ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — Investigators may now 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 29 1/2 hours for the blowout preventer to reach the surface.
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.
