All language subtitles for Fire.in.the.Night.The.Piper.Alpha.Disaster.2013.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD.2.0.H.264-QOQ

(ticking)

(beeping)

(whispering)

- Every now and again when I'm driving

over that way for family,

those are people 'cause
they own the roses out.

This is a beautiful place
when all the roses are out.

I just walk around outside,
try to put faces to them and

kinda know some of the names there,

and just sit and talk like.

Piper'll never go away.

They'll be there forever.

- Me granddaughter, she done an article

at school on the Piper Alpha.

Says, "Can you tell us
a little bit about it."

"Ah," I says, "there's
not much to tell ya."

"Did you jump from the rig?"

I says, "Oh yeah."

"Was it high?"

I says, "Oh, it was high."

She says, "How high?"

"Oh," I says, "it was high."

(ocean waves crashing)

- Drove past
when the (mumbling)--

- When the black
water comes from the depths

of the Northern Ocean,
then will be the beginning

of our tribulations.

(ship creaking)
(ocean waves crashing)

For as long as man has
lived on the borders

of the North Sea, he has
intermingled his respect for it

with fear and hatred.

(ocean waves crashing)

Is it too fanciful to imagine
that the small sea towns

which border this coast,
cower from the sea,

perhaps as if in race memory

of the invaders who came
across these narrow seas,

the Vikings.

Or is it, perhaps, an awareness,

that the North Sea gives up
its treasure unwillingly?

But the men who have fished
it for generations know that,

for them, the North Sea is a widow maker.

(ocean waves crashing)
(wind whistling)

(slow-paced orchestra music)
(choir singing)

- Nothing remotely like them

had ever been built before.

From the sea bed to the
top of the drilling derrick

would be 690 feet.

The steel had to be
protected inside and out

by a combination of plastic
coatings and electrolysis.

Not something you can do
in any old totter's yard.

(slow-paced orchestral music)
(choir singing)

- This is one of the most exciting things

that's happened to Europe for centuries.

(slow-paced orchestral music)
(choir singing)

- And somehow these cumbersome

steel contraptions had to be set afloat

and towed 110 miles offshore,
and to be set upright

and pinned on the ocean bed.

On launching day, nobody could
guess what might happen next.

(loud explosion)

It was as much religion as engineering.

(slow-paced orchestral music)

(choir singing)

The structures were designed
to withstand waves of 94 feet

and winds of 130 miles an hour.

In the splash areas the impact of a wave,

could be several thousand tons

striking both sideways and
downwards at the same time.

Floating cranes had to be designed

to lift into position
units that were heavier

and more cumbersome than anything that had

ever been lifted before at sea.

Nobody knew all the answers,

nobody could hope to think of everything.

You could only do your
sums and say your prayers.

It wasn't expected though
they'd ever turn out

quite like this.

Machinery has bred machinery,

platforms have grown up and
out like junkyards on stilts.

- Piper, one
of the largest fields

in the North Sea, holds the
current world production record

for a single platform.

At the moment, more than a
quarter of UK production.

(ticking)

- A vision of hell I thought it was.

The first thing I thought,
"God, how can anybody

"work on one of these things?"

Your ship seemed to be quite
comfortable in comparison.

Ya know, when you see these guys,

these ants walking
around in their hard hats

and their overalls, I have
nothing but admiration for them.

You know, if that rig
decides to upset you,

there's only going to be one winner.

He's goin' against the
man, 2,000 tons of heck,

he's gonna win all the time.

(machinery clanking)

(bass-heavy music)
(machinery clanking)

- Everything was hunky dory then.

(laughs) It was good.

Was some cracking times...

before that night.

(even-paced music)

- It was work.

I didn't go to work there thinkin' we were

particularly unsafe.

It was a different environment,
but it's an evironment

you soon got used to because a lot of it

was just similar to working on shore.

Except, obviously the getting
in there and the getting home.

(even-paced music)
(helicopter flying)

- It was 112 miles, so just about an hour,

50 minutes to an hour, depending on

the weather conditions.

You just sat there and either
fell asleep or read a book

until you got out to the platform.

(helicopter flying)

- Oh, it was all a new experience then.

I have seen people fly out, step off,

and say, "I'm not, no I can't do this."

I've seen that happen, yeah.

(helicopter flying)

- I always thought, if there was

ever going to be an accident,

it would be the transfer there and back

in helicopter.

But you do think about it.

If anything ever happened,
you think once you get on the

platform, you're safe for the fortnight.

Which, obviously I got
that wrong as well, so.

Me ju-ju is not appealing, is it?

(waves crashing)

(ticking)
(ominous orchestral music)

(muffled speech)

- It's a roughed up life,
it is, in the North Sea.

Here we are, far from home.

(crowd talking with one another)

- It was sort of, we're
not meant to be there.

You're stuck in the middle of nowhere,

but you're seeing all the rigs around ya,

where people are in
exactly the same situation.

(laughing)

There was no way you were to
exist if ya didn't get on.

It was as simple as that.

So ya did, ya got on,
and ya had a good laugh.

Ya made a laugh of it, because
if ya didn't make a laugh

ya probably cried.
(laughing)

- Okay,
one steak monkey gland.

T. Matson, well done sirloin.

- Well done sirloin.

- Pat, well done.

Well done, Pat.

