Piper Alpha Disaster Footage 6th July 1988
Digitally remastered Piper Alpha disaster footage shot by Ole Anderson from the vessel ‘Maersk Leader’ on the 6th July 1998.
License the Piper Alpha Disaster Footage For Your Program
Piper Alpha disaster footage from 6th and 7th July 1988, shot by Ole Anderson.
On this day, 167 men would loose there lives when a series of explosions and fire engulfed the North Sea oil production platform Piper Alpha, stationed 120 miles north-east of Aberdeen.
In 1991 Chris Johnson began working with Sir Brian Appleton on a documentary called ‘Learning from accidents‘ – the Piper Alpha oil platform disaster – messages for managing safety. The program was commissioned by ICI Group Safety.
Sir Brian Appleton was senior investigator on the Public Enquiry into the Piper Alpha Disaster conducted by Lord Cullen and published on the 19th October 1990.
In 1991 Chris Johnson purchased the global rights from Ole Anderson to all of the Piper Alpha disaster footage that he shot from the vessel ‘Maersk Leader’on the 6th/7th July 1988.
Piper Alpha Disaster Footage
Ole Anderson shot 26 minutes of video and audio during the evening of the 6th July and the next morning. It was shot on Sony Video8.
The footage includes the initial oil fire caused by a large explosion in Gas Compression Module, the Tartan gas riser explosion, the MCP-01 gas line explosion and the Claymore gas riser explosion which witnesses say was the largest of that night. Rescues, fire fighting and finally the remains of the Piper Alpha platform are also included in the footage.
The audio includes many important ship to ship radio conversations that went on during that night.
Original 3m U-matic SP30 Tape
Digitally Remastered
Despite Chris’s and Ole’s best efforts, the Scottish Police Force would not release the original Sony Video8 tape. They said it had to be retained as evidence.
They did provide Chris with a 3M Umatic SP30 copy of the original Sony Video8 tape. Unfortunately some years later and after the Lord Cullen Public Enquiry had been completed, the Police inadvertently destroyed the original Sony Video8 tape.
In January 2025 Chris has successfully digitally remastered the 3M Umatic SP30 recording and the results have been remarkable. There was damage to the first 17 seconds covering the Tartan gas riser explosion. Despite these 17 seconds not being as high quality as the rest of the 26 minutes, the Tartan gas risier explosion itself is so dramatic, it remains absolutely usable in any broadcast program.
The footage is now available in MP4 file format and comes with timecoded anotation describing individual events and the times they occured.
Original Umatic SP30
Digitally Remastered MP4
Some Key Moments: Piper Alpha Disaster 6th July 1988
License
Bring your program to life
Contact Chris Johnson to discuss your requirements. Chris; “I have provided licences for the Piper Alpha footage to companies, governments and broadcasters all over the world. I’m sure this new digitally remastered copy will inspire program makers to keep telling the Piper Alpha story. It’s vital that we do.”
The Piper Alpha disaster was caused by a small error in communication. The loss of life and the devastation caused to families should never be forgotten. Continuing to tell this story is essential to ensure that people working in industry are always reminded of the absolute catastrophe that can flow from a simple error.
We have extensive knowledge of the events on 6th July
and have worked with a wide range of program producers over the decades.
Contact Chris
Please provide a brief outline of your program and where it will be broadcast or distributed?
