said by SL Trib : BP PLC said the blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico was removed from the company’s well on Friday afternoon.
The process of raising it to the surface was to be painstaking because engineers want to make sure not to damage or drop the contraption. The blowout preventer wasn’t expected to reach the surface until Saturday, at which point government investigators will take possession of it.
A BP spokesman said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the 50-foot, 300-ton device was detached from the wellhead at 1:20 p.m CDT.
Earlier in the day, a vessel had latched onto the equipment to raise it from a mile beneath the sea.
Undersea video showed the device suspended in the water. A crane on the Helix Q4000 was being used for the task.
The blowout preventer is considered a key piece of evidence in the spill investigation. Investigators will examine it and hope to gain insight into why the device failed to prevent the spill.
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