The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, which claimed 11 lives, occurred exactly one year ago Relatives of the 11 men who died in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion are on Wednesday flying over the Gulf of Mexico, where the disaster happened exactly a year ago.
On land, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida will hold vigils.
US President Barack Obama paid tribute to those who died and the thousands involved in the operation to clean up after the worst US oil spill.
While "progress" had been made, Mr Obama said the "the job isn't done".
The accident, jointly blamed on BP, Halliburton and Transocean, affected the lives of millions across four US states.
Courtney Kemp, whose husband Roy Wyatt kemp was killed on the Deepwater Horizon rig, wrote on her Facebook page that she could not "believe tomorrow has been one year because it seems like everything just happened".
"I have learned a lot of things through all of this but the most important is to live each day as if it were your last... what matters is if you truly live," she added.
Transocean, which owned the rig, invited up to three members of each family to participate in the flyover in the Gulf.
The families were expected to circle the site of the disaster several times in a helicopter.
Audrey Neal Gulf fisherwomanBP spill: Gulf struggles to recover“I don't see any daylight at the end of this tunnel. I don't see any hope at all. ”
Eleven stars representing the victims lost in the explosion have been imprinted on the well's final cap.
A fund set up by the oil company BP to compensate those affected by the environmental damage has paid out almost $4bn dollars (£2.4bn), but some of those affected say arrangements have been slow and unfair.
The BBC's Andy Gallacher, who has just been in the region, says that 12 months later the healing process has been slow in the Gulf.
Tourists are beginning to return to the area, but for many still seeking compensation there's continued frustration and a loss of faith in both BP and the Obama administration, our correspondent adds.
Many questions also remain about the environmental damage. Most scientists agree the disaster wasn't as severe as first feared, but the long term effects of such a huge catastrophe will take years to unfold.
The last of the fishing waters that were closed last year have finally been re-opened but for the people of the Gulf states, the scars have far from healed, our correspondent says.
"I don't see any daylight at the end of this tunnel. I don't see any hope at all. We thought we'd see hope after a year, but there's nothing," Audrey Neal, who makes her living from crabbing in the Gulf, told the Associate Press news agency.
Overnight on 20 April 2010, the Transocean Deepwater Horizon burst into flames while drilling a well for BP.
Eleven workers on or near the drilling floor were killed. The rest of the crew evacuated, and two days later the rig toppled into the sea.
In the weeks that followed, more than 200 million gallons (780 million litres) of oil flowed in the Gulf of Mexico from the well - making it the worst US oil spill yet.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-us-canada-13147122
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