Active duty coast guard member Jonathan Foss is an aviation survival technician and part of the non-operational unit in Mobile, Alabama. He received the call about the oil rig explosion in the Gulf around 10:30 p.m., April 20th. He took these shots from a helicopter on a search and rescue mission to a rig boat carrying workers that had been affected by the explosion.

 

“You could
see the blast for more than 40 miles. It was intense. At the time, we
were focused on the people involved, but the impact environmentally is
really going to have a lasting thumbprint.” —Jon Foss

Click below to watch a 20-second video of the explosion.