20 Noteworthy Engineering Failures in History

20. Although the iceberg must bear the brunt of the blame for the loss of the Titanic, significant engineering failures hastened the ship’s sinking and dramatically increased the resulting death count.

The sinking of the RMS Titanic, immortalized in modern popular imaginations, was one of the deadliest peacetime maritime incidents in history. Costing the lives of more than 1,500 of the 2,224 passengers aboard, including her chief architect Thomas Andrew. The Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg on April 15, 1912, whilst embarking upon her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Although it is undeniable that the tragedy was ensured by the negligence of Captain Edward Smith, ignoring six warnings of sea ice on April 14 and continuing to travel at full speed, noteworthy engineering failures contributed to the dire scale and swiftness of the disaster.

Taking just two and a half hours to sink, and with rescue over nine hours away, the speed with which the Titanic sank is of critical importance to the incident. An examination of the wreck of the Titanic has revealed that many of the approximately three million rivets holding the colossal vessel together were constructed from low-quality iron; upon impact, these crucial fixtures merely crumbled apart to expose the ship to the icy waters. Furthermore, despite possessing 16 watertight compartments and capable of remaining afloat with four flooded, these were not independently sealed internally. Consequently, water from one spilled through gaps into adjacent compartments hastening the ship’s sinking.

19. The collapse of the St. Francis Dam in 1928 was one of the greatest civil engineering disasters in 20th century American history, precipitating the second-largest loss of life in Californian history.

The St. Francis Dam, designed and built between 1924 and 1926 by the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply, was created to provide a regulatory and storage reservoir for the expanding Californian city. Serving as an a crucial component of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the dam project, led by William Mulholland, was located in the San Francisquito Canyon of the Sierra Pelona Mountains, approximately 40 miles northwest of L.A. After two years of operation, at 11:58 pm on March 12, 1928, the dam suddenly suffered a catastrophic failure. Within 70 minutes, all 12.4 billion gallons of reservoir water had been emptied to create a 140-foot wave that swept across the surrounding landscape.

Traveling at speeds of 29 kilometers per hour, the gigantic wave continued until it emptied into the Pacific Ocean. Bodies were recovered as far south as the Mexican border, with an estimated 431 people believed to have been killed by the dam’s collapse. Subsequent investigations blamed the incident on “defective foundations”, asserting that a consistent leak had infiltrated the foundations, gradually eroding the supporting concrete until the structure could no longer sustain its own weight. Despite the coroner recording “an error in engineering judgment in determining the foundations…and deciding on the best type of dam to build there”, Mulholland was nonetheless cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.

18. The Bhopal Gas Disaster of 1984 is regarded as one of the world’s worst industrial disasters, exposing more than half a million people to toxic gas

The Bhopal Disaster was an incident on the night of December 2, 1984, where, at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, methyl isocyanate gas leaked into the surrounding environment. A highly toxic substance, extremely hazardous to the health of exposed humans, the precise cause of the gas leak remains a matter of dispute. The Indian Government and local communities maintain that mismanagement and inadequate maintenance triggered a backflow of water into the gas tank; conversely, UCIL has persistently claimed they adhered to regulations and that water was introduced to the tank in a deliberate act of sabotage by a disgruntled employee.

Dispersing 40 metric tons of gas, southeasterly winds blew the toxic fumes over the city of Bhopal. More than 550,000 residents were exposed, resulting in between 3,787 and 16,000 deaths. Furthermore, thousands of victims suffered permanently disabling injuries and tens of thousands temporary injuries. In 1989 UCIL paid $470 million in compensation, whilst in June 2010, after years of struggle, eight former employees, including the company chairman, were convicted of death by negligence and imprisoned. The resultant clean-up effort of the plant took more than fourteen years, with contemporary studies indicating that the drinking water of Bhopal remains tainted by the incident.

