Air search resumes for 11 missing in oil rig blast (Video)A Coast Guard helicopter and rescue plane resumed the search Thursday morning for eleven workers missing after a massive explosion aboard an oil platform off the Louisiana coast.
The rig continued to burn as supply vessels shot water into it try to control the flames enough to keep it from sinking.
Rescue crews have covered the 1,940-square-mile search area by air 12 times and by boat five times, Petty Officer Casey Baker said Thursday. The boats continued searching all night. Officials hoped the 11 missing workers might have been able to get to a covered lifeboat with enough supplies to survive for an extended period.
Transocean Ltd. spokesman Guy Cantwell said 111 workers who made it off the Deepwater Horizon safely after Tuesday night’s blast were ashore Thursday, and four others were still on a boat that operates an underwater robot. A robot will eventually be used to stop the flow of oil or gas to the rig, cutting off the fire. He said officials have not decided when that will happen.
