On July 21 2005, there was an attempt to paralyze London’s transport system and kill a large number of people. Mercifully, four bombs planted at three Tube stations and on a bus failed to explode, but the memory of...
Disastrous Consequences Archive
Space Shuttle Columbia – 2003
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s rather dull designation of its first space worthy shuttle was OV-102 (for Orbiter Vehicle). But to the wider world it would always be Columbia, pioneer of an entirely new sort of space flight...
Cavalese Cable Car Collision – 1998
When an EA-6B Prowler aircraft left the Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy on February 3 1998, it was a routine assignment for pilot Captain Richard Ashby, his navigator Captain Joseph Schweitzer and two crew members. The Prowler –...
Kidnapping of Gorbachev – 1991
By the mid-1980s, the Soviet Union was creaking. The Communist Party’s absolute control from Moscow had failed to deliver for assorted nations that had been forcibly combined to create the Russianized superstate. The economy was stagnant, poverty was endemic...
Mecca Tragedies – 1990-1994-1997 and 1998
The Hajj is the world’s largest pilgrimage, drawing a vast crowd to Mecca every year. It is the fifth pillar of Islam and demonstrates the solidarity of Muslims everywhere. Attending the Hajj at least once in a lifetime is...
Space Shuttle Challenger – 1986
Spend billions of dollars, utilize the cutting-edge design and engineering capabilities of the world’s most technologically advanced nation and what have you got? For NASA (the USAS National Aeronautics and Space Administration) the answer was a snappy acronym –...