17. In 1919 Boston was flooded by a tank of molasses, spreading across several blocks destroying buildings and drowning residents in its path

The Great Molasses Flood, also known as the Boston Molasses Disaster, occurred when a storage tank burst on January 15, 1919, releasing a wave of molasses through the streets of Boston. The cause of the disaster is unclear, but several engineering factors appear to have collectively contributed to the incident. The tank itself was poorly constructed, with rising temperatures during the previous day believed to have caused the build-up of pressure within the tank and resulted in a fatigue crack. Concurrently, the tank was made from steel less than half as thick as required to withstand the pressure, as well as by the inclusion of brittle manganese to save costs

At approximately 12:30 pm the tank suddenly collapsed, unleashing a 25-foot wave of molasses that raced down the streets of Boston at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. Eyewitnesses reported buildings being swept from their foundations and crushed, whilst several blocks of the city were flooded under more than 3 feet of molasses. People “were picked up by the rush”, ensnared in a sticky goop that suffocated them. A total of 21 people and several horses were killed by the flood, with at least 150 injured, and the residents of the North End have claimed ever since that on hot days the streets still smell.

16. The Hindenburg disaster became an iconic moment of 20th-century history, with 36 people dying, most probably, due to the inadequate design of the famed airship

The LZ 129 Hindenburg was a German commercial passenger-zeppelin, operating from March 1936 until its fatal destruction on May 6, 1937, at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey. During an attempt to dock with its mooring mast, at 7:25 pm the airship caught fire mid-air. Quickly engulfing the rear of the Hindenburg the vessel imploded and its two tanks detonated, sending the airship collapsing to the ground; the entire episode lasted between just 32 and 37 seconds. Continuing to burn for several hours, of the 97 people aboard, 36 passengers and 61 crewmen, 35 were killed in addition to one ground worker.

The precise cause of the disaster is uncertain, with dramatic theories of sabotage and lightning strikes abundant; far more likely, however, was that the Hindenburg was brought down by a static spark. In order to make up for a delay in its transatlantic flight, the Hindenburg flew through an area of high humidity and electrical charge. Due to the flawed design of the airship’s outer skin, atop which the fire is believed to have started, electricity was not evenly distributed throughout the Hindenburg. Although the mooring lines grounded the frame, the skin was not so, and consequently, upon contact with the metal moorings, the hydrogen ignited.

15. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed in 1940 after only four months in operation due to a never-before-seen physical phenomenon that caused the suspension bridge to twist violently in high winds.

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, traversing the Puget Sound between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington, opened on July 1, 1940, as the third-longest suspension bridge in the world. Nicknamed the “Galloping Gertie” by workers during its construction, the bridge was known to move vertically in strong winds and despite several attempts to rectify this critical problem, none were ultimately successful. On November 7, 1940, after enduring sustained 40-mile-per-hour winds, at 11:00 am the bridge collapsed with only one fatality: a cocker spaniel named Tubby. His owner, Leonard Coatsworth, abandoned both his car and dog to crawl 500 yards along the collapsing bridge, reaching safety just in time to see both plunge into the Narrows.

The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was due to the never-before-seen phenomenon of “torsional vibration mode”, causing the two halves of the bridge to twist in opposite directions whilst the center remained motionless. Over time, the force produced by the fluttering movements surpassed the strength of the suspender cables, snapping them one by one until the remainder were unable to support the mass of the bridge. In 1950 a new bridge was opened to replace the failed enterprise, using the original pedestals and cable anchorages but, importantly, a different design.

14. The first level 7 – the maximum severity – nuclear energy incident, the failure at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant spread radioactive material over 100,000 square kilometers

The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear energy accident, occurring on April 25-26, 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near the town of Pripyat, in northern Ukraine. During a late-night test simulating a station blackout, requiring the plant’s safety systems to be deactivated, the reactor went critical. Water was flash-heated into steam, triggering an explosion and an open-air graphite fire that dispersed radioactive fumes across the surrounding environment. Spreading across a vast area, the 50,000 residents of Pripyat were immediately evacuated and the town abandoned as part of a 2,600 square kilometer exclusion zone; this zone will not be habitable by humans again for another 20,000 years.

Although the initial 1986 investigation blamed the operators of the plant, a subsequent report in 1992 revealed extensive engineering and design faults in the facility itself. Serious structural issues, such as splitting concrete, were never addressed by contractors, whilst the design of the control rods was inadequate and the reactor was fundamentally dangerous. Identifying 29 emergency situations at the plant between 1971 and 1986, only 8 were caused by plant personnel. The consequences of Chernobyl are hard to calculate, with the lasting effects not fully observable for decades, but at least 50 people are estimated to have died as a direct result of exposure to radioactive materials to date.

