"The Cassandra Crossing" released 1976

The star-studded disaster flick, The Cassandra Crossing, was released to rather not-very-positive reviews February 9, 1976.  The plot of the movie has 1000 passengers on a train who have been exposed to a potentially deadly virus.  They are not allowed to leave the train and are being diverted to a place in Poland.  But first they have to traverse the Cassandra Crossing, an abandoned railroad bridge, which has been closed for over twenty years because it was falling apart back then.  Will it manage to support the train or will it collapse?

It starred Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, O.J. Simpson, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Ray Lovelock, and Dan Haggerty(?) in an uncredited role.

Despite the negative responses, I enjoy the movie and will continue to watch it.

"The Towering Inferno" released 1974

Three days after its premiere in Los Angeles, The Towering Inferno was released in theaters December 19, 1974. Irwin Allen produced the film, combining two novels: The Tower by Richard Martin Stern; and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson.  The disaster flick starred an all-star cast including Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, and Gregory Sierra.

It opened to mostly positive reviews and became a box-office smash, becoming one of the biggest grossing films of 1975.  It won three Academy Awards: Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Song for We May Never Love This Way Again.

John Williams was nominated for his original score.  Fred Astaire was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.  He didn't win the Oscar but did win a Golden Globe for his role. 

"Airport 1975" released 1974

I suppose the success of Airport in 1970 was the main impetus behind the making of this movie, to which the only connection to Airport 1975 is George Kennedy as Joe Patroni.  Airport 1975, released October 18, 1974, was a box office blockbuster, becoming the third largest grossing film of 1974 behind The Towering Inferno and Earthquake, which starred both George Kennedy and Charlton Heston (Alan Murdock in Airport 1975).

Critics were not impressed, and the movie has been inducted into the Razzie Awards' Hall of Shame (along with its two sequels).

Dana Andrews plays Scott Freeman, the pilot of a twin-engine private Beechcraft Baron, who has a heart attack in flight and crashes into the cockpit of a 747, killing two crew members and blinding the captain.  Airport 1975 was heavily parodied in Airplane!, a comedy taken from Zero Hour! which also starred Dana Andrews.

The cast was star-studded with big names like Gloria Swanson, Karen Black, Efram Zimbalist, Jr., Susan Clark, Linda Blair, and Helen Reddy.

Reddy garnered the only award nomination as she was nominated for the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer - Female.

"Avalanche" released 1978

Avalanche, starring Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow, was released in US theaters September 29, 1978.  The disaster flick, produced by Roger Corman, was not a box office success.  The special effects included Styrofoam to imitate snow and is apparently what made some movie-goers laugh.  

Avalanche is included in the list of 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.  It was riffed in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.  I enjoy watching it though.

"Deep Impact" released 1998

One of two comet/asteroid disaster movies to hit theaters, Deep Impact, opened May 8, 1998.  A seven-mile wide comet is on a collision course with Earth, and the world prepares for a mass extinction.

Steven Spielberg was executive producer.  It starred Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Maximillian Schell, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, Denise Crosby (of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame), and Blair Underwood.

The movie is based on the 1993 novel The Hammer of God by Arthur C. Clarke.  

"Dante's Peak" released 1997

Dante's Peak, starring Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton, was released February 7, 1997.  The story is about a fictional, dormant volcano, Dante's Peak, Washington, showing signs of erupting.  The eruptions threaten the picturesque town of the same name. 

Brosnan is a US geologist sent to assess the volcano to determine if it is preparing to erupt.  Hamilton plays the mayor/coffee shop owner in town.

Dante's Peak didn't receive favorable reviews although it was better at the box office than Volcano, released a couple of months later.  Its visual effects were not nominated for an Academy Award because it had some stiff competition with Jurassic Park: The Lost World and Titanic, which won the award.

"The Hindenberg" released 1975

With an all-star cast, The Hindenberg was released on December 25, 1975.  It is a fictionalized version of the final days of the Hindenberg, a huge airship which blew up upon landing in New Jersey, May 6, 1937.  It starred George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning and Rene Aberjonois. 

The Hindenberg won two Special Achievement Academy Awards for sound effects and visual effects.  It was nominated for three more Oscars.

Although a box office success, it was not critically acclaimed.

Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Disaster" airs 1991

Another of my favorite episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation series Disaster aired October 19, 1991.  After the Enterprise hits a quantum filament, the ship is incapacitated, isolating the crew.  Troi, Miles O'Brien and Ensign Ro are trapped on the bridge.  Picard is trapped in a turbolift with three children and his child-skills are put to the test.  Riker, Data, Worf and Keiko O'Brien are stuck in Ten Forward.  In a hilarious break from the drama, Keiko goes into labor and Worf has to deliver the baby.

Challenger (STS-51-L) explodes 73 seconds after launch 1986

STS-51-L crew 

Back row (L-R): Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik. 

Front row (L-R): Michael J. Smith, Francis "Dick" Scobee, Ronald McNair.

STS-51-L Mission patch

Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L), launched January 28, 1986, exploded 73 seconds after launch.  The cause of the disaster was determined to have been a failure of an O-ring seal on the starboard Solid Rocket Booster.  The disaster grounded the space shuttle program for 32 months.  Its crew consisted of Commander Francis Scobee, Pilot Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnick, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.  All crew perished in the disaster.

"Earthquake" released 1974

Universal Pictures released its blockbuster disaster movie Earthquake November 15, 1974.  After the success of Airport (1970) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972), a slew of disaster pics were released in 1974 including The Towering Inferno and Airport 1975.  Earthquake was the third grossing film of the year, with The Towering Inferno being the top-selling film.

The movie has an all-star cast that includes Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Victoria Principal, Ava Gardner and Lorne Greene.  It won an Academy Award for Best Sound and one for Special Achievements in Visual Effects.

John Williams received a Golden Globe nomination for his original score.

"The Day After Tomorrow" released 2004

The Day After Tomorrow, released May 28, 2004, has been panned as one of the most scientifically inaccurate movies ever, but its still a fun movie.  There are worse ways of spending a couple of hours watching Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal and Dash Mihok.

Directed by Roland Emmerich, who likes these apocalyptic type movies (see 2012), the movie has a huge global storm over the northern hemisphere that plunges the Earth into a new Ice Age within a matter of days.  Of course, it's extremely unlikely but it's got great special effects.  I also enjoyed seeing Sela Ward, Ian Holm and Tamlyn Tomita.

Soyuz T-10-1 explodes on launch pad, but crew survived 1983

Soyuz T-10-1, a mission scheduled to visit Salyut 7, the space station occupied by the Soyuz T-9 crew, exploded on the launch pad, September 26, 1983.  Miraculously, cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov survived via the launch escape system. 

While waiting for fueling of the booster to finish, a bad valve allowed pressurized nitrogen gas into a pump with no propellant.  The pump ruptured and started a fire which consumed the base of the launch vehicle.  The crew, realizing something was very wrong, could not initiate the escape system.  The launch control team could activate it but the control cables were already destroyed by the fire. 

The LES was activated by two launch personnel, but the procedure required them to press two buttons within 5 seconds of each other after receiving authorization.  It took 20 seconds to perform the operation and the booster and pad were in flames by that time.  The orbital module was separated from the lower part of the rocket by explosive bolts and then the escape system motor fired, breaking the crew free from the booster, which exploded just after. 

The cosmonauts landed badly bruised from the sudden acceleration but alive and well, four miles away.  They asked recovery crews for cigarettes to calm their nerves and were given shots of vodka to help them relax.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_7K-ST_No._16L

Pirate Paradise destroyed by earthquake 1692

On the morning of June 7, 1692, the  pirate haven of Port Royal, Jamaica (or Sin City, as it had been referred to) was destroyed by a series of earthquakes.  Later, a tsunami washed was left of the city into the ocean. The sandy soil became liquefied during the quakes and buildings sank into the ground.
People who weren't killed in the earthquake or tsunami died from diseases and injuries.  Port Royal was never rebuilt.

Captain Morgan must have stayed here!





http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/earthquake-destroys-jamaican-pirate-haven

Apollo 13 suffers near-catastrophic failure 1970

Commander James A. Lovell Jr., Command Module Pilot, John L. Swigert Jr; Lunar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise Jr.  Swigert replaced Thomas Mattingly Jr. right before the flight.  (I suppose you had to have 'Jr.' in your name to be an astronaut on this mission?)


