Deepwater Horizon

Deepwater Horizon (2016)

2 corrected entries

(6 votes)

Corrected entry: Helicopters are very loud. There is no way you could have a normal conversation whilst flying in one. Even shouting would be difficult to hear. Anyway, you are required by health and safety procedures to wear ear protection. This is normally ear plugs. You would also wear headsets so you can hear announcements from the flight crew such as where you are (as they normally drop off at many rigs) and any emergency instructions. Plus as they are flying over water, they would be wearing immersion suits (dry suits) and life jackets.

Correction: I've worked offshore in the Gulf of Mexico since 1997 and while I have always worn inflatable life jackets aboard crew change helicopters I've never worn immersion suits, nor have I seen anyone else wearing them - they are for "cold water" areas which the Gulf of Mexico is not. Also, headsets are rarely issued aboard crew change helicopters (at least in the Gulf of Mexico) because most have a PA for the pilots to pass information.

Corrected entry: The British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon accident was erroneously characterized by environmental activists, by some U.S. politicians, by the press and by this film as the "worst" manmade oil spill in history. It was not. The Pemex Ixtoc 1 disaster off the Yucatan peninsula in 1979 was far worse, lasted much longer, and received almost zero press in the United States, even though it impacted virtually every coastline in the Gulf of Mexico for over a year. The Deepwater Horizon spill was hyped far above and beyond its comparatively minor environmental impact for purely political reasons (i.e., it was used to fuel opposition to offshore drilling).

Charles Austin Miller

Correction: It's hard to analyze "worst oil spill" because there's so many factors involved beyond how long it lasted, including death and injuries that occurred. However, the 1979 event resulted in 140 million gallons spilt and the Deepwater Horizon spilt an estimated 206 million gallons and resulted in 11 deaths.

Bishop73

The Ixtoc 1 is still considered the worst accidental oil spill in history. Ixtoc 1 remained uncapped and freely flowing for 9 months, releasing over 3.5 Million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. That's barrels, not gallons. The only larger spill was in Kuwait, when Iraqi forces deliberately destroyed oil wells in that country, releasing 8 Million barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf. However, Kuwait is considered an "intentional" oil spill, not accidental.

Charles Austin Miller

Ixtoc 1 is only considered one of the worst spills, but not the number 1 worst spill. Deepwater Horizon released 4.9 Million Barrels (which is 40% more oil) and resulted in 11 deaths. Yes, Ixtoc 1 took 9 months to cap where Deepwater Horizon took only 5 months to cap, but the amount split was still less than Deepwater Horizon.

Bishop73

But Ixtoc was not a deep well, and its spillage was carried across the entire surface of the Gulf of Mexico for 9 months. The Deepwater Horizon was an extremely deep well, and much of its spillage remained in vast pools on the ocean floor, where it gradually degraded (yes, under extreme pressure and low temperature, crude oil will sink rather than rise to the surface). That fact also makes it impossible to estimate the total spillage of Deepwater Horizon. Nonetheless, some Deepwater Horizon spillage did rise to the surface, but not even nearly as much as the Ixtoc 1. Deepwater Horizon's environmental impact was negligible compared to Ixtoc 1; but, as stated in the original post, Deepwater Horizon was hyped and sensationalized in the press for political purposes.

Charles Austin Miller

Continuity mistake: When Felicia Williams goes to see Mike at the hotel after the accident, her nails change. During the accident, they are a pink color, but after and in the hotel, they are unpainted. It's unlikely she would have her nails done during and after the accident.

Matdan97

More mistakes in Deepwater Horizon

Kuchta: Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! The Deepwater Horizon has exploded and is on fire. I say again, The Deepwater Horizon is on fire. (00:59:40)

Ssiscool

More quotes from Deepwater Horizon
Deepwater Horizon trivia picture

Trivia: When Mr. Jimmy is calling out names on the boat to see who's missing, the real Mr. Jimmy Harrell is standing next to him, wearing a dirty grey T-shirt (and presumably playing a random rig worker). You can first see him (from the back) when Russell calls out Caleb Holloway's name. The first view of his face is just as Russell gets out the life raft onto the deck of the rescue ship. (01:28:30)

Aerinah

More trivia for Deepwater Horizon

Question: I have two questions. First, Did the disaster start as shown in the movie? Second, did the explosion look like what we saw in the movie?

Answer: The disaster started as a gas blow-out followed by a massive explosion on the oil rig, visible from 40 miles away. Eleven people were killed. Two days later, the burning rig collapsed into the sea, which severed the wellhead at a depth of over 4000 feet. If anything, the movie underplayed the disaster.

Charles Austin Miller

Actually, according to history vs Hollywood the real life explosion was equally as bad as what's shown in the movie.

More questions & answers from Deepwater Horizon

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.