People Are Remembering The Biggest Catastrophic Failures Of Various Human-Made Devices And Here’re 30 Of The Most Devastating Pics
Where there are machines and devices, there’s always a chance they may, one day, out of nowhere, just stop working. Sometimes, it’s just a mere nuisance, other times, if we're talking about big, major structures, the outcome may be catastrophic.
There’s even a whole corner of Reddit dedicated to the latter. The subreddit Catastrophic Failure is a place to share some unfortunate and peculiar scenarios of what happens when things like a chemical storage facility has a leak or when water lines freeze and burst in Texas during the record low temperatures.
So let’s scroll through the compilation below, which is honestly both frightening and a reminder that we all have to be more careful to make sure such accidents won't happen.
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April 28, 1988: The Roof Of An Aloha Airlines Jet Ripped Off In Mid-Air At 24,000 Feet
The plane still managed to land safely. One Stewardess was sucked out of the plane. Her body was never found.
May 7, 2021: Tourist Trapped 100m High On Chinese Glass Bridge After Floor Panels Blow Out
The View Of The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse From Atop The Suspension Cabling, 1940
Locals called the bridge "Galloping Gertie" Video of it galloping here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw
In order to find out how one such catastrophe has changed the fashion industry forever, Bored Panda spoke with Ieva Zubavičiūtė, CEO of Fashion Bloc, consultant and investor in sustainable fashion. “On the 24th of April 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1,134 people and severely injuring thousands of garment factory workers.”
Ieva said that the catastrophe was a turning point “for many to find out that our clothes were being made in deadly environments and nobody wanted to be accountable for that.” Moreover, “The collapse of Rana Plaza, a multiple factory facility that manufactured clothing for brands such as Benetton, Mango, Primark, and dozens of others, was a wake-up call to the industry.”
November 02, 2020: Train Breaks Through Barrier Onto Statue At The End Of The Line. Happened In The Middle Of The Night, No Injuries As Of Yet. Spijkenisse, The Netherlands
August 14, 2020: Chocolate Snows Down On Swiss Town Due To Factory Defect
December 2019 In Detroit: A Large Amount Of Chromium-6 Leaked Into The Ground From A Chemical Storage Facility That Contained It Improperly. It Was Only Found Out When It Leaked Onto A Nearby Highway
“Sadly, this was not the first or the last tragedy that could have been avoided if the required safety measures were taken or brands would have monitored their supply chains adequately,” Ieva added. Nevertheless, it helped raise public awareness and initiate campaigns demanding transparency.
“One of the biggest impacts of the Rana Plaza tragedy is public awareness and the beginning of the Fashion Revolution movement. Every April, people are encouraged to demand transparency from the brands they wear by asking #whomademyclothes on social media.”
Gas Leak Into Water Main Taiwan
2019: Cars Getting Transported On An Open Deck Catch On Fire After Salty Water Shorts Their Batteries
One car killed the lot. Something more than just saltwater on a battery caused this though, probably unshielded terminals and sodden bonnet insulation?
35 Years Ago, Space Shuttle Challenger Disintegrated And Killed All 7 Crew, Due To Failure Of A Joint In The Right Srb, Which Was Caused By Inability Of The Srb's O-Rings To Handle The Cold Temperatures At Launch
All the engineers agreed it wasn't safe....all the managers decided they knew better.
Load More Replies...Did anyone else watch this live in elementary school with their classmates? I think we all experienced a bit of trauma that day. RIP astronauts :(
The channel I was watching this on had a small square showing Christa McAuliffe's parents' reaction to this flight. I still remember their faces going from worried excitement to disbelief and confusion to absolute devastation.
(Not so)Fun Fact: My mom's 4th grade science teacher was one of the people who wanted to go on the challenger, but was rejected. His friend, Christa McAuliffe was one of the people who did get picked...and she died on the challenger.
Awful seeing this on tv and then awful seeing the one in Jan/Feb 2003 blow on re-entry.
The O rings were made by a company owned by religious zealot Warren Jeffs. The company is still in business.
