Yes, how do we prevent a freak accident like this from happening? Let's ask the airlines how they prevent air planes from crashing, let's ask coal miners how they prevent mines from colapsing, let's ask park ranger's how they prevent forest fires, let's ask train conductors how they prevent derailments.
Accidents happen in every industry and you take precautions to prevent them from happening but sometimes stuff just happens. I don't see all those industries getting shut down!
Was BP caught chasing a nickel in this situation? Probably, but I think there were some other factors at play as well that not everyone had control over.