gulf. at the same time in hearings in new orleans, the company also under fire by a government panel for ignoring warnings about that critical blowout preventer that caused the disaster in the first place. ronald sepulveda was a well site leader on the rig. suspend further drill operation to a pod is opener able. was that done at the deepwater horizon? well, no, it wasn t. reporter: beset by those investigations, financial woes and the urgent need to kill that well, new trouble possibly on the horizon for bp, a possible tropical storm headed right for the spill zone as early as this weekend. matt gutman, abc news, baton rouge, louisiana. it was a frightening ordeal for dozens of passengers aboard a united airlines flight from washington, d.c. to los angeles. the plane was forced to land in denver after hitting severe
stop order authority. if they see something going on that compromises safety or integrity, they have the ability to stop production. but i m told that bp doesn t give that authority, that it is further up the chain of command. is that correct? if so, is that something that bp may consider changing given what s happening? on the drilling operation such as this, anyone can stop it. the bp man, the transocean driller, the transocean pool push e the oim or bp well site leader. it requires everyone to agree to continue. if there s one person who dozen does not agree, they do not continue. when i m told that the bp culture in terms of this authority is different, i ve been told incorrectly. i believe that s so, congressman.
site that have what is called stop farther authority. in other words if they see something that s going on that compromises safety or integrity, they have the ability to stop production. but i m told that bp doesn t give that authority, that it is further up the chain of command. is that correct? and if so, is that something that bp may consider changes given what s happened? on a drilling operation such as this, anyone can stop it. the bp man, the transocean driller, the transocean tool pusher, or the bp well site leader. it requires everyone to agree to continue. and if there is one person who does not agree, then they do not continue. so when i m told that the bp culture authority is different, i have been told incorrectly.
scientists worry it could be a sign the broken well is buckling under the pressure, which could make the disaster worse. phil keating is in hopedale, louisiana now. back to that employee, phil, he made the claim before but what are investigators doing about it now. he testified he s a bp well site leader working before the explosion 0 on the rig. he came back because he was called by by investigators trying to get more out of him to find out what bp knew and what it did. if there s a leak on any rig in the gulf, you are retired required by federal law to suspend operations immediately. clearly this did not happen because bp kept trying to close the well days leading up to the explosion. he says he noticed a leak at the blowout preventers, a hydraulic leak, in a control pod and passed it on to houston prior to