13. The only fatal accident in the history of Concorde, unnoticed runway debris resulted in the deaths all those aboard Air France Flight 4590

Air France Flight 4590 was a supersonic Concorde passenger-airline, traveling from Paris to New York City on July 25, 2000, carrying 100 passengers and 9 crew. Five minutes prior to Flight 4590 a Continental Airlines DC-10 departed from the same runway, unintentionally dropping a tiny scrap of titanium alloy. This minute debris, measuring just 435 millimeters in length and 34 millimeters wide, cut one of the Concorde’s tires during takeoff sending a larger chunk of debris – approximately 4.5 kilograms in mass – hurtling into the underside of the aircraft’s wing at a speed of 310 miles per hour.

With fuel leaking from the bottom of the wing, an electrical current ignited the exposed engines. Engines 1 and 2 caught fire and were shut down by the captain’s orders, but the third and fourth engines were insufficient to maintain thrust. Despite efforts to control the inevitable fall, the aircraft stalled and crashed at speed into the Hôtelissimo Les Relais Bleus Hotel, adjacent to the airport. All 109 people aboard, as well as four on the ground, were killed by the incident. A subsequent investigation identified 70 tire-related incidents over the 27-year history of Concorde, of which at least 7 were potentially catastrophic due to the design of the aircraft.

12. The “Big Dig Ceiling Collapse” of 2006 saw 26 tons of debris crush a car traveling through the Fort Point Channel Tunnel in Boston

On July 10, 2006, a concrete ceiling panel along with debris weighing 26 tons suddenly collapsed and fell into the Fort Point Channel Tunnel, in Boston, Massachusetts. Crashing onto a two-lane exit ramp connecting the major freeways I-93 and I-90, the falling debris crushed an unfortunate car situated below, killing a passenger and injuring the driver. The Big Dig project throughout Boston was delayed by a year as a result of the incident, with a total of $28 million paid out to date in compensation by the construction companies responsible.

A product of fundamental architectural faults, the ends of the main tunnel were built earlier than the east ends of the connector tunnels to enable the bridge atop to be constructed sooner. As a result, these end sections were never designed to accommodate the ceiling that was ultimately used. Each panel consisted of bolts anchoring the concrete to the roof; as one failed, more followed suit in a chain reaction that triggered the fatal collapse. This system had been used in the Ted Williams Tunnel and identified as early as 1998 as retaining significant problems, but countermeasures including epoxy glue proved ineffective due to sub-standard adhesives used by constructors.

11. The deadliest structural collapse in U.S. history until the World Trade Center, the Hyatt Regency Hotel Walkway Collapse in 1981 resulted in the deaths of 114 people

On July 17, 1981, a tea dance was held at the Hyatt Regency Kansas City hotel, located in Kansas City, Missouri. Attended by approximately 1,600 people, at 7:05 pm the fourth-floor bridge suspended over the dance collapsed onto the second-floor walkway; the second-floor bridge subsequently collapsed under the impact and itself crashed onto the lobby floor below. A total of 111 people were killed, with a further three dying in hospital from injuries sustained at the hotel, whilst an additional 219 suffered injuries of varying severity. A fourteen-hour rescue operation sought to rescue those buried beneath 60 tons of rubble, hampered by the activation of sprinklers which flooded the lobby, successfully recovering 29 people alive.

The incident was caused by inexcusable oversights by the structural engineers behind the hotel. During construction, a design change doubled the load being held by the connection between the fourth-floor walkway’s support beams and rods. As a result, the bridge was barely capable of supporting its own weight; with the guests added, a collapse was inevitable. Investigations revealed that the engineers responsible approved the changes over the phone, without viewing any plans or performing even basic calculations. Despite this, they were ultimately acquitted at trial of gross negligence but were stripped of their licenses and barred from the profession.

10. The disintegration of Space Shuttle Challenger, watched live by nearly 20% of Americans, was caused by a flawed engine design that was willfully ignored by NASA engineers

On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger embarked upon its tenth, and ultimately final flight. Just 73 seconds after takeoff the spacecraft suffered a critical disintegration, breaking apart over the Atlantic Ocean. The crew cabin, made of reinforced aluminum and housing the seven crew members, detached from the wreckage in a single piece. Entering a free fall, the cabin crashed into the ocean at approximately 207 miles per hour. It is believed that at least some of the crew were conscious throughout this descent; however, all aboard were killed instantly by the immense force of impact.

