important to this investigation, you believe. >> it is. >> pelley: what strikes the professor is mike williamscription of the blowout preventer. williams says that in a drilling accident four weeks before the explosion, the critical rubber gasket called an anular was damaged and pieces of it started coming out 69 well. >> pelley: according to williams, when parts of the anular start coming up on to the deck, someone from transocean says, look, don't worry about it. what does that tell you? >> well, houston, i think we have a problem. >> pelley: here's why that's so important. the anular is used to seal the well for pressure tests. and those tests determine whether dangerous gas is seeping in. so if the anular is damaged, if i understand you correctly, you can't do the pressure tests in a reliable way. >> that's correct. you may get pressure recordings but because you are leaking pressure, they are not reliable. >> pelley: mike williams also told us that a backup control system to the blowout preventer called a pod had lost some of its functions. what is the standard operating procedure if you

>> whenever i got up there at the time, i got up there, mike williams was up there. doug brown was up there. we had all of us up into the bridge. the captain said that we needed power to attempt to fight the fire. we then informed him of the damage that had occurred, and that we were not going to be able to attempt to get main power back on the bridge. he then asked if it would be possible to possibly get emergency power from the backup generator. >> and then he sent you to go try to do that? >> myself, mike williams, and steve then went to attempt to start the standby generators. >> and where did you have to go to do that? >> as i stated, the standby generator room is on the main deck on the port side of the vessel behind the bridge. >> in a prior emergency, it did any one of the three of you have this assigned task or any other assigned task other than that? >> the watch engineer, the first engineer and the mechanical supervisor have assigned tasks. i assigned task is to assist as directed. >> do know what the other assigned tasks are for the other gentleman? >> th

>> whener i got up there at the time, i got up there, mike williams was up there. doug brown was up there. we had all of us up into the bridge. the captain said that we needed power to attempt to fight the fire. we then informed him of the damage that had occurred, and that we were not going to be able to attempt to get main power back on the bridge. he then asked if it would be possible to possibly get emergency power from the backup generator. >> and then he sent you to go try to do that? >> myself, mike williams, and steve then went to attempt to start the standby generators. >> and where did you have to go to do that? >> as i stated, the standby generatoroom is on the main deck on the port side of the vessel behind the bridge. >> in a prior emergency, it did any one of the three of you have this assigned task or any other assigned task other than that? >> the watch engineer, the first engineer and the mechanical supervisor he assigned tasks. i assign task is to assist as directed. >> do know what the other assigned tasks are for the other gentleman? >> they are

mike williams, the electrical technician and i made our way around the fire to the bridge. and when we got to the bridge the captain sent us to the lifeboats to find the medic because mike was bleeding badly from his head. when we got to the lifeboats, there was complete chaos and mayhem. people were screaming a crying that they did not want to die and that we had to get off the rig. we stood next to the lifeboats and watched as the fire grew larger and larger. i think we were only there for about ten minutes, it seemed like forever. eventually we were ordered to board the lifeboats and we were lowered to the water. we tied up to the bank spin which was a supply boat taking on drilling fluid from the r before the explosion. we were offloaded onto the bankton and i was taken by helicopter to another rig and eventually to a hospital in alabama. i feel very fortunate to have survived this horrible tragedy. 11 of my fellow crew members were not so fortunate and my heart goes out to their families and loved ones. i do not yet know the full extent of my injuries. i've been diagno

mike williams didn't even pretend that he's running a profit-making business. quote -- "in the first quarter, we continue to serve as a leading source of liquidity to the mortgage market, and we made solid progress in our ongoing effort to keep people in their homes. these efforts to support the obama antiforeclosure program resulted in a doubling of loan modifications compared to the previous quarter, ramping up modifications make perfect sense in the up upside-down world of fannie mae. the company also announced that most of the loans it modified in the first three quarters of 2009 had gone delinquent again within six months." does anyone get that? most of the loans that were modified at the cost of 100 and some billion dollars of taxpayers' money have gone under again, have gone delinquent again within six months. talk about the -- "the wall street journal" goes on. talk about an exciting business opportunity. in case anyone still hasn't gotten the joke, the company also clarified yesterday that its directors, quote -- "are not obligated to consider the inte

and also they're going to interview thunder dan, dan majerle and momty williams on monday. and mccamey and mikeson. and joe vak djokovic has withdrew from the ma drad open masters on friday due -- madrid open masters on friday due to illness and injuries. >> top stories coming up here on espnews -- phil mickelson, mover and shaker at spaw grass. by the end of the weekend, he could be number 1 in the world. >> the mets unbelievable at home. as of right now, they're in as of right now, they're in extras with the giants. [ male announcer ] professionals need to perform under pressure. ♪ and pressure can cause anyone's deodorant to fail. ♪ introducing gillette odor shield antiperspirant. unlike regular deodorants, it targets and neutralizes odor at the source. help eliminate odor, don't just cover it up. ♪ gillette odor shield antiperspirant. also try odor shield technology in new body wash. ♪ >> coming up on espnews -- these days it's phil's world and we're all just living in it. even tiger. mickelson at sawgrass. >> the yankees continue to rule the roost in their rival's house. >> and en route to

meteorologist tim williams has the answer in the first warning weather forecast. >>> i am mike schuh of a karate studio and how you doing studio audience? we will show you them in a second and tell you why we are here when "eyewitness news" continues. >>> this is wjztv, wjzhd and wjz.com. baltimore. from the suty to the counties to your neighborhood, now it's complete coverage. >>> good morning and welcome back to wjz "eyewitness news" i am gigit barnett. >> i am tim william. it's 7:00 and it's going to be a cloudy day with sun peeking through not as warm as yesterday but at least it's dry early on. and any of your plans early on today are pretty much safe. we have rain moving across the region. none making it to the ground. that will change in the overnight hours as the storm system moves in starts to bring us more chance of showers in the overnight hours and through tomorrow. temperatures today starting off in the 60s. get up to a daytime high around 74 overnight lows back down into the 70 -- 60s. the complete first warning forecast coming up in few moments. >> thanks. >>> here's w

williams, the electrical technician and i made our way around the fire to the bridge. and when we got to the bridge the captain sent us to the lifeboats to find the medic because mike was bleeding badly from his head. when we got to the lifeboats, there was complete chaos and mayhem. people were screaming and crying that they did not want to die and that we had to get off the rig. we stoodext to the lifeboats and watched as the fire grew larger and larger. i think we were only there for about ten minutes, it seemed li forever. eventually we were ordered to board the lifeboats and we were lowered to the water. we tied up to the bank spin which was a supply boat taking on drilling fluid from the rig before the explosion. we were offloaded onto the bankton and i was taken by helicopter to another rig and eventually to a hospital in alabama. i feel very fortunate to have survived this horrible tragedy. 11 of my fellow crew members were not so fortunate and my heart goes out to their families and loved ones. i do not yet know the full extent of my injuries. i've been diagnosed with a fracture of my left leg and damage and bruising under my kneecap as well as ligament mage a