FEATURE
COSTLY CATASTROPHES
Throughout history humans have made mistakes but some have been more devastating than others. Here, Capital NDT looks at some of the most expensive accidents and how they could have been prevented.
SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER – 1986 - $5.5BN We start with one of the more devastating accidents
on this list, as it unfolded on live television in front of millions. The accident resulted in the loss of seven lives and $5.5bn in overall costs.
The story of the Challenger shows that it had been a successful shuttle for NASA and this would be the 10th and final voyage for the shuttle and one that would go down in history, as the crew featured high school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who would become the first teacher to go to space.
The flight was to take place on the morning of 28 January 1986, which was an unseasonably cold Florida morning but the launch went off without a hitch, until 73 seconds in when the shuttle exploded, killing all seven on board. It is estimated that 17% of the American population were watching the launch due to the unique crew and around 85% of the population were aware of the news within an hour.
After an extensive investigation into the accident it was found that the issue was with a faulty O-ring seal that was warped due to the morning temperature. The warping of the O-ring led to pressurised gas escaping and causing one of the external tanks to dump the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen contained inside, which caused a massive explosion.
The issue with the O-ring had been flagged by the engineers on the ground, who acknowledged the outside temperature realised the danger and had also noticed that ice had formed on the launch pad. Unfortunately, the warnings went unheeded and the launch went ahead. In this case a $5.5bn expenditure
18
and more importantly seven lives could have been saved if the expert engineers on the ground had been listened to.
PRESTIGE OIL SPILL – 2002 - $12BN In early November 2002, the Western Europe coastline
experienced a disastrous accident that could very much have been avoided. The overall cost of the accident was estimated at $12bn but the effect it had on the coastline and the wildlife there is immeasurable.
The accident happened as a result of a storm in the Atlantic Ocean, around 120 miles off the coast of Spain, which caused the Prestige, a single hulled oil tanker to encounter trouble and start to leak oil into the ocean. The ship’s captain issued a distress call to the Spanish authorities asking them to allow him to bring his stricken vessel into a Spanish harbour but this request was denied, instead the crew were evacuated and the ship was to be navigated away from the coast and back out to sea.
During this, the ship was ordered by French authorities to steer clear of French waters and was forced back south towards the Spain/Portugal coastlines. The Portuguese authorities, worried about their own coastline, ordered its navy to intercept the vessel and tow the tanker offshore rather than allow it into port. All of this led to the ailing tanker, to literally break in half and dump the most of its 77,000 tons of oil into the Atlantic Ocean.
Whilst the indecisiveness of the Spanish, French and Portuguese authorities played a major factor in the disaster there were also other factors, firstly the tanker itself was not in the best of conditions and was
www.tomorrowshs.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
