From Above the Spill

On Tuesday I covered by sea, on Wednesday I took to the air with the U.S. Coast Guard in a HC-144A Coast Guard airplane with along with a large group of journalist and photographers to get a birds eye view of the storm. Early in the day things did not look good, severe storms were forming all along the Louisiana coastline and I was unsure the flight would even happen at all. I called joint information center before leaving Hammond for a two hour drive to Houma, Louisiana where I would take the flight and was told the flight was on. As I drove closer to Houma I began to doubt the flight would end up taking off as planned, but while the weather was rough on land the weather was good at the site of the BP Deep Water Horizon spill site.

The flight was my first Coast Guard flight, a second flight is coming up soon, I was not sure what to expect but getting quality photos through the windows of the HC-144A airplane was a nearly impossible task the photos you will see in this entry almost entirely were shot from the back cargo door when it was lowered as we passed over the oil spill site. There were only three opportunities to shoot the spill site where development drillers II and III were stationed drilling a relief well to plug the well and surrounded by support vessels and lots and lots of oil on the surface of the gulf. In groups of three photographers were rotated getting one opportunity to shoot as the plane passed over the spill, then the cargo door would go back and another set of photographers would get to be in the front to get their shots. I was in the second group of photographers but I was able to shoot between other photographers for each pass. The process was repeated as the plane passed of the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana, a habitat for the Louisiana state bird the brown pelican.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the flight.

Coast Guard Avionics Electrical Technician Brandon Hotard looks out from the cargo door of an HC-144A Coast Guard airplane at an oil sheen on the surface of the water during a flight over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, U.S., on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. BP Plc has given up trying to plug its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico any sooner than August, laying out a series of steps to pipe the oil to the surface and ship it ashore for refining, said Thad Allen, the U.S. government’s national commander for the incident. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

Oil is seen on the surface of the water around the Transocean Development Driller II (top) and Transocean Development Driller III (bottom), which are both drilling a relief wells, at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, U.S., on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. BP Plc has given up trying to plug its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico any sooner than August, laying out a series of steps to pipe the oil to the surface and ship it ashore for refining, said Thad Allen, the U.S. government’s national commander for the incident. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

Coast Guard Avionics Electrical Technician Brandon Hotard looks out from the cargo door of an HC-144A Coast Guard airplane during a flight over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, U.S., on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. BP Plc has given up trying to plug its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico any sooner than August, laying out a series of steps to pipe the oil to the surface and ship it ashore for refining, said Thad Allen, the U.S. government’s national commander for the incident. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

U.S. Coast Guard pilots Lt. Andy Greenwood (left) and Lt. Peter Loge (right) the Aviation Training Center in Mobile, AL fly a HC-144A airplane over the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, U.S., on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. BP Plc has given up trying to plug its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico any sooner than August, laying out a series of steps to pipe the oil to the surface and ship it ashore for refining, said Thad Allen, the U.S. government’s national commander for the incident. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

A vessel passes through oil on the surface of the water around the near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, U.S., on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. BP Plc has given up trying to plug its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico any sooner than August, laying out a series of steps to pipe the oil to the surface and ship it ashore for refining, said Thad Allen, the U.S. government’s national commander for the incident. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

One thing that was very surprising is how different the oil looks from place to place, below are a series of images all close to the oil spill site.

Dark and heavy oil is seen on the surface of the water near the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, U.S., on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. BP Plc has given up trying to plug its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico any sooner than August, laying out a series of steps to pipe the oil to the surface and ship it ashore for refining, said Thad Allen, the U.S. government’s national commander for the incident. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

The flight ended with a pass over the Chandeleur Islands.

An aerial of the Chandeleur Islands in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, U.S., on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. BP Plc has given up trying to plug its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico any sooner than August, laying out a series of steps to pipe the oil to the surface and ship it ashore for refining, said Thad Allen, the U.S. government’s national commander for the incident. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

There was a lot of nice photos from the flight, too many to post in the blog here is a gallery of highlights from the flight.

06-02-2010 Deep Water Horizon Site Oil Spill Aerial Photos – Images by Derick Hingle