ON THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) — A key piece of evidence in the oil spill probe has been safely secured on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, and investigators are getting their first chance to personally look at the device up close.
The blowout preventer was placed into a metal contraption specifically designed to hold the massive device at 9:16 p.m. CDT Saturday. As the 50-foot, 300-ton piece of equipment was maneuvered into place, water dripped off the device.
It took 29½ hours to lift the blowout preventer from a mile beneath the sea to the surface. FBI agents have already started taking photos and video of the device. They will escort it back to a NASA facility in Louisiana for analysis.