Two years before my time, but my older brother watched this happen. Family lived in Florida and his middle school teacher took the kids out to watch the launch. Unfortunately they'll never forget it. 💔
So sad! That poor teacher must have felt so much guilt and trauma along that poor class who should have never witnessed such an event. Very sad. Hope it didn't affect your older brother too much?
Load More Replies...Wow , such a small thing - I would not want to be responsable for this. So much could go wrong there - Humans are daredevils ;)
This could have been avoided it was cost savings that caused this and a rush to launch in cold weather
One of the astronauts killed was Ron McNair. There's a great children't book about him- Ron's Big Mission. As a child he protested and won the right for Black people to take books out of the town library in SC where he grew up. Until then they could only read books at the library bc they "couldn't be trusted" to return the books. It happened in 1959.
I remember seeing this when it happened. Kids all over the country were watching it live because one of the astronauts on board was a teacher (Christie McAuliffe).
What I heard at the time that Reagan pushed it because he wanted to use it as a photo op that coincided with his inauguration. The proof at the time made me believe was true. But, I can’t document it so take it or leave it or check it out.
The O Rings were made by Fundamentalist Mormons, the company Hydra Pak was a contractor for NASA, which was founded by Warren Jedda father Rulon, and they used slave labour and were made in the living rooms of Mormons.
This event has been burned into my memory. I remember when this happened so clearly! Truly heartbreaking that it could've easily been prevented. :(
My kingdom for a $1.00 part. Happens all the time to me at repair shops and my car.
Unfortunately, I know some kind of o-rings/gaskets can be super expensive depending on the material they are made out of and such. I work in hose manufacturing. I would be less upset if their decision came down to not wanting to postpone as opposed to not wanting to spend money on a better o-ring. Maybe they had no other design at the time that could withstand such temperatures?
Load More Replies...I worked at a preschool back then. We made a space shuttle out of a refrigerator box, and all of the 3-5 year olds had space helmets made from milk cartons covered in tinfoil. We brought in a TV, so everyone could watch the real one take off.
“In the same way, brands are asked to celebrate their makers. Fashion Revolution created a transparency index where they rate hundreds of major brands - from luxury houses such as Chanel to high-street labels such as Zara on the transparency of their supply chain,” Ieva explained. “Movements such as Fashion Revolution help the public make more informed decisions when buying clothes and prioritize transparency,” the fashion industry expert concluded.
Red Wine Cistern Catastrophically Ruptures At Sicilian Winery
January 17, 2021: Final Seconds Of The Ukrainian Cargo Ship Before Breaks In Half And Sinks At Bartin Anchorage, Black Sea
Boeing 777 Engine Failed At 13000 Feet. Landed Safely
Created back in 2015, the subreddit features “videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices that have failed catastrophically during operation,” states its description. Today, it has a whopping 1.5M members, so it’s obvious that huge audiences find the content very entertaining.
December 19, 2019: Drill Bit After Taking Out Some Of London's Internet
$1,250,000 Worth Of Corn Spilled After Silo Collapse In New Carlisle, Ohio On Jan 28, 2018
A Functioning Dutch Windmill From 1848 Burned Down
April 20, 2010: The Oil Rig Deep Water Horizon Suffered A Catastrophic Blowout
Even though the group’s title “Catastrophic Failure” suggests that some very unsettling content is shared there, the subreddit’s rules are strict to make sure the posts don’t cross any lines. The group doesn’t allow submissions that depict people visibly being seriously injured: “you must apply the 'Visible Injuries' flair to your post and tag it 'NSFW.'”
Moreover, “If a submission depicts a situation where people were killed, but those people are not directly visible, you must apply the 'Fatalities' flair to your post (e.g. the Hindenburg Disaster, or a plane crash).”
In Pittsburgh. Sinkhole Eats Bus. No One Seriously Hurt
August 4, 2020: Storage Before The Blast, Beirut
The videos from the neighboring balconies still haunt me. So many lost lives and half a city destroyed in the name of greed and power for people who have zero alliance to their own country. Biggest blast in modern history, one year later, zero detained and zero accountabilities. Same poeple still run the country.