Apollo 13 launched on April 11, 1970, as NASA's third manned mission to the moon, but two days later, April 13, an oxygen tank exploded causing another tank to fail.  This led to a loss of electrical power.  James Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise had to abort their landing mission, getting to orbit the moon only once before heading back to Earth.

Against staggering odds, the Apollo 13 crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 17.


This video from the Smithsonian Channel says the explosion happened on the 14th but NASA's website confirms it was April 13.


http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/rocketpark/apollo_13.html

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/apollo-13-oxygen-tank-explodes

Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster 2003

Just four days after the anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, we remember the Columbia disaster February 1, 2003.  When the Columbia launched on January 16, after 18 delays, a piece of foam insulation broke off and struck the left wing.  Upon re-entry, the damage to the wing allowed hot gases to enter the wing and destroy it, causing the shuttle to disintegrate over Texas and Louisiana. 

NASA engineers realized the damage was worse than had been seen before in similar incidents, but decided there was nothing the astronauts could do to prevent catastrophe, so the astronauts were never informed of their situation.

A video of the last few minutes of the Columbia mission.

Later, the investigation determined that there were two possible scenarios to rescue the crew:  an emergency spacewalk to repair the damage to the wing; or, transfer the crew to the Atlantis, which was scheduled for launch on March 1.  The Columbia had a large amount of consumables on board which would've lasted the crew until February 15.  The Atlantis's launch could have been moved up to February 10, leaving a 5 day window to rescue the Columbia's crew.

Space Shuttle Challenger explodes after launch 1986

We all remember where we were when we heard the news that the space shuttle Challenger had exploded shortly after lift-off, January 28, 1986.  I was attending North Texas State University (now University of North Texas), getting my Master's degree in Chemistry.  I was speaking with a co-worker, his wife and a potential lab partner when our major professor's wife came in with the news.

An O-ring on a solid rocket booster (SRB) failed, pressurized burning gas from within  to reach the  adjacent SRB aft field joint attachment hardware and external fuel tank, causing the explosion 73 seconds after launch. 

The disaster led to NASA halting the space shuttle program for almost 3 years.

Apollo 1 disaster in 1967

Three astronauts, Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, Lt. Col. Edward H. White, the astronaut who had performed the first United States extravehicular activity during the Gemini program; and Roger B. Chaffee, an astronaut preparing for his first space flight, died during a test when a fire swept through the capsule. They died of cardiac arrest brought on by high levels of carbon monoxide.

The review board charged with investigating the accident identified five major factors which combined to cause the fire and the astronauts' deaths:

• An ignition source most probably related to exposed electrical wiring and leak-prone plumbing
• Pure oxygen atmosphere at high pressure
• Flammable materials in the cabin
• A hatch cover which could not be quickly removed at high pressure
• Inadequate emergency preparedness

The Apollo program was grounded for a while until significant  changes to the design of the capsule could be conducted.

Deadliest mine explosion in Oklahoma 1892

I always enjoy finding interesting items in Oklahoma’s history that were never taught in school.  So when I came across an article about the mining explosion January 7, 1892, the deadliest ever in the state, I was interested.  What I find troubling is the lack of documentation on the subject.  The information on History.com is identical to the story on cencorshipinamerica.wordpress.com. 

The Osage Coal & Mining Company’s No. 11 mine in Krebs, just east of McAlester, had been constructed on Native American land.  That meant the company was exempt from federal government laws and regulations.  The owners of the mines were more concerned with the bottom line (Corporate America) than safety, which is what led to the disaster.

Due to high turnover rate, most of the workers had very little training, even when the tasks were dangerous such as handling explosives.  An inexperienced worker accidentally set off a stash of explosives, burning or burying 100 miners in the blast.

On January 14, 1892, an article in the Ohio Democrat posted a report made on Jan 9 said the cage that hoisted men to the surface was blown 50 feet into the air and flames shot out of the shaft 100 feet. 

The single line item at onthisday.com, states that blacks trying to rescue the white survivors were driven away with guns.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to confirm or refute the claim.  Is someone trying to hide something?  Hmm...

