Report from the US slick: I’ve seen the oil

Flying out on the US Coast Guard HC-144 aircraft to see the oil spill and mitigating activities underway was a privilege that never hit my radar of possible experiences.

But there I was, onboard the low-flying plane along with a mixture of military personnel – Coast Guard, Navy, National Guard – plus a television news station reporter. Our mission, albeit from slightly different points of view, was to see with our own eyes the oil spill and the action being taken to mitigate the surface spill, as well as the relief well drill ships.

As I was safely belted in an airplane that had opened its aft bay doors allowing a pristine aerial view without windows between us and outside, two realities came into spectacular focus: the oil spill and the beehive of activities. Both are astounding to witness.

US Coast Guard Load Master Stephen Perusin took charge of the back of the plane, assuring safety barriers and seat belts kept everyone secure while the bay doors were open. We were given the opportunity to experience the incident site literally from a bird’s eye view, with brilliant clarity. Because of the US Coast Guard’s skilled execution of the flight, my perspective, sense of immediacy and comprehension of the spill and activities around it, is in sharp focus, far better than before the over flight.

Fellow passengers returned to the Mobile Command Center more determined than ever to do what must be done to fight this subsea, surface and onshore – whatever it takes.

Seeing it real-time, up close, eyes-on is, oddly, an inspiration to shake off the weariness, to look ahead, not behind, to dig in and focus with vigour on the task at hand. Yes, I saw the oil spill today. I saw the skimmers. I saw the relief well drill ships. I saw the support vessels circling the incident site. It was indeed a sobering privilege.

Paula Kolmar is a BP reporter.