A Fundamental Mistake

Earlier in the day, well pressure tests showed an imbalance between the drill pipe choke and kill lines running from the drill deck to the blowout preventer. The pressure in the drill pipe was 1,400 pounds per square inch, while the choke and kill lines read zero PSI, according to BP documents gathered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
In BP's internal investigation, made public by the committee, BP said it might have been a "fundamental mistake" to continue with the procedure because there was an "indication of a very large abnormality."
As methane surged up the drill pipe and enveloped the rig, Brown said, a loud hiss of gas escaped from the well, which set off a stream of alarms.
"Gas alarms just kept piling up on top of each other more and more and more," Brown said. The rig was hit by a power blackout, and the explosion came soon after, he said.
"The first explosion basically threw me up against the control panel that I was standing in front of," Brown said.
As Brown raced to reach the rig's lifeboats, "it was just complete mayhem, chaos, people were scared, they were crying," Brown said.
The rig worker taking a muster of workers boarding the lifeboat, a man that Brown said he had known for nine years, did not recognize him.

This is a man that has known me for nine years and he cannot even remember my name," Brown said.
"It was just completely chaotic and nobody was really paying attention in my opinion," Brown said. "They were more concerned about just getting off the rig - escaping."