- The Piper was
the main key way for the oil

because the oil pipeline,
going back on shore,

came via the Piper.

We took the oil from the Tartan,

we took the oil from the
Claymore to more rigs.

And we piped it, then, into
the main lines going ashore,

and that's what caused
a lot of the problems.

- Quite a few people

didn't like the Piper particularly.

That was the first
platform I'd ever been on,

and I thought it was quite good.

The food was good, the
accommodation was good,

the work area was good,
and I thought it was quite,

to me, quite safe.

(helicopter hovering)

The Piper had just one
standby boat, the Silver Pit.

Everyone was trained in firefighting

within the platform itself.

Every week you did your lifeboat drills

where you went to your lifeboats,

and you also, on board,
you had all your hoses

and equipment for survival and
that respect in firefighting.

(siren blaring)

There's also the Tharos, which
was the accommodation rig

next to the Piper.

It was there as a
firefighting barge as well.

It had water cannons on board there.

- The Tharos,
wallowing only slightly

in a force nine gale, has all
the grace and clean cut lines

of a floating building site.

This 30,000 ton barge has
not been built for beauty,

but for situations like this.

A blowout, the oil man's nightmare,

and it could happen in
the North Sea anytime.

The water cannons on the Tharos
can envelop a burning rig,

It won't put the fire out, but
it will stop the rig melting.

Below decks there's a hospital
and intensive care unit

that can cope with 90 men suffering

from the burns, hypothermia,
and broken limbs

that would follow a disaster offshore.

(even-toned music)

- Aboard
the platform they don't

talk about safety much.

They don't talk about disasters at all.

They all know it only needs
one careless or foolish man

for a North Sea platform
to become a flaming torch.

(gun fires)
(flare blazes)

- Nice shot, man!

- It was the
same on platform that,

in the pluralities safety
came first, production second.

But we always said safety only came first

if it didn't interfere with production.

- It just felt like they were looking to

cut course all the time.

When you see now, how much
money's involved in oil,

there was probably no need for it.

- Keep it flowing,
keep it flowing, pump it out.

(wave crashes)

It was a time bomb waiting to happen.

That was a time bomb.

And it happened.

(water gurgling)
(wondrous orchestral music)

(tool buzzing)

(wondrous orchestral music)

(ticking)

(ominous orchestral music)

(door opens)

- It was an exceptionally
busy time on that day.

There was a lot of maintenance
going on in the rig.

We had the gas module shut down,

and we had to get this
gas module back open on it

as quickly as possible.

We knew we had a few days to do it in.

Or we thought we did.

(laughs) Put it that way.

(ominous music)

- This was the first time that they'd

tried to do a shut down,
keeping part of the platform

still pumping oil.

It was a live experiment they were doing.

At the end of the day,
obviously, it didn't work.

(helicopter propeller spinning)

- The sea wasn't rough, it
was a pleasant day out there.

The work went all right.

We didn't have any blockages
in that blast machine

as I remember it.

No.

And nobody mixing paint with their horns.

The guys knew they were going
to be going across beside us

to sleep that night.

But one in the lodge came to me

he'd just been modded six weeks,

and he wanted the overtime.

And I couldn't think anything to give him,

and then I thought, "Oh,
the compressors need

"filled in diesel.

"You can do that, fill the compressors,

"and I'll see if you can
stay on here tonight."

Instead of having to go back to his house.

- The contract lads were
knocking off from the gas module.

And they came down to the instrument shop,

and I was writing out the lug,

to hand over, because the
next day, I was going off.

And I said to them, "Okay
lads, yous can knock off"

and I sent them back up,
not realizing that I would

never see them again.

(footsteps)

Another 10 minutes and it could've made

the world of difference,
they might've survived.

But you don't know that at the time.

Ya don't realize that.

You think you're doing them a favor.

They got...

what wasn't, as it turned out.

(footsteps)
(rig buzzing)

(ominous humming music)

(ominous humming music intensifies)

(screeching)

(exploding blast)

(ominous-toned music)

(ominous-toned music)

- That was 25 years ago,
I could've been witness

as if it were yesterday.

Well, we had a problem which was very much

a routine problem we'd
seen a lot of times before.

What we called the condensate
injection pump shut down.

We called condensate what
the lift pastor called lpg.

Just if you're bagging the
blue bottles for your barbecue

while you're on fire.

So we needed to get it
going quickly again.

There wasn't a panic about that
'cause the condensate pumps,

from an equipment point of view,

tripped more than any
other piece of equipment.

(beeping)

It was just, "Oops, the
condensate pump's tripped."

Accepted the alarm.

And then, pump the gas alarms in,

and it just all came in together.

(beeping)
(buzzing)

All the alarms are coming in,
and every time I'm trying to

stop one, there's another one coming in,

so I couldn't stop the
clacks and coming in.

And, the explosion came.

(beeping)

Next second, I'm 15 foot away,

up to the other end of the control.

- It wasn't just a big bang,
it was more of a crump.

And ya felt it, right through the rig.

I mean, the instrument
container was shaking like,

and you knew it was something big.

(ominous music)

- I can see me self in
the control room now.

I can see the smoke and the destruction

at that end of the control room.

My hearing was okay 'cause I could hear

some of the alarms going,
and my hip was hurting.

I struggled to walk a bit.