On May 20, 1976, During Structural Renovations, A Fire Burned Away The Montreal's Biosphère Transparent Acrylic Dome
$300k Video Wall Came Down In Vegas
Speaking of catastrophes themselves, there have been far too many of them in the past and recent history. Since one of them, the Aloha Airlines flight 243 tragedy in the skies, over 30 years have already passed. The incident happened when cruising at 24,000 feet: an 18-foot section of the plane's roof suddenly ripped off. It caused an explosive decompression, creating a gaping hole in the fuselage and sucking a flight attendant out of the plane.
After the incident, a passenger reported that before boarding, she noticed a crack in the fuselage, but she did not report it prior to takeoff. Later, a National Transportation and Safety Board investigation suggested that the incident may have been caused by the plane's old age and poor maintenance. Moreover, Aloha Airlines short flights like this should have received check-ups twice as often as they had.
Markham, Ontario, Plywood Used To Repair Building Proves Insufficient For The Task
Tires From The United Flight That Declared Emergency During Takeoff. No Injuries
Incorrectly Installed Part LED To Gas Leak. One Fatality And 3 Injured After Explosion When Workers Were Sent To Investigate
Cable On A Window Washing Station Snaps And Hits A Power Line, Causing An Electrical Explosion. The Workers Were Saved By Their Emergency Harnesses
Another peculiar incident happened a year ago at a Swiss chocolate factory where, due to internal malfunction, it sent out a plume of cocoa 'snow.' Fine particles dusted the ground around Lindt & Spruengli factory in town of Olten after the ventilation system stopped functioning properly.
The area where the malfunction happened was in charge of making roasted cocoa nibs. These nibs are fragments of crushed cocoa beans, which are the basis of chocolate. Due to the strong winds, the powder spread around the factory, covering it in fine cocoa dust.
Container Ship ‘One Apus’ Arriving In Japan After Losing Over 1800 Containers Whilst Crossing The Pacific Bound For California
Drone View Of Indonesia's Largest Oil Refinery Explosion In Indramayu
Yes, and my not recycling one styrofoam container is what's killing the planet...
Arecibo Radio Telescope After The Instrument Platform Collapsed. (11/30/2020)
Fireworks Store Bursts Into Flames At The Market In Rostov-On-Don, Russia, On The 6th Of December, 2020
A year ago, a giant whale sculpture became a national hero in The Netherlands for stopping a train that overran the tracks. Luckily, the driver of the train in Rotterdam city escaped serious injury as the train crashed through barriers at the final station of De Akkers in Spijkenisse, near the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. The accident occurred on a raised platform, ten meters (30 feet) off the ground, where the carriage could have easily plummeted into the water below.
Maarten Struijs, the architect who designed the whale sculpture, expressed his astonishment and relief that the structure had played a life-saving role. “I'm surprised it's so strong," he told a Dutch news outlet. "If plastic has been standing for 20 years, you don't expect it to hold a metro carriage."
July, 2014: Brand New Boeing 737 Fuselages Wrecked In A Train Derailment, Montana
When it comes to the term “catastrophic failure” itself, it refers to a sudden and total failure from which recovery is impossible. Catastrophic failures often lead to cascading system failure. These failures are usually investigated with the methods of forensic engineering. It aims to isolate the cause or causes of failure.
Failed Rocket Launch
10 Years Ago - A 9.0 Magnitude Underwater Earthquake Instigated The 2nd Worst Nuclear Disaster In History - The Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown - March 11th, 2011
I just think about all the older workers who instantly volunteered to go in and control the complete overload. Knowing that they would quickly die from radiation poisoning. They determined that they had lived more of their lives, and they should do whatever necessary to protect the younger workers and all the millions of people that would be affected by a full scale nuclear meltdown. These men were just ordinary blokes, everyday workers. Nobody ever mentions their heroism or sacrifice. They all died.
