Tech worker testifies of ‘blue screen of death’ on oil rig’s computer

A computer that monitored drilling operations on the Deepwater Horizon had been freezing with a ‘blue screen of death’ prior to the explosion that sank the oil rig last April, the chief electronics technician aboard testified Friday at a federal hearing.

‘Blue screen of death,’ or BSOD, is a term most often used to describe the display shown by Microsoft Windows after a serious crash that has incapacitated a PC.

In his testimony Friday, Michael Williams, the chief electronics technician aboard the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon, said that the rig’s safety alarm had been habitually switched to a bypass mode to avoid waking up the crew with middle-of-the-night warnings.

For more on this report see: Tech worker testifies of ‘blue screen of death’ on oil rig’s computer – Computerworld