendations about how safety should be improved in North Sea Close This article is 3 years old The Piper Alpha disaster which killed 167 workers on 6 July 1988 off the coast of Aberdeen is the world'sdeadliest ever oil rig accident. The controversy around it was heightened when a report into the disaster by Lord Cullen judged that the operator Occidental Petroleum had used inadequate maintenance and safety procedures. He made more than 100 recommendations about how safety should be improved in the North Sea. Along with other oil companies, Occidental had massively scaled back spending as the price of oil had plunged from more than $30 per barrel to $8 in the 1980s compared to today's level of more than $100. Piper Alpha was once Britain's biggest single oil and gas producing platform, bringing more than 300,000 barrels of crude a day – 10% of the country's total – from below the seabed 125 miles north-east of Aberdeen.

It was owned by a consortium of foreign companies including Texaco and operated by Los Angeles-based Occidental, which sold off its UK interests soon after the disaster to concentrate on the US and Middle East. Oil was discovered at the Piper field in 1973 and was brought on stream three years later. By 1980 the steel platform was modified to also take gas and was connected by pipeline to the Orkney Islands. The original modules on the structure were carefully located, with the staff quarters kept well away from the most dangerous production parts of the platform. But this safety feature was diluted when the gas compression units were installed next to the central control room. Further dangers arose when Occidental decided to keep the platform producing oil and gas as it set about a series of construction, maintenance and upgrade works. A lack of communication at a shift change meant staff were not aware that they should not use a key piece of pipework which had been sealed with a temporary cover and no safety valve. Gas leaked out and ignited while firewalls that would have resisted fire on an oil platform failed to cope with the ensuing gas explosion.

When the platform blew 167 out of 228 workers either on the rig or one of the safety standby vessels patrolling it died. The platform was completely destroyed and it took almost three weeks for the fire to be brought under control by famed American wild well controller, Red Adair. The accident cost the Lloyd's insurance marketmore than £1bn, making it the largest insured man-made catastrophe. Occidental paid out $100m (£66m) to families of the deceased but escaped any kind of criminal or civil sanction. No one was made personally liable in the courts either. Piper Alpha Disaster - YouTube Piper Alpha Disaster Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on May 30, 2014 Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. The platform began production in 1976, first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production.

An explosion and the resulting oil and gas fires destroyed it on 6 July 1988, killing 167 men, with only 61 survivors. The death toll includes two crewmen of a rescue vessel. Total insured loss was about £1.7 billion (US$3.4 billion). At the time of the disaster, the platform accounted for approximately ten percent of North Sea oil and gas production, and was the worst offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost and industry impact. Category

Question: Which North Sea oil production platform was destroyed by fire after an explosion in July 1988?
Answer: PIPER ALPHA