Crash investigations discovered that the right solid rocket booster had failed at liftoff, caused by joint seals that were not designed to handle the cold conditions on the day of the launch. The failure of the seal to adequately pressurize the booster triggered a breach, allowing burning gas to escape the rocket motor and ignite the external fuel tank. NASA managers had been made aware of the potentially fatal flaw in 1977, but had failed to put into place sufficient alterations and disregarded warnings concerning the threat posed by low temperatures on the morning of January 28.

9. The Sultana sunk after its poorly designed and cheaply made boilers exploded, sending over a thousand people to drown in the Mississippi River

The Sultana was a steamboat, constructed in 1863 to service the cotton trade as a transport vessel along the Mississippi River. Designed with a capacity of 376 passengers, the boat was frequently requisitioned and overloaded to transport soldiers during the American Civil War. On April 27, 1865, in the aftermath of the assassination of President Lincoln, Lt. Col Hatch was desperate to repatriate Union PoWs in case hostilities resumed. Offering Captain Mason $4 per enlisted man and $10 per officer, the Sultana was carrying 2,155 passengers when three of the vessel’s four boilers exploded. Sinking near Memphis, the incident killed 1,192 of those aboard.

Although the official cause of the disaster was mismanagement exacerbated by overcrowding, recent investigations into the Sultana have revealed substantial engineering faults underpinning the event. The boilers were constructed from sub-standard metal, Charcoal Hammered No. 1, which became brittle after prolonged exposure to heat. Meanwhile, the design of the boiler’s tubes was insufficient to process the muddy sediment from the Mississippi River. Shortly after the Sultana, two more steamboats on the Lower Mississippi with similar boilers exploded, resulting in the widespread recall of the systems.

8. In an explosion measuring one-sixth that of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion killed over 100 people in 1944

On the afternoon of October 20, 1944, at approximately 2:30 pm, an above-ground storage tank containing liquefied natural gas at the East Ohio Gas Company’s tank farm began leaking. Draining into the sewers via street gutters, this gas mixed with the air and ignited. Manhole covers were fired into the air as the sewers erupted in flame, with one cover discovered several miles away in a neighboring town. Although initially believed to have been contained, with residents returned to their homes, at 3:00 pm a second tank detonated and leveled the entire farm. Sending a wave of fire throughout the drainage system, homeowners suddenly found their homes ablaze and forced to flee.

In total, an estimated 130 people were killed by the resultant explosions, alongside $15m of property, with an entire square mile of the east side of the city of Cleveland destroyed. 600 people were left homeless and miles of underground infrastructure eradicated. The event drew public attention to the inherent dangers of the above-ground storage of natural gas, used as fuel for homes as well as factories, and contributed to the relocation of these units below ground to prevent a recurrence.

7. The Johnstown Flood, wherein the South Fork Dam collapsed after being altered to suit the purposes of the local fishing club, killed more than a thousand people in 1889

The Johnstown Flood, also known as the Great Flood of 1889, was an event of May 31, 1889 caused by the breaching of the South Fork Dam and the resultant release of the Little Conemaugh River. After a sustained period of the heaviest rainfall recorded in the Midwestern United States, by the end of May the swollen Conemaugh River was almost overflowing. Despite the brave efforts of local workmen who noticed the dam was failing, sending unheeded warnings to Johnstown 14 miles away, just before 3 pm the dam collapsed. Demolishing houses in its path and decimating villages, an hour later the flood reached Johnstown.

Traveling at speeds of 40 miles per hour and with a height of 60 feet, many residents were crushed by the sudden waves. An estimated 2,209 people were killed by the floodwaters, including 314 at the Woodvale Iron Works. Despite the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which concluded that the dam was so poorly designed to accommodate the local Fishing and Hunting Club that failure was inevitable, attempts by survivors to claim compensation were unsuccessful. Ruled an “act of God” by the courts, public outrage precipitated a major change in U.S. law to compel responsibility and liability in future cases of gross negligence.

6. The construction of the Quebec Bridge cost 85 lives after, on two separate occasions, the structure collapsed due to engineering oversights and miscalculations

As early as 1852, the concept of a bridge over the Saint Lawrence River between the cities of Sainte-Foy and Lévis in Quebec, Canada, was a popular project. After many years of planning, on August 29, 1907, as the bridge neared completion, it suddenly collapsed. Killing 75 of the 86 workers on the bridge when the central section tore loose, calculations made in 1904 had not been updated after the scale of the bridge was finalized. As a result, the bridge as it was eventually built was unable to support its own weight; this flaw had been noticed by the site engineering team, who were rebuffed by the project’s chief engineer.

