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Frame from Lake Peigneur Drilling Accident Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

Lake Peigneur Drilling Accident

ankerssm
Documentaries
YouTube
2 HN users recommended this documentary2 months2020–2026 score 2
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Linked in salt mine and industrial accident threads as a fascinating, quick account with striking footage.

A short documentary about the 1980 Lake Peigneur accident in Louisiana, where an oil rig drilled into a salt mine beneath the lake. The lake drained into the mine, creating a whirlpool that swallowed barges.

“Quick 8-minute documentary on it that I found interesting” (HN, 2023)

2 recommendations · 2 citations · Documentaries

4 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@kyuudou Apr 2020 Recommends
on HN thread What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
I bet you know about that salt cavern that collapsed at Lake Peigneur[1]. There should be a documentary on youtube where you can see the footage, including a really big boat going "phoomph" into the whirlpool created by the bayou water filling in the cavern. Edit: here's one[2] [1] [link] [2] [this video] still blows my mind
Footage of a barge pulled into the whirlpool

Citations, criticism and jokes

@tunap Jan 2020 Cites it
on HN thread Detroit's salt mine: City beneath the city
Fascinating story, even more amazing nobody died when you realize barges were sucked down into it and the ocean water ran miles(?) inland to fill the void. Saw this documentary on TV a decade or so ago. [this video]
Documentary of the Lake Peigneur drilling accident

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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