Piper Alpha

[Lucius Apuleius]

Kind of hard to believe but Saturday is the 25 anniversary of the disaster. Probably the most harrowing night of my life watching it burning and searching the water for any survivors. Obviously found none. Just a wee thought in your prayers for the guys we lost would be nice (and if you don't pray, just a wee thought is nice too :greengrin)

[Scouse Hibee]

Kind of hard to believe but Saturday is the 25 anniversary of the disaster. Probably the most harrowing night of my life watching it burning and searching the water for any survivors. Obviously found none. Just a wee thought in your prayers for the guys we lost would be nice (and if you don't pray, just a wee thought is nice too :greengrin)

:agree: A wee thought from me.

Was watching a programme were one of the surviviors was giving his accounts of being in the water whilst burning, some pretty harrowing scenes as well.

[Jay]

Its an anniversary that always sends shivers through me. I remember the shock of it that day and the effects afterwards. A couple of people i knew lost relatives. Its one of those times you always remember where you were......

[Lucius Apuleius]

Its an anniversary that always sends shivers through me. I remember the shock of it that day and the effects afterwards. A couple of people i knew lost relatives. Its one of those times you always remember where you were......

:agree: I definitely know where I was.

[Purple & Green]

I was in Tenerife, I remember picking up the paper. Des bremner lost a brother in the disaster iirc

[steakbake]

Kind of hard to believe but Saturday is the 25 anniversary of the disaster. Probably the most harrowing night of my life watching it burning and searching the water for any survivors. Obviously found none. Just a wee thought in your prayers for the guys we lost would be nice (and if you don't pray, just a wee thought is nice too :greengrin)

Good call. I used to know a woman in Aberdeen who lost her father and both her brothers that night. Truly horrifying was the level of loss.

[Jonnyboy]

STV news at six have run features all last week and this G, speaking to survivors and relatives. Harrowing and very moving

[Lucius Apuleius]

STV news at six have run features all last week and this G, speaking to survivors and relatives. Harrowing and very moving

Believe there is a documentary on Tuesday on BBC 2 to commemorate it. Apart from the fact I will be sitting at Lagos airport on the way home, it is certainly something that I could not watch. Sad thing was a few weeks later we answered an emergency on the Ocean Odyssey which was a drilling rig. Only one person dies on there, the Radio Operator as it happens as he stayed in the Radio Room to transmit the emergency calls. Something hit me that night and has stayed with me ever since. They instigated a disaster fund for the guys on Piper. Nobody instigated a disaster fund for the poor guy on the Odyssey. To his family it would make absoloutely no difference if there were one or 167 died it is still a disaster to them. Some shocking things happened with safety in the North Sea. I left about 10 years later and went back Deep Sea and the safety attitude was one of the reasons I did so. Not convinced the lessons that were needed to be learned were learned. Sad times.

[Wembley67]

Kind of hard to believe but Saturday is the 25 anniversary of the disaster. Probably the most harrowing night of my life watching it burning and searching the water for any survivors. Obviously found none. Just a wee thought in your prayers for the guys we lost would be nice (and if you don't pray, just a wee thought is nice too :greengrin)

Can I ask how you came to be searching? Were you on a nearby rig at the time? Or did you manage to get off PA?

[Lucius Apuleius]

Can I ask how you came to be searching? Were you on a nearby rig at the time? Or did you manage to get off PA?

I was on a fire fighting, dive support ship Wembley. Whole point of our being was for incidents like this. It was bad enough from my point of view, I was Night Chef at the time but obviously there was not much cooking getting done as everybody was on deck watching. For the guys who were down in the water on the boats searching for bodies and the guys on the fire monitors it was horrific.

And just to really ram it home, word just coming in that one of my company's rigs has sunk off Angola last night. 103 on board, one missing. Definitely time to retire.

[Wembley67]

I was on a fire fighting, dive support ship Wembley. Whole point of our being was for incidents like this. It was bad enough from my point of view, I was Night Chef at the time but obviously there was not much cooking getting done as everybody was on deck watching. For the guys who were down in the water on the boats searching for bodies and the guys on the fire monitors it was horrific.

And just to really ram it home, word just coming in that one of my company's rigs has sunk off Angola last night. 103 on board, one missing. Definitely time to retire.

I think you're right, definitely time to retire.