Catastrophic Driveline Failure 700' Up. I Avoided Most Of The Wires But Caught Two Small Utility Lines Right Before We Set Down. I Broke 2 Ribs, Passengers Were Unharmed. (Oc)
Toner Explosion
Grain Bins In Iowa, USA After 80+ Mph(128+ Kmh) Winds. 2020
Pictures From The Suez Canal Authority On The Efforts To Dislodge The Ever Given, 25/03/2021
Stucked Bulk Carrier Ship Wakashio Spilling Oil On The Coast Of Mauricius, 7.8.2020
In 1945, A B-25 Bomber Got Lost In A Patch Of Fog And Crash Into The 79th Floor Of The Empire State Building. Fourteen People Passed Away In The Incident
Sewer Main Exploding Drenches A Grandma And Floods A Street
Residential Building Is Burning In Milan (29 Aug)
I think this apartment had the same issue as the Grenfell apartment fire in London. (Buildings cladding had a void space that allowed air in and the fire to spread)
Us/Mex Border Wall Section Collapses - Hurricane Hanna - 26 July 2020
Aftermath Of The Collapse Of I-35 W In Minneapolis Mn (August 2, 2007)
July 8, 2019. A Truckload Of Apples Is Now Evenly Distributed On The Pavement
May 2021, The Bridge On Interstate I-40 In Memphis, Tn, USA
The Moment A Fuel Tanker Drifts Into The Median And Explodes On I-75 In Troy Mi. The Fire Raged For Over 2 Hours, And I-75 Is Shut Down Indefinitely. The Driver Survived. July 12, 2021
Under Construction Hard Rock Hotel In New Orleans Collapsed. Was Due To Open Next Month
Another Angle Of The Gas Station Explosion In Volgograd
Train Derailment In Illinois
We had one in 2013. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-M%C3%A9gantic_rail_disaster
Fire Tornado
The base of the “fire tornado” was 1,000 feet wide — larger than three football fields — and was fueled by winds gusting to 165 mph, according to the Cal Fire report. It exploded 7.5 miles into the air, ripping roofs off homes and toppling power lines.
I still don’t get how football fields have become a unit for understanding large sizes or lengths
Parked Several Thousand Hot Rental Cars On A Dry Grass Overflow Lot In South Florida
That's one insurance company regretting a seemingly lucrative contract.
Highway Sign Falls On Car (2018)
Commander George C Duncan Is Pulled Out Alive From The Cockpit Of His Grumman F9f Panther After Crashing During An Attempted Landing On Uss Midway On July 23rd 1951
Static Charge Causes Massive Fire In Back Of Box Truck
08/10/2020 - Arecibo Observatory, One Of The Largest Single-Aperture Radio Telescopes In The World, Has Suffered Extensive Damage After An Auxiliary Cable Snapped And Crashed Through The Telescope’s Reflector Dish
Water Lines Are Freezing And Bursting In Texas During Record Low Temperatures - February 2021
(Aug 12, 2019) Tesla Model 3 Crashes Into Parked Truck. Shortly After, Car Explodes Twice
Spacex’s Falcon 9 Rocket (Intentionally) Blows Up In The Skies Over Cape Canaveral During Successful Abort Test
Huge Fire At A Huawei Research Facility In China, September 25, 2020
Mega Church Burning Caught Fire. Luckily There Were 0 Casualties
Heavy Rains Burst Into Norwood Hospital (Ma, USA) - June 2020
Medical Helicopter Experiences A Malfunction And Crashes While Landing On A Los Angeles Hospital Rooftop. Wreckage Missed The Roof’s Edge By About 15 Feet, And All Aboard Survived
Machine Malfunctions Spraying Molten Metal Everywhere (Unknown Date)
Foundry Worker Puts Wet Scrap Metal In Furnace, November 27, 2019
Molten Silly String
Ammonia Leak Near Chicago
This was very near where I live. Ammonia is a horrific thing to have come in contact with human tissue.
Captain Brian Bews Bails At The Last Moment After A Stuck Piston Causes His Cf-18 Hornet To Crash
Truck Puts Too Much Torque Into Its Engine, Causing It To Explode Out Of The Frame
This was during one of the senseless and useless events where vehicles with powerful engines are polluting the environment. As you can see from the black smoke coming from the exhaust.