After producing a new design, construction was restarted on a replacement bridge to span the river. On September 11, 1916, as the central bridge span was being raised into place, it collapsed, killing 13 workers. Despite immediate fears of German sabotage, it quickly became apparent that engineering negligence was, once again, at fault. The chief engineer, Ralph Modjeski, had been made aware that the span could not sustain the necessary weight but failed to act on the information. Eventually, after a total of 85 deaths and two critical failures, the Quebec Bridge opened to the public on December 3, 1919.

5. The deadliest civil engineering incident in history, the collapse of the Banqiao Dam in 1975 resulted in the deaths of almost 200,000 people

The Banqiao Dam, situated on the River Ru in Zhumadian City, Henan province, China, was completed in June 1952 to manage regional flooding and generate hydroelectric power for the surrounding area. Functioning successfully until August 8, 1975, when, at approximately 1 am, the dam, unable to hold back record rainfalls, suffered a critical failure and collapsed. Releasing a total of 15.7 billion cubic meters of water, the resultant flood waters formed a 10-kilometer wide wave measuring 7 meters high that sprinted at speeds of almost 50 kilometers per hour across the Chinese plains. In total, an area 55 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide was covered by the released water, creating a 12,000 square kilometer temporary lake, and killing an estimated 171,000 people.

Despite government claims to the contrary, blaming natural weather conditions, it has been determined that the dam’s failure was chiefly due to structural faults which exacerbated the dramatic increase in water capacity. Immediately after the project’s completion, cracks appeared in both the dam and the sluice gates; although repaired, it is believed that they were never returned to full strength. Equally, the sluice gates on the night of the incident were rendered ineffective due to sediment blockage. Most importantly, however, to save costs the dam only included five sluice gates. Engineers on the project had lobbied for a minimum of twelve but were overruled by management.

4. 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

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, located 16 miles northeast of the city of Paris, is the largest international airport in France. On May 23, 2004, only months after opening due to sustained delays during construction, a section of Terminal 2E collapsed. Taking place near one of the departure gates – Gate E50 – four people were killed and a further three injured. Designed by Paul Andreu, alarm bells started to ring when another of his creations, Dubai International Airport, collapsed whilst still under construction on September 28, 2004.

A public inquiry was opened into the incident, reporting in February 2005 that several design factors contributed to the collapse of the French airport terminal. Andreu’s design, in an effort to cut costs, offered little margin for safety, with the concrete vaulted roof insufficiently strong after being weakened by metallic pillars. With contractors blaming Andreu, and Andreu blaming the contractors, no official culpability has ever been formally dispensed for the accident. The following month, in the interests of safety the entirety of Terminal 2E was demolished and rebuilt at an approximate cost of €100 million.

3. 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

The Mary Rose was a warship in the English Navy during the reign of King Henry VIII, entering service in 1512 and fighting across several conflicts. After undergoing prolonged maintanence in 1536 it was relaunched to serve as the flagship in the Battle of the Solent in 1545, where 128 French vessels were engaged by approximately 80 English. On July 19, in the course of leading the attack against the French galleys, the Mary Rose suddenly keeled over on her starboard side. Unable to correct herself, she capsized; of her crew of at least 400, less than 35 survived the wreckage.

Although contemporary sources claimed the sinking was the result of insubordination and negligence aboard the ship, modern analysis has strongly suggested the effects of the alterations made during her modifications between 1536 and 1545 were to blame. The ship had endured 33 years of service without taking on water previously, indicating an original factor. It is believed that these alterations, in addition to the inclusion of heavier than usual guns aboard the warship, increased her draught so that the waterline was less than one meter from the gunports. Consequently, when a strong gust of wind temporarily elevated sea levels, the ship was unexpectedly flooded and quickly sank.

2. 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

American Airlines Flight 191, traveling from O’Hare International Airport, in Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles International Airport, California, departed on May 25, 1979. Carrying 258 passengers and 13 crew, as the DC-10 reached takeoff speed the primary engine on the left wing ripped away from the aircraft. Unable to abort the takeoff, the pilot attempt an “engine out” controlled ascent and descent. Climbing to approximately 325 feet above the ground and reducing airspeed to 176 miles per hour, the plane stalled mid-effort. Crashing into a field 1.5 kilometers from the runway, all 271 people aboard were killed in addition to two employees at a nearby repair garage.

