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They were busy trying to extinguish a fire and rescue people. The rig burned for two days before it sank. It took them another day or so to get an ROV down there to even see if the well was leaking oil.
So it was three/four days before they even knew if there was a major leak, if any.
The obvious response at that point is to shut off the wellhead with the BOP. Wiki says this action takes 24-36 hrs to attempt with ROVs at such a depth BP engieers estimated it would take up to 6 attempts to close manually close the BOP.
So that's another eight/nine days before they figured out, "ok, we've got a serious problem". total: ~11/12 days since the blow out??
I believe they began the first relief well drilling about 12-13 days after the initial blow out (May 2nd). This involves mobilizing an entire drilling rig to the area and preparation. They must have began mobilizing or planning relief drilling while they were still trying to cap the well. IMO, that is fairly quick response to set up a drilling rig and start more drilling.
FYI, the first relief well drilling began 5 days before the "dome" was attempted, 9 days before the "top hat", and 12 days before the "insertion tube". The drilling was taking place BEFORE most plans failed.
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