Vanessa Bolano - E-Mail Vanessa - Vanessa's Blog ABC26 News

August 26, 2010
GULF OF MEXICO—
Looking for oil, ABC26 News Reporter Vanessa Bolano took to the skies Thursday over the area where the rig "Deepwater Horizon" once stood.

Coast Guard pilots warn, "We are about 30 minutes away from the site now. In about 10 minutes we'll set up the safety straps and get everything ready."

News & weather text alerts -- free on your cell phone from WGNO!

Minutes after taking off from Lakefront Airport onboard a Coast Guard Sentry we begin circling the site where the oil rig "Deepwater Horizon" once stood. The area the Coast Guard now calls "The Source."

Looking down from 1,000 feet in the air, all that my eyes can see are a few skimmers and rigs, no oil. The Coast Guard says it's a very different picture from months ago.

Lt. Regina Caffrey says, "A lot of the focus is turning towards maybe that sub-surface oil, looking for that, but we're always going on flights and we're on the lookout for anything as the situation develops.

So far developments seem to be going well although conflicting reports of sub-surface oil have crews on alert. Flying over the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, it's hard to believe most of the oil is gone, although the Coast Guard reminds the wellhead has not been flowing since mid July.

Heading back an eerie silence. Not sure if it's exhaustion, as the crew says they've been making several flights weekly, or whether their feeling the impact of one of the worst disasters that also claimed 11 lives.

The government says the final plugging that well will begin sometime after Labor Day.