The logical thing to do was
then to get out of this morgue,

which is what I did.

When we got outside, we were concerned

'cause the platform
alerts hadn't gone off,

which the fire panel used to,

part of the logic, it
was to put the alert off,

and that hadn't got out,
and the other thing we were

consonant about, we
didn't have any firewater.

At this point, Bobby Vae
and Robby Cowl both put

a breathing apparatus
on to go into the smoke

to try and stop the fire bomb.

Which was the controller operator's job,

but because of my hip injury and this,

I was struggling to move about,

never mind put me headset on.

- And what happened to them?

- They were both killed.

Both of them.

(ominous tones)

- I started making my way to my lifeboat.

And I met two lads from the control room

with gas masks on.

And they said to me,

"Don't go in Roy, the pumps
have been blasted to pieces.

"On the initial explosion,
they've been taken out."

And he said, "And the lifeboats
have been smashed as well."

(fire roaring)

I went on down to the 68 foot level.

(creaking)

As I'm walking along,

you're looking at the sprinkler system

and all you're seeing is drops of water.

So, the valve for the
water had obviously opened,

but there was no pressure, there was just

the residual water, dripping down.

From the sprinklers, so we knew then

we were in serious trouble.

(ominous music)

(ominous music)

- The only way was down.

One of the riggers found a big rope,

and he tied it at the hand rail
and threw it over the side.

Someone just got hold of the life jackets

and I went down the
rope with other people.

And managed to get
inside, into the Zodiac,

rescue craft of the Silver Pit.

(rig humming)

The Silver Pit was this little boat.

Now and then you'd see to
doing this is the sane.

We're used to saying whatever was on here,

you'd never get me on there.

I was at eager pace to get on there.

(distant mumbling)

(fire roaring)

- It was our job to man what we called

the First Rescue Craft.

We had my launch for the first time.

The fire was still very localized.

What happened after
that was one of the guys

come running down the spider deck.

The spider deck was a
part of the lowest deck

on an oil rig.

Now at that time we just thought
the guy was gonna say like,

"Okay boys, we see that you're there,

"can ya hang off, 'cause
you may get problems."

Back anywhere we looked
at the look on his face

we thought, "This is a
man that really doesn't

"want to be there."

Then there was guys comin'
down the spider deck.

And most of them were
just dressed in their

normal, everyday gear.

And I suddenly realize
hey, there's something

really not right about this.

- That night, I was in the Sandhaven.

It was a supply of us all.

But converse it's a safety vessel,

that could do supply work
as well, at the same time.

I could see smoke coming
out of one end of the Piper.

I knew it was a big problem then,

because there was no
lifeboats in the water.

I thought, well men could be in the water.

Even in that decent weather,

not gonna last long in the North Sea.

So I launched the boats,
and off the lads went,

and I followed 'em up.

(ocean flowing)

It was Barry Embachelor, Ian Leason,

and Malcolm Story in the boats

that went up to the Piper.

(helicopter flying)

(fire burning)

(fire roaring)

- The initial phase was for all personnel

to go to their lifeboats.

But I think what happened
that night was just

completely different to
anything that was planned.

But you couldn't get to
your lifeboats because

they had to pass through an area

where the fire had taken
hold, and it had taken hold

so quickly.

Without the smoke around, I thought

there's no helicopter coming in,

they can't even see to come in.

It was that thick with smoke.

The Tharos, we thought, maybe,

but the bridge between the
Tharos and the platform down,

but the Tharos has pulled
off, and no way could that

get close 'cause they would
put themselves at risk as well.

And so it was confusing and
not quite, and that people

weren't quite sure
really, where to go next.

(fire roaring)

- Well there hadn't been an abandon ship.

There was no official abandon
ship on the Piper that night.

There was, no one said,
"Okay everyone, off the rig."

Because there was nowhere to go.

We saw that the divers
had actually gone down

a knotted rope,

and they left the knotted rope there.

We said, "Well, we'll follow them down."

I'll be quite honest
with ya, my adrenaline

hadn't started going at this point.

But you hadn't been up
and seen the actual fire.

I had a life jacket on at
the time, so I took it off.

And at this moment, there
was a massive explosion.

(loud explosion roaring)

I just went up on the ball of one foot,

kicked off on the other, and spun around.

And then 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.

And, three dead, that I know of.

Three of us that were in that area,

but a good few of the lads
never were seen again.

- I was maybe 50, 60, 70
yards away from the platform,

and the heat was intense, even then.

The lads jumping off the rope,

falling off the rope,
jumping over the side,

it was horrific.

(fire roaring)

The legs had these protectors on them

to stop the supply ships
bumping against 'em.

I remember one had
fallen off from a height

and bumping onto this,
and bouncing off his back.

I thought, oh, I can't remember his name,

but I'd met him later,
and he'd hurt his back,

but he survived.

- You wonder why people
would jump out of a

30, 40 story block window,
when fire's at the back.

Well, I know why now.

Because I jumped as well.

I was very lucky to survive.

(water sloshing)
(fire roaring)

(plunging)
(water bubbling)

(fire roaring from under water)

(bubbling and sloshing)

When I hit the sea, I
went very deep, very deep.

You could see, up above, the flames were

lighting up the surface of the sea.

So I started swimming
up towards the surface.