In Cancun During A Gender Reveal Party
Ok gender reveal what? i get. you can buy 3 color balloons. a pink one, a blue one, and some other color. make sure that your pink or blue balloon is inside the other color, and just pop it, and announce whatever color it came! how bad can it be?
Concrete Retaining Wall Failure Allows A Hill Landslide
Palestinian Apartment Building Collapses After Israeli Airstrikes
This Glass Vacuum Lift Failing Spectacularly
Took me a second to decipher that title. I was thinking who would build a vacuum lift out of glass.
Petroleum Products In The Water System After The Accident At The Chpp-3 In Norilsk, Russia
If only it was the only one... https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/47973/norilsk-oil-spill-disaster-russia-accident-risk-map/
An Explosion At The Ufaorgsintez Plant In Ufa, Russia. Two Containers With Methane Hydrogen Are Burning
Container Ship Runs Ground With Precious Construction Cargo Aug 2019
Steel Mill Malfunction Leads To Gallons Of Molten Metal Being Pouted All Over The Factory Floor
A Kalibr Cruise Missile Fired By Russian Destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov Malfunctions Mid Launch And Crashes Into The Sea (April 2021)
Windows Shattering In A Building A Mile Away From The Chemical Factory That Exploded In China
Uss Bonnehome Richard On Fire In San Diego
Firework Balloon Disaster In Myanmar
Firefighters Attempt To Put Out A Magnesium Fire
Russian Mi-14 Struggles During A Water Takeoff And Ends Up Shattering Its Rotors
That's how most Kerbal Space Program helicopter designs end up "working".
Ferry Crashes Into A Loading Dock In Barcelona Causing A Fire
Excavator Being Lifted Into Tunnel Shaft In Hong Kong Falls. 10/14/2020
Girder Exits From Production Line, 2020-05-30
2021 March 22 This Swimming Pool Collapsed In Brazil, Flooding The Parking Lot
They're lucky it was just the pool. Champlain Towers showed how bad it can get.
Burning Warehouse Explodes, Sending A Propane Tank Flying Through The Air
They are called "bleve". A pressure vessel is fine when it's full and on fire, it's when it is empty with no pressure keeping the fire outside of the vessel that there is a problem
Chemical Factory In Istanbul Explodes And Catches Fire, Launching A Metal Tank Into The Air 9/19/2019
Unsecured Load On Highway 30
This appears to be a "double width" modular structure, they are usually moved one half at a time. I wonder what compelled them to move the thing while assembled.
An Explosion Occurred At The Tianjiayi Chemical Production Facility In Yancheng China
Ok, who left their popcorn to burn in the microwave again?? On a serious note: I hope no one was hurt or killed in this fire cause it looks huge!! 😳
Explosion In Henan Aluminum Factory After Heavy Flooding 20/7/2021
A Cross-Sea Bridge Collapsed, 2019-10-01 In Yilan, Taiwan
That truck!!!! I hope the driver survived. How luck is that if they did.
The Ontario Police And Fire Department In California Are Investigating A Large Explosion(03-16-2021)
Motor Yacht Go Wrecks Sint Maarten Yacht Club’s Dock. St. Maarten - 24/02/2021
And the best bit is they did it twice! They hit the dock, reversed, then went forward again and this time trashed it completely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAmZ_HbVvzM
Super Yacht Crash 13th March 2020
A Fire Broke Out At A Polysilicon Plant In Xinjiang, China
Four or five other explosions in China in this thread. Get your sh!t together China!
