ATC Mobile responds to platform blast

MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) - A crew from the Aviation Training Center in Mobile coordinated the rescue mission in Thursday's rig explosion. A crew of six men were in charge of organizing helicopters, who transported the 13 survivors to safety.

Lt. Commander John Pack piloted the plane in the mission.

"By the time we got on scene, the 13 survivors were on a commercial vessel and then transported to another rig, and then we assisted in getting them coordinating a helicopter transport from that rig inland to Houma for evaluation," Lt. Cmdr. Pack said.

The crew served as the communication base in the air at the site.

"We call it an on scene commander. So we are above the scene looking at it from about 3,000 feet looking down and coordinating the copters putting them in a waiting pattern and then bringing them in one at a time to pick the survivors," added Lt. Cmdr. Pack.

The crew used an HC 144 plane because it has the capability to loiter or circle a site for nine hours. That time frame can be critical in a mission like Thursdays.

James Nakamoto, an avionics technician, was one of people in charge of keeping the airways safe.

"We contacted the pilots of the helicopters that were coming in to pick up the survivors, and we also contacted the foreman on the rig that had the survivors on board, told them how many survivors this particular helicopter can hold at this time, and basically have them ready to go so as soon as the helicopter could land the survivors, get on board helicopter takes off as quick as possible," Nakamoto said.

The team was successful, but for them, it was just another day on the job.

Thankfully, no one died in the explosion, and all 13 of the platform's crew members were rescued.

The crew said they didn't see any fire. By the time they got there, crews were already using water cannons to put out the fire. They also said they did not see any sheen, even though some reports said there was a mile long stretch of oil on the top of the water.