You're blowing out
bubbles and trying to keep

your lil pace with the
bubbles, (laughs) I think,

which is old films that
you've seen, (laughs) ya know.

(solemn piano music)
(water bubbling)

- What I learned at sea was

you may have got a way for your rig,

you may have got off a sinking ship, yeah?

But once you're in that water,

that's when you really do
need all your survival skills.

If you're working in a factory,

your lining bell goes,
you go into the car part.

You're safe, yeah?

You get your name tacked off,

the fire brigade arrives, yeah?

That doesn't happen at sea.

Particularly not in a
ship, particularly not

in an oil rig, yeah?

That fire alarm goes off, if
you can't fight that fire,

if something happens to your
rig or happens to that ship,

and you end up in the water,

that's when your survival starts.

That's the beginning of your problems,

it's not the end of your problems,

it's the beginning of your problems.

(fire roaring)

- As I got towards the
surface, I was struggling then,

for breath.

I didn't think I was going to make it.

And I start swimming a bit more,

and well I'll blow this bubble business,

(laughs) and, you start
panicking a bit, ya know?

And finally I did hit the surface.

(water roaring)
(fire blazing)

(water bubbling)
(fire blazing)

I looked up and you're under a grill.

There's no other word to describe it.

The top of my head started to cook.

(fire roaring)

Steam was rising off the water.

And I was really in a bad way then.

I thought, I'm gonna die, either

I'm gonna be burnt to
death, or I'm gonna drowned.

And I said, "I think I'd
sooner drowned," I said.

"I think that's a more peaceful death."

And so I...

plunged myself under the water,

and peddled down under the water.

And I thought I was maybe
going under for the last time.

(fire roaring from under water)

It wasn't as if I had an option.

I just had the choice of
the one way or the other.

My decision was that I
thought drowning might be

an easier death than burning.

(fire roaring)

(even-toned piano music)

I got an image of my younger daughter.

And I'd promised to give
her the same type of wedding

as I'd given my eldest daughter,
which was a grand affair.

It had gone very well, and as I say,

my youngest daughter, she'd said, "Look,

"I'd like a wedding like that."

And I'd promised, oh I
said, "You can get a wedding

"like that, no problem."

And, this sort of clicked with me,

and I said I've got to survive this.

(child laughing)

I knew I had to push through the barriers

and make this happen.
(child laughing)

(water bubbling)
(slow-paced music)

When I hit the surface again,
and I was a bit further away

from the rig and the flames
were curling up a little,

as you got further away from the rig.

The currents were taking me
away as well, thank goodness.

And I started swimming then.

I noticed a body quite close.

He had a life jacket on.

I didn't realize that he was,
and I thought it's someone,

I'll go over and see how they are like.

And I swam over towards him and realized,

he was face down still and
he was not moving at all.

And, I realized he was dead.

He had a life jacket,
which I didn't have now.

And I thought, I can't
steal his life jacket,

I just couldn't do that, I
couldn't take it off him.

I said, what I'll do is
I'll rest against it,

rest against it on his back.

And I didn't want to lift
him up to look who it was

because...

you knew it could be someone ya knew.

Excuse me, I'm sorry about that.

And ya didn't want to...

ya didn't want to, you wanted
to treat him with respect.

(water bubbling)

And I lent on him as I say,
and it gave me a respite.

Even now I feel a little
guilty about doing that.

(fire roaring)
(even-paced piano music)

My strength started
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 life boat.

(fire roaring)
(water lapping)

There was about five of us
on this bit of life boat.

One of the lads, Eric, a French lad,

he was in a very bad
way, he was badly burned

and you could see that
just looking at him.

And then we, we're looking
around to try and find

a way to survive and again.

And, the Silver Pit, we
were waving like mad,

it went past us, waving
like mad and never saw us.

And then it came back,
going the other way,

and it saw us then.

They came up to us and
dragged us on board.

At that point, I felt even
euphoric because we'd survived.

We've actually lived through it.

Ya didn't realize just how
many people that had gone,

in that night, ya know.

(fire roaring)

(even-paced piano music)

We look back on that now
and say that was day one

in our life, a new life.

That's the way some of
us look at it, ya know.

(even-paced piano music)

(flames roaring)

- Filing the night air.

You were hearing explosions.

I could only describe it as
a, kind of like a staccato.

Ya know, bop bop bop.

(explosions popping)
(fire roaring)

Maybe a couple of
explosions, and then a pause,

and then an explosion,
and then regular pause.

(distant explosions)
(piano music)

But I mean to think that like hey,

we didn't have a choice here.

We have to do, we have to
get them on the rescue craft.

We have to get them to safety.

(helicopter propellers whirring)

Men were screaming.

At the time you thought to
yourself, but I have to do this.

I really have to get ya off this life raft

and get ya somewhere safe.

(helicopter flying)
(piano music)

At one time there was a massive
double explosion above us,

and I honestly thought
for me, this was it.

I thought this, ya know, we're going out.

Ya know, I thought to
myself, I'm gonna die here.

But like everything
else, I split-secondly,

you're still here, you've
survived, you're here.

And that was at the time,
I think it was the diver.

I watched the diver swimming towards us.

He went down, and I
thought, we've lost them.

Then they went back up again.

And I thought great, and
they were slow coming

'cause they're still
trying to push the waters

and he's still swimming.