Couldn't even begin to imagine what you witnessed.

[southfieldhibby]

My dad worked in the industry and the design of parts of PA, he knew quite a few people who died that night.He was based in Aberdeen and refused to go back offshore after that night, he found a new desk job with Shell.

Which brings me to the most disgusting thing I've ever heard shouted at a football match...Hibs vs Aberdeen, Glass volley winner.A terrific match, full house and a guy, mid 50's infront of me in the east stands on his chair and starts chanting 'One Piper alpha, there's only one Piper Alpha' at the Aberdeen support...first and only time I've gone for someone at the football...his son pulled him away and apologised for his pished up dad.I was raging.

[Lucius Apuleius]

My dad worked in the industry and the design of parts of PA, he knew quite a few people who died that night.He was based in Aberdeen and refused to go back offshore after that night, he found a new desk job with Shell.

Which brings me to the most disgusting thing I've ever heard shouted at a football match...Hibs vs Aberdeen, Glass volley winner.A terrific match, full house and a guy, mid 50's infront of me in the east stands on his chair and starts chanting 'One Piper alpha, there's only one Piper Alpha' at the Aberdeen support...first and only time I've gone for someone at the football...his son pulled him away and apologised for his pished up dad.I was raging.

What an absolutely despicable human being. OUt of the mouths of drunks and bairns eh?

[ginger_rice]

And just to really ram it home, word just coming in that one of my company's rigs has sunk off Angola last night. 103 on board, one missing. Definitely time to retire.

Don't tell my old dear that, my brother is just back in Angola

[Lucius Apuleius]

Don't tell my old dear that, my brother is just back in Angola

Damn, sorry mate, forgot he was there. Can you remember what rig he is on? I would have remembered if he was working for my mob. The one that sunk was the Perro Negro 6.

[ginger_rice]

Damn, sorry mate, forgot he was there. Can you remember what rig he is on? I would have remembered if he was working for my mob. The one that sunk was the Perro Negro 6.

Not sure of the name mate think it's a drilling ship he's on sure it has Concorde in the name.

[Just_Jimmy]

I did a report during my first degree on piper alpha and corporate crime. By nature I'm not emotional but my old man worked in the North Sea my whole life, and has infact just retired. I remember sitting in the uni library reading accounts and openly crying because it was so close to home. My mum mentions remembering it coming on tv but my dad just sort of shurgs and changes the subject. He was nothing to do with it to the best of my knowledge but it hit eveyone hard. The book "fire in the night" is excellent if harrowing.

God bless.

[Steve-O]

There is a film coming out that will screen at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. I would quite like to see it as I was only 6-7 at the time and don't recall too much about it at the time.

Crazy to think this happened, only to be followed by Lockerbie a few months later.

Edit - turns out it's already screened - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_in_the_Night

[lord bunberry]

My dad was telling me the other day that the couple up stairs from us lost their son in the piper alpha tragedy, I think he was a chef but I could be wrong.

[Lucius Apuleius]

My dad was telling me the other day that the couple up stairs from us lost their son in the piper alpha tragedy, I think he was a chef but I could be wrong.

What was his name. They all worked for same company as me.

[lord bunberry]

What was his name. They all worked for same company as me.

The family name was Anderson I think his name was alec, I'm sure he was known as eck or ecky.

[Lucius Apuleius]

The family name was Anderson I think his name was alec, I'm sure he was known as eck or ecky.

He was. He was the Baker.

[southfieldhibby]

BBC2 just now.very moving.

[Sergey]

BBC2 just now.very moving.

Nope - a pile of *****e in my humble opinion.

The BBC are losing the plot and docu-drama obviously isn't their thing. This could have been a whole lot better, but it lacked a lot.

Not even an epitaph of those who lost their lives? That was poor to the extreme.

RIP to those who will never be found.

[southfieldhibby]

Nope - a pile of *****e in my humble opinion.

The BBC are losing the plot and docu-drama obviously isn't their thing. This could have been a whole lot better, but it lacked a lot.

Not even an epitaph of those who lost their lives? That was poor to the extreme.

RIP to those who will never be found.

Well I thought seeing grown men cry at recalling their experiences of that night was moving.The epitaph was the guys having a beer together, the enduring comradeship that came from that night and the improvement in North Sea safety since.