A subsequent investigation determined that the loss of the engine should not have been enough to cause the pilots to lose control in the manner that they did. Examining the designs of the DC-10, it was discovered that that aircraft did not possess a separate mechanism to lock edge-slats, instead relying on hydraulic pressure. With the loss of the engine, the slat valves were consequently automatically retracted, thus preventing the slowing of airspeed and resulted in Flight 191 traveling too fast for the remaining engines and stalling.

1. 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

Deepwater Horizon was an offshore drilling rig, built in 2001 for the purpose of oil extraction from the Tiber Oil Field in the Gulf of Mexico. As of September 2009, the rig had drilled the deepest oil well in history, reaching a vertical depth of 10,683 meters. On April 20, 2010, a blowout – the sudden and uncontrolled release of pressurized oil – caused an explosion, detonating a fireball that was visible for 40 miles away and killing 11 people. Unable to extinguish the fire, the Horizon sank on April 22 leaving an open well pumping crude oil into the ocean waters.

Between the start of operations and 2010, Deepwater had been cited 18 times by the U.S. Coast Guard for pollution, in addition to 16 incidents of fire, including an occasion in 2008 when the platform began to sink. Subsequent investigations revealed internal documents showing that engineers had raised concerns in 2009 regarding the potential collapse of the facility, but were rebuffed and warned they might lose their jobs if they pressed the matter. In particular, the blowout preventer was not fitted with a remote control for use in an emergency situation; as a result, after the platform was destroyed there was no means to turn off the well and the situation escalated beyond containment.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

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“Titanic: 9 Hours to Hell, the Survivor’s Story”, W.B. Bartlett, Amberley Publishing (2011)

“Man-Made Disaster: The Story of St. Francis Dam”, Charles Outland, The Arthur H. Clark Company (1963)

“The Bhopal Disaster and its aftermath: A Review”, E. Broughton, Environmental Health (May 10, 2005)

“Bhopal Gas Catastrophy”, I. Eckerman, in “Encyclopedia of Environmental Health”, J.O. Nriagu, Elsevier (2011)

“The Great Molasses Flood of 1919”, Evan Andrews, The History Channel (January 13, 2017)

“Who Destroyed the Hindenburg”, A.A. Hoehling, Little, Brown and Company (1962)

“Inside the Hindenburg”, Mireille Majoor, Little, Brown and Company (2000)

“The Strangest, Most Spectacular Bridge Collapse (And How We Got It Wrong)”, Alex Pasternack”, Motherboard (December 2015)

“Meet Anatoly Dyatlov: The Man Behind The Chernobyl Nuclear Meltdown”, Marco Margaritoff, May 31, 2019, All Thats Interesting.

“Concorde Crash Kills 113”, BBC News (July 25, 2000)

“Destination Disaster”, Andrew Brookes, Ian Allan Publishing (2002)

“Workmanship and design of tunnel are called into question”, Sean Murphy, Scott Allen, The Boston Globe (July 12, 2006)

“Loose Tunnel Bolts Count in Hundreds, Officials Say”, Pam Belluck, Katie Zezima, The New York Times (July 14, 2006)

“Why Buildings Fall Down: How Structures Fail”, M. Levey, M. Salvadori, K. Woest, Norton & Company (1994)

“Engineering Ethics: Balancing Cost, Schedule, and Risk”, Rosa Pinkus, Cambridge University Press (1997)

“History of the Johnstown Flood”, Willis Fletcher Johnson (2015)

“The Johnstown Flood”, David McCullough, Simon and Schuster (1968)

“The Bridge at Quebec”, William Middleton, Indian University Press (2001)

“After 30 years, secrets, lessons of China’s worst dams burst accident surface”, Chinese People Daily (October 1, 2005)

“Fresh Cracks at Paris Airport”, BBC News (May 24, 2004)

“Sealed by Time: The Loss and Recovery of the Mary Rose”, Peter Marsden, The Mary Rose Trust (2003)

“The Warship Mary Rose: The Life and Times of King Henry VIII’s Flagship”, David Childs, Chatham Publishing (2007)

“Knowing When to Stop: The Investigation of Flight 191”, Mara Vatz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2004)

“A Reporter At Large: The Gulf War”, Raffi Khatchadourian, The New Yorker (March 11, 2011)