He goes under for the second time.

And I thought, man right.

The he bobs up again, eh?

Then he swims and he's almost right at us.

And the man, he went
down for a third time,

and I don't know what got me,
but there's an old seaman's

idea that says if you go
down for a third time,

you'll never come up.

I don't know where that ideas comes from,

but I remember sitting there thinking.

And what I end up doing is thinking,

I shove my hand under the water.

Wasn't holding an expectation.

But somehow, I managed
to come up with this guy

with the head of the hair.

Then he asked me, I remember, like that.

Almost the minute he stayed up here

above the water, Jimmy Clark, Andy Kyle

grabbed him under the

armpits, and we unceremoniously

hauled this guy on board.

(helicopter hovering)
(even-paced orchestral music)

It was Eric.

Sadly, out of the 36
guys that we had rescued

unfortunately, Eric didn't make it.

(helicopter hovering)
(orchestral music)

(footsteps)
(ominous music)

- Off shore nights, it's horrendous.

We're all doing the
same, trying to get off.

That's when the ref,
occasionally in football,

(mumbling).

- There's dulling passenger lights

that usually light up the passageways.

Right along to head up the
stairs to the canteen area.

Seen some guys with their snorkels on

and a mask, heading out the door.

Telling everybody to
stay in the canteen area.

By the end, it was all smoke
and everything upstairs

was amiss, the windows
breaking, glass and ever.

Thought I only went back
out to look for my painter.

But he wasn't in the first
hall, he'd already been

inside the canteen.

And you couldn't get in the door

because there're heaps of
guys standing around it.

And then again, if I
had gone in the canteen,

I wouldn't have been here today.

(fire roaring)
(yelling)

- You're going up and down,
trying different doors,

and we'd just like, crack the door,

and you could hear the roar of the fire.

(fire roaring and crackling)
(muffled speech)

Every door we tried was the same.

That's when all the lights went out.

(powering down)

Just working in the
floaters, it's like crikey,

I wanna get off this.

(suspenseful music)
(muffled yells)

- Boys, this way!

- This is when I
bumped into me roommate, Bill.

I just didn't recognize
him, his face was black.

(suspenseful music)

- Somebody on the stair,
I could tell, told them,

that they've been out on the pipe deck,

and it was, as far as I was
concerned, it was clear.

It was just smoke coming
from about the skip.

He said okay, I've told
them guys upstairs earlier

that it was clear down here,
but they didn't want to

come down, now just lead
on, lead on, he said.

So we just took off along the passageway.

(orchestral music)
(yelling)

- He was making his way
down different levels.

Some parts people get down the stairs,

other parts it was on fire.

(ominous music)

And we had to go along
the beam, down a column.

Ya know, just sliding down and walking in.

Jumping about different areas of the rig.

(yelling)

I'm a steeler as my trade, and I'm used to

walking along the beam.

And Bill, he was a painting foreman.

It wouldn't have been so easy for Billy.

He come down like a goon.

He supported you on it so...

he's your friend for life, now isn't he.

(wind blowing)

- Boris in a panther
group, and he threw it over

he's about going down
the rope, and I said,

"Aye, what are you doing?"

- I get down the rope, into the sea...

(water raging)

it didn't feel cold at this time,

and I've fell in the sea before.

I think I could've swim in it all night

after getting off that.

Then Willie's climbing onto the rope,

he's starting to calm down.

And I thought, he can't swim.

(water raging)
- Help!

Help!

(distant yelling)

One minute he was in the
water, the next minute

he's hanging in the
air, like a bell ringer,

going up and down.

(muffled yelling)

- For the spills down I had to
my feet touch when I stopped

and just held on and bodies
swimming just out from me,

shouting, "Come on Bill, come on!"

And I said, "Ah, I can't swim."

No no, and he kept treading
water, watching me.

Another boat came 'round, one
of the first rescue craft.

So I let go of him when they came near me,

I let go of him and
they just hooked me in.

(fire roaring)

(helicopter flying)

- I had to pull away from the
rig 'cause it was too hot.

I was at the back of the bridge.

Which was, I just know that
maybe 40 meters to the ship.

And then a good, another couple
hundred meters to the rig.

And I couldn't bear the
heat through the glass

in the back of the bridge.

It was a tremendous heat.

(fire roaring)

The Malux had already picked some men up.

As they came away from
the rig, the coksen,

Brian Bachelor, was
one of me best buddies.

He saw another couple of men
coming down the bull kerzes.

So we turned around and
went back to pick these up.

Well one of them fell in the
water, they picked him up.

The second one, when
he got down to the low,

which was about 20, 30 foot off the water,

he wouldn't let go.

(fire roaring)

Oh it was a tremendous noise.

Tremendous hiss and,

then bangs and more explosions.

And a (makes shushing noise).

Terrible noise.

There must've been a big pocket of gas,

underneath the rig, that
was just sitting there,

and a spark must've got down to it,

and it just came down onto the water.

The boat was there,
then the boat was gone.

I kept on calling, calling
and calling on the radio.

"Answer me, come on
Brian, come on Rescue One.

"Where are ya?

"Come on, answer me."

Of course, there was no answer.

Because they weren't there.

(ominous roaring)

- Even those shots I have
seen on television since then,

seeing the amount of flame their was then,

and the timescale,

and I think to myself, I
was still on that then,

with all that fire going on.

