The Start of the Deepwater Horizon Accident

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]By the end of that day, only one step remained before the Deepwater Horizon's crew could officially plug their new well and move on.

[00:00:06]Turning off the mud and replacing it with seawater, which sounds simple enough.

[00:00:12]But on one of these babies, nothing is simple.

[00:00:15]Here, they have to slowly release the pressure being forced down onto the well to see if the concrete plug is strong enough to hold the oil and gas.

[00:00:24]And the pressure test that evening did not go as planned.

[00:00:28]The test was inconclusive. Readings showed that the pressure had spiked when the mud was turned off, which indicated that the well was leaking.

[00:00:38]But members of BP's management team were getting testy.

[00:00:43]They insisted that the test had gone to plan and the crew's job was all but done.