Structural Failure Arecibo Telescope Collapse 12/1/2020
Pedestrian Bridge Collapse In Washington Dc 6/23/2021
A Live Bomb Detonates On An Us Aircraft Carrier After Accidentally Being Dropped From An Aircraft, Killing The Cameraman (1953)
Fixing The Old Water Tower Didn't Go Well. Russia, Feb'21
Truck Crashed Into Another Truck Carrying Loads Of Paint On The Highway
050220 Trailer Driver Misjudged It's Height, Crashed In To A 45 Years Old Iconic Pedestrian Bridge In Penang, Malaysia. The Bridge Is Beyond Repair And Got Torn Down The Next Day. Local Government Suing The Transport Company
my first reaction when I passed from there was: where the hell is the bridge, it's a shame that it got destroyed, the place looks empty now
Space X's Mk1 Starship Fails Its Nitrogen Pressure Test
This got me thinking of the great molasses flood (Boston, 1919). A giant wave of hot molasses killed 21 people and injured 120 others.
you beat me to it, I was thinking of exactly the same thing. The name makes it seem comical, but it was truly terrible
Load More Replies...Why do all the comments end in 1? Is this a meme I haven't heard of? A database glitch?
Sometimes accident can not be avoided. But we must prepare to prevent it to happen. Most of the time it happens because of poor operation/maintenance and bad safety practice.
Apart from natural disasters these things are always due to poor operation/maintenance and bad safety practice.
Load More Replies...I"m surprised there wasn't a picture of the Nimitz freeway collapse in California after the the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake. That was truly a chilling sight...
Anyone else thinking the Chernobyl disaster should have been on this list ?
They forgot to add the Morandi bridge catastrophe in Genoa, Italy.
What about the Metrodome Collapse or the one in Australia that was full of people when it collapsed. How about all the Rollercoaster accidents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-M%C3%A9gantic_rail_disaster (Absolutely horrifying.)
Yup, there it is. Now I will try to edit it out.
Load More Replies...wonder how much things were there inside and how this affects the ocean for generations and generations.
Seeing all these terrible failures makes me think about earlier civilisations, each one was ended before we started the present one. What will future citizens make of us?
future generations will hate our guts for poluting the earth.
Load More Replies...It's so great that on December 3, 1984, one simple American didn't blow up a chemical plant in an Indian city of Bkhopal by pressing just one button. To hide the traces of the colonial administration's corruption. Without killing 7000 people at once. And without making another 25,000 die painfully. After all, Indians are not human, are they? Why count them? What kind of tragedy is this?
Good for you mentioning that, it's too easily forgotten apparently
Load More Replies...What is wrong with you? Your idea of taste is in question.
Load More Replies...This got me thinking of the great molasses flood (Boston, 1919). A giant wave of hot molasses killed 21 people and injured 120 others.
you beat me to it, I was thinking of exactly the same thing. The name makes it seem comical, but it was truly terrible
Load More Replies...Why do all the comments end in 1? Is this a meme I haven't heard of? A database glitch?
Sometimes accident can not be avoided. But we must prepare to prevent it to happen. Most of the time it happens because of poor operation/maintenance and bad safety practice.
Apart from natural disasters these things are always due to poor operation/maintenance and bad safety practice.
Load More Replies...I"m surprised there wasn't a picture of the Nimitz freeway collapse in California after the the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake. That was truly a chilling sight...
Anyone else thinking the Chernobyl disaster should have been on this list ?
They forgot to add the Morandi bridge catastrophe in Genoa, Italy.
What about the Metrodome Collapse or the one in Australia that was full of people when it collapsed. How about all the Rollercoaster accidents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-M%C3%A9gantic_rail_disaster (Absolutely horrifying.)
Yup, there it is. Now I will try to edit it out.
Load More Replies...wonder how much things were there inside and how this affects the ocean for generations and generations.
Seeing all these terrible failures makes me think about earlier civilisations, each one was ended before we started the present one. What will future citizens make of us?
future generations will hate our guts for poluting the earth.
Load More Replies...It's so great that on December 3, 1984, one simple American didn't blow up a chemical plant in an Indian city of Bkhopal by pressing just one button. To hide the traces of the colonial administration's corruption. Without killing 7000 people at once. And without making another 25,000 die painfully. After all, Indians are not human, are they? Why count them? What kind of tragedy is this?
Good for you mentioning that, it's too easily forgotten apparently
Load More Replies...What is wrong with you? Your idea of taste is in question.
Load More Replies...