I’m also curious about placing the blame on an inexperienced worker.  Blame it on the new guy! Anyone near the blast who could have seen this worker would have been killed by the blast or the cave-in. 

Gonna have to check this one out in more detail.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mine-explodes-in-oklahoma

https://censorshipinamerica.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/jan-7-1892-mine-explodes-in-oklahoma/

http://www3.gendisasters.com/oklahoma/2492/krebs%2C-ok-mine-disaster%2C-jan-1892

http://www.onthisday.com/events/january/7

 

 

Hurricane Rita, the "forgotten hurricane"

On September 24, 2005, Hurricane Rita roared ashore between Sabine Pass, Texas and Holly Beach, Louisiana.  Had she hit in another year, she would have been the strongest storm of the season, but this was 2005.  Less than a month earlier, Hurricane Katrina, less powerful than Rita, devastated New Orleans and the Mississippi coast, killing over 1800 people and causing well over one hundred billion dollars in damage.  That year saw three of the six most powerful Atlantic storms recorded: Wilma was #1, Rita #4, and Katrina #6.

With the horrors of Katrina still painfully present, people in Rita’s path decided to flee.  Contra-flow measures were initiated but much too late.  With millions of people hitting the road at the same time, disaster was almost assured.  Huge traffic jams formed and a bus with nursing home residents caught fire near Dallas, Texas.  Twenty-three people lost their lives in the blaze.  The evacuation killed almost as many people as the hurricane.

The small coastal community of Cameron, Louisiana, sat directly in Rita’s path and the storm destroyed forty percent of the structures in the parish.  Miraculously, Cameron suffered no casualties but ten years later, the community has yet to recover.  Prior to Rita, the parish population hovered around 10,000.  Presently, less than 6700 inhabit the town.

Rita also flattened Holly Beach, Louisiana, another town struggling to recover a decade later.  As a result, the Louisiana legislature implemented new building codes, including mandates to elevate homes in flood-prone areas.  Three years later, when Hurricane Ike came through, houses built in the post-Rita era, weathered him with minimal damage.

The lessons learned in 2005 were hard ones and failing them brought us out of our complacency.  Unfortunately, those lessons were unnecessary.  The Department of Homeland Security’s Hurricane Pam scenario, carried out a year before Katrina let the Republican occupied White House know that New Orleans would not withstand a storm rated Category 3 or higher.  Inaction on the recommendations went unheeded and almost two thousand people paid the price. 

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

On May 31, 1889 an earthen dam on the Little Conemaugh River gave way after torrential rains and washed Johnstown, a small community east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania off the face of the earth. McCullough published his work on the disaster in 1968, for which he was able to interview survivors, getting first-hand accounts of the flood. McCullough, who would later win a Pulitzer Prize, researched historical records and publications to piece together a minute-by-minute recreation of the tragedy, much like Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen and The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin.

Unlike those later works, McCullough's work reads more like a history book, stating facts in a school-book manner. Larsen and Laskin put faces on the tragedies, giving the reader a personal connection with the victims. McCullough finally does break away from the aloof prose, but not until after the depiction of the flood.

His style also includes frequent moments of 'familiarity' as though he were speaking to the reader rather than writing. His sentences are peppered with vague descriptors like 'more or less', 'something like', 'no more than'. McCullough also cannot help inserting his own editorializing in the final chapter when blame for the tragedy was being tossed about. He comments that 'anyone with a minimum of horse sense' could have known about or realized that the dam was in no condition to hold indefinitely.

Another drawback to McCullough's style was a frequent propensity to digress when discussing the people involved with tragedy. He mentioned facts and historical points of interest that may or may not have any bearing on the story. These tangents often subtract from the subject of the book.

McCullough also moved back and forth in time whenever shifting to different points of view. He may describe how one person experienced the wave when it hit Johnstown about an hour after the dam burst; then in another sentence he discussed another person's witness but starting well before the dam broke. It gives a confusing account of the sequence of events. Larsen and Laskin changed points of view but kept the timeline in tact throughout their works.

Overall, the book is a great account of one of the country's worst disasters. McCullough's exhaustive research interviewing eyewitnesses and historical records pays off in the end result. The reader sees and feels the sadness and horror of a town utterly destroyed, followed by the heroism and scandal that followed.