I often wonder how I ever
managed to survive it.

How any of us managed to survive,

being on the platform that long.

Timescale now, I can't
actually put a figure to it.

People were just milling along thinking,

where should we go, what should we do.

The galley area was where
everyone was sort of congregating.

I just thought there's no
point waiting for things.

I ought to see for myself.

If I can get off, I was
looking after me by that time.

(metal clanging)

- How were
you feeling at that time?

Did you realize--
- Cut me self.

I realized how sadish it was.

It's like, how am I gonna get off of here?

There was no obvious way of
getting away from the platform

with not knowing, you were boxed in.

You were feeling in a spot
is obvious that it wasn't

a place to be.

there was a guy sitting
next to me, he had a torch.

He said, "It's all insanity,
we need to get outside."

(fire blazing)

- I started thinking about
going up to the heli deck

to get away from the smoke.

That was about the time, I
think, an explosion came.

(large muffled explosion)

(ominous music)

That was the same time that lots of people

who were up there
themselves, decided to jump,

and some people jumped from the heli deck.

(ominous music)

- We were at the platform
for the heli deck,

which I learned later on, it's
175 feet from the sea level.

We were dove under fellas.

And what we happened to them, for they're

trying to do something to help them.

They was just standing, looking
up at us waving to them.

(metal creaking)
(flames blazing)

Walked across the heli
deck, trying to will go

what I was gonna do, and there was a fella

just standing, staring.

The walk passed as much as
you, you kinda stand in,

I said, "You oughta try and get off."

And he just looked at us.

Never said anything, just looked at us.

Looked straight to us,

and he walked away into the smoke again,

never seen him again.

(fire blazing)

- Decided to go up onto the heli deck.

Just as soon as we got over to that side,

the major explosion, the 36
inch paper, I think was there,

fractured, and that's
when the huge fireball

engulfed the rig.

(fire roaring)

You just didn't know
what it was, but ya just

instinctively knew that God,

something terrible has happened.

(fire roaring)

(metal clanking)

- Did you
think, I'm gonna die here?

- Oh yeah. Yeah.

I said a few prayers, but...

can I just stop there a second, yes.

(clears throat)

Okay.

Yeah, it was, sorry--

- Did you--

- I thought we were doomed.

I really did.

I said a few prayers.

And it was a huge explosion.

And it blew the end of this cabin off,

so there was an escape
route, but at the same time,

there's a big hole opened in the floor,

and I don't know what
happened to the two guys

that were there.

To me, they just disappeared.

I think they actually went
through the hole, but...

(sighs)

Can I just stop again? Sorry.

(fire roaring)

- One of the guys I'd worked with,

he'd been off and he'd been
in his summer holidays.

He says to me, "God, it's
such a good holiday."

With his kids and that.

And, ya know, he came offshore

with happy memories of his family.

- Did he make it?
- No.

I met his wife a couple times now, but he,

I had told her what happened.

And I think she was glad,
we were there together.

- That's a
difficult thing to say.

- Oh, I've totally not
said it for 24 years or so.

(distant fire burning)

(solemn music)

You'd go one yard one way
or one yard the other way,

and it may have been me.

- The explosion had cleared
the smoke somewhat for a while.

It was either stay there
and get fried or jump,

not knowing what was below.

It didn't really seem
to matter at the time,

ya know what I mean?

So thankfully, what was below was water.

(solemn music)

- It was like down on your knees.

I think I was just trying to
get a rest or trying to think.

I even spoke to me wife at the time.

I says, "Oh no, I'm not
gonna get stuck on here.

"I'm gonna get off."

And that's what I said to me wife.

Just trying to think what to do next,

just stepped out of the
heli deck, into the water.

- I'd ran over to the
north side of the platform.

And had to look over and
I took my life jacket off,

and threw it, out in front
of me, and I took two steps

'cause there's a safety
net around the heli deck.

I took two steps off, or
two steps, and jumped off.

And just, I jumped off, and
I just thought to myself,

I says, "What the fuck have I done?"

(water sloshing)
(solemn music)

(fire burning)

(helicopter flying)

- The Zodiac took the Tharos,

and they're lifting it out of the water,

and as it was lifting
off, all you could see was

what was left of Piper.

It was...

sorry, can I,

it was horrendous.

It was,

I thought, I honestly thought
I must be the only one

that survived that.

- You all right man?

(helicopter flying)

- As the night wore on,
consciously we were finding

less and less guys.

(fire roaring)

The last time that we went in the rig,

the world just seemed to be on fire.

The noise was absolutely deafening,

I could not begin,

if you could imagine,

if you could imagine a blowtorch

and then magnify the
sound of that blowtorch

maybe three, 4,000 times,

and you'll get an idea of the noise.

(flames roaring)

- It was a coffin in hell!

That's the only way I could describe it.

(helicopter flying)

(fire burning)
(helicopter flying)

Never forget that noise.

(fire roaring)

I'll never forget that noise.

(fire burning)

- It must've been an hour, I'd been going

around the platform
trying to find a way off.

I think it was getting
to the stage of being

quite fatalistic by that time.

The platform was beginning to break up.

I could hear the gratings breaking.

The noise, it's like a
eerie noise of things

just creaking and grinding
and, that's if they were,

if this was, the welding was melting.

