Crews lift key device in oil spill

Associated Press

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO

Investigators now may be able to answer the most elusive question since a rig explosion unleashed the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill more than four months ago, as they get a close-up view of a key piece of equipment for the first time.

Why didn’t it stop the oil?

A crewman guided a crane Saturday to hoist the 50-foot, 300-ton blowout preventer from a mile beneath the sea to the surface. It took about 291/2 hours for the blowout preventer to reach the surface of the Gulf at 6:54 p.m. CDT.

FBI agents were among the 137 people aboard the Helix Q4000 vessel, waiting to escort the device back to a NASA facility in Louisiana for analysis.

Crews had been delayed after icelike crystals — called hydrates — formed on the blowout preventer. The device couldn’t be safely hoisted from the water until the hydrates melted because the hydrates are combustible, said Darin Hilton, the captain of the Helix Q4000.

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