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- Banqiao Dam Failure. The Banqiao Dam failure in 1975 was the collapse of 62 dams in Henan, China, which was caused by Typhoon Nina. Occurring in August 1975, it is the third deadliest flood in history and resulted in the loss of lives in the range of 85,600 – 240,000.
- Bhopal Disaster. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy, also known as the Bhopal Disaster, occured in December 2nd-3d, 1985 in a pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
- Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. The well-known Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred on April 26th, 1986. The power for the number four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant dropped to almost zero, which in turn caused a nuclear chain reaction within the reactor.
- Pennsylvanian Johnstown Flood. The Great Flood of 1889, also known as the Johnstown flood, occurred following the failure of the South Fork Dam, upstream of Johnstone town, Pennsylvania.
- Tough lessons. Things don't always work the way they were intended to work. Sometimes those failures are almost imperceptible as they build incrementally, and other times, they happen in a terrible, overwhelming instant.
- Hyatt Regency walkway collapse (1981) On July 1, 1980, the newly constructed Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, opened to the public. The hotel featured several suspended walkways crossing its multistory atrium.
- Johnstown Flood (1889) On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam broke, unleashing 20 million tons of water from the artificial Lake Conemaugh. The city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania was 14 miles (23 kilometers) down the Conemaugh River, and the waters destroyed 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) of the city's downtown.
- Space Shuttle Challenger (1986) The 25th flight of the space shuttle Challenger, STS-51L lasted just 73 seconds on Jan. 28, 1986. Shortly after liftoff, smoke briefly appeared at a joint on the right rocket booster.
- The Hindenburg Disaster – a catastrophe that put a halt to the era of passenger airships. The Hindenburg was a German passenger airship that caught on fire and was destroyed during an attempt to dock with its mooring mast, in Manchester Township, New Jersey, in 1937.
- The collapse of the Quebec Bridge – an engineering failure made twice. The Quebec Bridge, in Canada, actually collapsed twice. The first time was in 1907, and the second time happened in 1916.
- Titanic – The sinking of the “unsinkable” ship. Titanic is one of the most well-known engineering disasters of all time. The passenger liner was on its first transatlantic voyage from Southampton to New York in April of 1912 when it fatefully collided with an iceberg and sank.
- The nuclear plant explosion in Chernobyl – the engineering catastrophe that rocked the world.
- The Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill, in which 4.9 million barrels of crude oil was released into the Gulf of Mexico, might have been preventable had BP listened to the concerns of its engineers a year prior.
- The deadliest aviation accident in American history, American Airlines Flight 191 crashed after losing an engine during takeoff and being unable to sufficiently reduce its airspeed to prevent the remaining engines from stalling.
- The Mary Rose, the flagship of Henry VIII of England, sank in the Solent whilst sailing to engage the French Navy after flawed modifications and an increased weight rendered her vulnerable to high winds and tides.
- Terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle Airport collapsed only a few months after opening in May 2004, the first of two airports designed by Paul Andreu to collapse that year.
- Space Shuttle Challenger. The event: On Jan. 28, 1986, the Challenger and its seven-member crew, including the first civilian in space—middle school teacher Christa McAuliffe—cleared the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
- Union Carbide toxic gas leak. The event: Late at night on Dec. 3, 1984, 40 tons of toxic methyl isocyanate gas began leaking from Union Carbide Corp.’ s pesticide chemical plant in Bhopal, India.
- Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The event: On April 26, 1986, the number four reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in what is now Ukraine, but then part of the U.S.S.R., exploded.
- Hindenburg. The event: On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg, a commercial-passenger dirigible, caught fire during an attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehust Naval Air Station in New Jersey.
Oct 22, 2019 · Reports show that the combination of a number of sub-standard conditions, consistent violation of safety regulations, management negligence, and overall disregard for safety was what ultimately caused what is considered the worst industrial accident in history.
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Mar 15, 2018 · There have been a number of deadly bridge collapses through the years, some due to structural deficiencies and others in collisions or accidents. Here’s a look back at the 10 deadliest incidents in...