(metal creaking)

Supports gave way.

The area we were on actually tilted.

Everyone just shook hands.

And you know, we were sort of saying

that was it.

We were just shaking hands
and saying, "This is the end."

(roaring)

I thought we've got to do
something, go somewhere,

do something.

Keep trying at least, 'till
we get away from this.

I came out of it, this tools door,

and that's when I could see clear air.

That crane operator dropped
the pipes onto 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
the pipes and jumped off

into the sea and I thought,
I'm going the same way.

That's where I'll go.

(solemn orchestral music)

The deck was very, very hot.

It was hot to the touch.

I could feel it through my feet.

It definitely was melting.

(solemn orchestral music)

I had my life jacket on and
I had my survival suit on.

And I stood looking down.

And I couldn't really see the sea,

if there's any obstructions at all,

you should always do it before jumping in

from any distance at all.

Hand across the life
jacket, hand over your nose

to stop the water going too far up.

I went to jump, but as I was doing that,

someone from behind said
that his feet were on fire,

and gave me a shove.

(slow-paced orchestral music)

I just remember going head
over heels and thinking

I'm getting away from the
flames, but I'm going to

break my neck hitting the water now.

But I don't even remember
hitting the water.

(body plunging into water)

(flames roaring)

I came up on my back, marveling
at how warm the water was.

(fire roaring)

I came across a petition floating.

So I managed to pull myself onto that,

and paddle away from the
platform using some trainers

which were floating around.

I was just thinking
then, thank God for that,

I'm away from that inferno.

Away from the smoke,
which was so, ya know,

I think the smoke was as bad as the heat.

But to be in clear air,
floating away from the platform

was a great relief.

The trainers were floating by,
that's what I used to start

paddling away.

And also boxes of cigars, and
all of us to smoke cigarettes.

Having inhaled all that
much smoke, I thought,

a pack of cigarettes seemed dull.

I'll start smoking cigars.
(laughs)

(ominous music)

(distant rumbling)
(slow-paced orchestral music)

- You could hear the rig
and its death throws.

And it was all a big moaning of

metal as it sort of
melted and was bending and

it wasn't doing it silently,
you could hear the noise.

It was like the big
(groaning), ya know, it was a,

well I can't get anywhere near it, but

it's a sound that'll be with me forever.

It was just the death of
the platform, that was,

it was here and there like.

- And then one big chunk
just, like slow motion,

just went.

And all you saw was legs.

And the end back of the rig,
still stuck up, burning.

And realizing what was on the sea bed,

all them men.

- 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.

Aye.

There was a lot of folks.

A lot of lads I knew there.

(sighs)

- I thought I'd just see it floating,

and everybody be, kinda saved.

But it had just went straight under.

(sighs)

(fire burning)

(ocean water sloshing)

- Do you
regret seeing that now?

- Yeah.

Yeah, I should never have
stood and watched it.

I don't suppose that's
something I'll never forget.

Thank God of one thing,
all the painters were

off the rig for that night.

(helicopter flying)

Thank God they were all
off, except the one Lee.

- Can you
remember the painter's name?

- Shawn Glen Denning.

From Breeham.

At least I'd like to think
they wouldn't have to

get the body off of there.

(muffled speaking)

- Okay, it's all
right, just a bit of water,

that's fine.

- I'm not sure the number of calculated.

I believe it's about 150.

(mumbling)

- How it is, but I'm not sure yet.

We haven't had a few numbers.

(muffled speaking)

(slow-paced orchestral music)

(helicopter propellers spinning)

- The rescue's here at one.

Thanos, which is the next
aircraft you can test

for evacuations?

- Whiskey one
three eight, we'll be inbound

in about 10 minutes somewhere out there.

(helicopter flying)
(slow orchestral music)

- I don't remember any
of the folk I was with

recognizing anybody from the ambulances.

And as time went on, and
the long gaps developed,

sadness and a bit of despair set in.

(slow orchestral music)
(helicopter propeller going)

- And then, what
came, no more helicopters.

It was a kind of stunned silence.

And then groups started forming.

Crying.

Crying.

Numb.

What do we do now.

(slow orchestral music)

Gradually folk just drifted away.

And by maybe five o'clock, half past five,

all was quiet.

(slow orchestral music)
(waves crashing)

(fire roaring)

- My wife didn't find out til after nine

that I'd survived.

I (mumbles) before the time,
and she says, "All they kept

"saying was (scoffs) that
I'm missing, presumed dead."

But thankfully they said I
was missing but I wasn't.

And I'm definitely not dead.

- When you got ashore
and off the helicopter,

you could see wives and everything,

looking for their husbands.

Aye, it was grim.

At that point ya realize
that you'd truly survived.

I was burnt, yeah.

My head was badly burned,
and my hands were burnt.

And my back had a slight
burn on my back as well.

There happened to be a
meeting in Birmingham

of all the burns doctors in the country.

They dropped everything, and they came up.

And they were there to treat us.

I can't thank them enough for that.

- It was me and Roy Kidd,
we were just in a ward.

There wasn't any charring
of the skin, on my arms,

so there was no direct
contact with flames,

it was just the heat radiation
that was coming off the rig.

And they reckon it was actually,

happened during the fall that hard.

