Piper Alpha 38. Through the Eyes of a Commercial Diver - Ed Punchard's Story

On the night of 6 July 1988, commercial diver Ed Punchard was working beneath Piper Alpha.

Within minutes, he found himself caught in the world's worst offshore oil disaster.

Unlike many accounts of Piper Alpha, this conversation comes from someone working below the platform, coordinating dive operations before escaping as the explosions tore through the installation.

Ed doesn't just describe what happened. He explains why it happened.

From the culture offshore during the 1980s, to the failures that led to the disaster, the rescue efforts aboard the Silver Pit, and the lessons the industry must never forget, this is one of the most detailed first hand accounts you'll hear.

Following Piper Alpha, Ed became heavily involved in improving offshore safety, worked alongside journalists and politicians to explain what had happened, wrote one of the earliest books on the disaster, and later built an award winning career as a filmmaker.

As we mark another anniversary of Piper Alpha, conversations like this remain just as important today.

If you work in offshore oil and gas, offshore wind, commercial diving, marine operations or simply want to understand one of the defining moments in industrial history, this episode is well worth your time.

00:00 Introduction 01:00 Becoming a commercial diver 02:01 The Byford Dolphin disaster 04:18 The accident that changed my career 05:38 Why I ended up on Piper Alpha 06:07 My job beneath the platform 07:15 What Piper Alpha was really like 08:37 How many trips I'd done before the disaster 09:05 My last shift before going home 09:59 The first moments of 6 July 1988 11:15 The first explosion 13:05 Finding the dive team 15:05 Racing to save a diver 17:34 No alarms. No escape route. 19:55 "We've got to get off." 21:55 Escaping beneath Piper Alpha 24:28 Watching the platform burn 27:22 The Tartan pipeline explodes 29:50 Watching the inferno from the Silver Pit 30:08 Why so many divers survived 32:13 Losing friends 33:35 What was going through my mind? 35:20 Turning chaos into action 37:18 Organising the rescue 39:09 Calling the rescue helicopters 41:11 The Claymore pipeline explodes 43:12 Hanging from the side of the Silver Pit 46:12 How Piper Alpha changed my life 48:13 Fighting for offshore safety 50:15 Writing one of the first books on Piper Alpha 52:45 Why I never went offshore again 01:06:40 Why podcasts matter 01:10:30 My proudest moment 01:15:20 Final thoughts