I just,

wanted to see my mom, my sister.

I was told they were on
their way to the hospital, so

I just kinda kept going till I seen them.

And then, they come in.

- What was that like?

- Ah, well, amazing, amazing, you know?

See my mom's face.

(machine beeping)

- You must've, unfortunately,

lost some friends that night.

How are you managing to cope with that?

- There's two friends I work
with that have not been seen.

These lads has got families now, ya know?

But as we was with injuries and
that, at least we get to see

our families.

You feel sorry for your
friends you've lost.

It's just, it's one of them things.

Can't be helped.

- Okay.

- In the hospital, the
people that was in the ward

where I was wanted to laugh.

I don't know, it was, the
point was being alive.

Everybody was trying
to cheer each other up.

But it was like, we're
part of this together.

- How've ya been?

- Good, yes please.

- Cheers now.

- You're welcome, cheers.

- It's been a good friendship.

It's just, for some reason,
we meet up every year.

We know what each other's survived.

And we know what each
other's been through.

On occasions, the Piper
Alpha meet in Cromwell

for a beer, a very small,
that's what it's about.

- Pose a toast, right?

- Well--
You do it.

- See you next year.

- Next year.
- Same old thing.

Meeting again, about 25 years or so.

- At least for the next 25.

- Just progress, 25.

- God willing.
(glasses clink)

There ya go, there ya go.

(slow-paced orchestral music)

- I hasn't been back to sea afterwards.

And one of the ships that was
over there was a guard ship

for the Piper Alpha, but
like them, it stopped being

a rescue vessel and more a guard ship.

And the heat shield was there.

And it kinda reminded
me of a squat ugly crab.

Ya know, where these two bend.

And, we hated this thing.

You hated this thing because
it caused so much misery.

You didn't want it to be
there, you wanted it wiped

from the face of the Earth.

And yet, I was also
there when they brought

the Piper Alpha down.

They demolished it.

And I manned it coming down,

and I manned it, the sea swallowing it up,

the big wave, the sea swallowing it up,

and then, everything was done to normal.

But then I remember thinking,

but there's nothing there anymore.

(sea rolling)

I hated it for being there.

But when they demolished it, you hated it

for not being there because
there was nothing there

that said something terrible,
something, a great tragedy's

happened here.

(sea spraying)

(slow-paced orchestral music)

(train moving)

(slow-paced orchestral music)

(seagulls calling)

- The 40
guys and the rescue craft

that night, were awarded the George Medal.

We accepted the medal
when the Prime Minister.

Everybody in the Silver,
and everybody in the

rescue craft that night,
deserved the George Medal.

(slow-paced orchestral music)

Even after 25 years, I still
live with the Piper Alpha.

It's always gonna set with me,
it's always gonna be there.

I can't get away from that,
there's no point in trying,

and I wouldn't want to now.

I wouldn't want to forget
about the Piper Alpha.

(train running)
(slow-paced orchestral music)

- Piper'll never go away.

There's always a reminder.

I wasn't a good boy the first year.

Drinking, dicking off.

Then I started digging
a hole in the garden.

And I was thinking, misses
asking away for what's going on,

she's just leave him.

Just got a spear and started digging.

I think if I tarry off on
digging I could just see a cross

at the top of it.

Then I took to the drink.

That carried on for nearly a year.

To try and deaden it, forget it.

It wouldn't go away.

And I know in that sort of voyage helped,

but not the other one.

It took them a long time to get me,

but they kept asking for me.

But at the end of the meetings,
I didn't have much to say.

They said that would help, talking it out,

but it didn't.

And then, Sue Jane came along.

And that helped, yeah.

(marking)

(drawing)

(even-paced orchestral music)

(drawing)

She had been attending the meetings

to see if she could get somebody to go and

pose immortal for her like.

I said, "All right,
I'll do it for nothing."

And that was it.

(knocking)

- Hi Bill!
- Oh, hello darlin'.

It's so good to see you.

She never asked me nice,

just wasn't.

Ah, that was good therapy.

(slow-paced orchestral music)

Ah great to see the
finished thing like that.

There was quite a crowd there that day

when they unveiled it and all.

Yeah.

- That was a sad day.
- Yeah.

- See, it was easy to speak to you

'cause you're yourself there.

And there's no bunch of
people sitting around.

- Yes.

Just us talking about it,
together, and having good times.

- Especially talking about it.

- Yes.
- Yeah.

- 'Cause we did talk about it a lot.

- Mm, we did.

And how does it feel like when you're

looking at the central figure?

- Oh yeah.
- Yeah?

Does it bring it all back to ya?

- I said, she could've
gave me a smaller nose.

(laughing)

(slow-paced orchestral music)

- It just
seemed such a waste of life,

all those people.

I went back out there again
and worked back off shore

for another 12 years
after the Piper, I think.

Maybe I laid the ghosts to rest there.

I've given up smoking
cigars, for the time being.

(muffled recording)

(laughing)

- Aye!

Yes I do recognize people here now.

And there's me!

My goodness, that's me there!

(laughs)

(small tones)

Yes, sometimes I think about them and

they're always the same age, ya know,

they're always as they were.

Ya can't imagine them
getting old, ya know.

It's just, it's how you've
always knew them, like and

that was the case.

They stay young in your mind

while you grow old.

(slow-paced piano music)