Structural Engineering Mishaps and Disasters
Hindenburg: An Unnecessary Disaster
In the 1930s airships, better known today as “blimps”, were the main source of air travel. During this time, the airships were used for various different reasons such as: bombing enemy targets, patrolling coastal areas, escorting naval ships during the night or through unsafe bodies of water, or used to make luxury flights across the Atlantic. The Hindenburg was believed to be the biggest and most sophisticated aircraft ever built.
The Hindenburg was built with metal framework and balloon like covering. It was as long as three football fields and weighed more than 240 tons. This airship looked ravishing, however, it possessed a significant flaw that eventually caused it to ruin. The outer skin of the Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen, which is extremely flammable. Passengers preparing to board the aircraft had to remove all lighters, matches, and/or any other objects that would cause it to catch fire.
Traveling all the way from Europe, the Hindenburg was expected to arrive in the United States and land in New Jersey on May 6, 1937. Max Pruss was commander, there were thirteen passengers, and twenty-two crew members on board . Hundreds of people waited for the Hindenburg, including: relatives of the passengers, news reporters, photographers, New Jersey citizens, and ninety-two ground crew members.
The flight’s landing was slightly delayed due to thunderstorms and aggressive winds. Finally, the weather calmed and the Hindenburg airship began to land in Jersey.
One of the spectators noticed a pale pink glow in the lower center of the ship. Everyone began to become intense because they had a feeling that the glow was not suppose to be there. A few seconds later that section of the airship exploded! All the onlookers, of course, backed away rapidly, but were still close as the entire Hindenburg airship, and mostly all of its passengers caught fire.
Some parts of the Hindenburg did, in fact, remain together, but they are only preserved today for research. One of the passengers aboard the flight, a fourteen year old, climbed through a window trying to escape the fires of the airship. To his advance, one of the water tanks burst and the flames on his clothes and his body were extinguished.
The U.S Bureau of Air Commerce gave the following statement as an explanation of the explosion. “A small amount of explosive mixture (hydrogen) in the upper part of the ship could have been ignited by…{an} electric phenomenon like a ball of lightning.
At 11:54 p.m., Hashimoto ordered 6 readied torpedoes at a depth of 4 meters and a speed of 48 knots. Next, Hashimoto had the torpedoes fired at the ship. At 12:02 p.m., the first explosion came and then the second. Red flames shot up lighting up the darkness. Smoke soon followed.
Major Ted Tolman’s F-105 Thud fighter/bomber streaked through the air at just under the speed of sound. His aircraft performed modestly at best, struggling to maintain its speed and altitude under the heavy load of ordinance and fuel it carried under its wings (Patrick).
This would be McAuliffe’s first and only mission. It would last for seven days. During the mission, she planned on teaching two lessons. The first would include a tour of the Challenger itself. The second would be about the future of space travel. During the Challenger Mission, Christa McAuliffe and six others would use the Challenger. This accommodation had up to two thousand displays and instruments, and carried about five computers. It had been cold that morning of the lift off in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shuttle exploded less than two minutes after take-off. What caused the explosion? The cold temperatures caused the o-rings to be affected and a leak from the o-rings on the Challenger caused fuel to ignite. Millions of people and school students stared in shock at what had occurred just before their
We believe we were hit by two torpedoes, one around frame 8 or 10, because the bow was blown off forward around ten. Another one [torpedo] around frame fifty. We believe that they were large torpedoes, that they were running close to the surface, because none of us believe the magazines blew up, that is the only way we can account for the flashes of flame through the ship.
The Hindenburg, also known as LZ-129, was one of Nazi Germany's finest airships and was the first airship to provide air service across the Atlantic. In fact, it is the largest and most luxurious zeppelin ever built. It represented the greatness of the Third Reich and its leader, Hitler.
It was about 8 A.M. on March 21st, 1993 in New York. A mechanic spinned the propellers on the front of the “Spirit Of St. Louis” then the roar of the plane started with over 400 gallons of gas in the engine. If this trip was completed then Lindbergh would win $25,000. “The engine is turning a bit slow,” a mechanic said. “It’s the wetness in the air”. (Collins 54) It was raining late in the night and that caused the wet mud. “The Spirit Of St. Louis moved forward forward like a heavy truck. The wheels cut into the mud. Still, the airplane gained speed. Finally Charles pulled the throttle back. The wheels left the ground.” (Collins 56) Charles took off on the smooth dirt runway in New York from the rain earlier and started lifting off into the air and close to hitting the telephone poles at the end of the runway. At 9:52 A.M. he was 500 feet in the air and of course had a lot of turbulence and he still had a long time until paris over 3,000 miles to go. Then at 11:52 A.M the wind picks up and goes up to 9 mph and lowers to about 20 feet from the water because he was feeling tired. “Suddenly a thick storm cloud closed around the plane. Charles pulled his safety belt tighter. The air within the storm cloud shook the plane.”(Collins 57) Another hour has passed and wind has picked up and he is starting to end up in a storm. “Charles circled the airport. Slowly he dropped lower. At 10:24 P.M., the Spirit Of St. Louis landed. The 3,600-mile flight had taken 33 1/2 hours”(Collins 62) At 10:24 PM the next day he touches down in Bourget Aerodrom, Pari...
Aviation was big during the 1920’s. The first airplanes that were developed were made of wood and canvas, they were later modernized and than made of an increasing amount of metal during this era. Airplanes were typically only used to carrying heavy loads and for wars, but during this era they were able to start taking passengers as well. It was only in 1927 that an airport terminal in the form of a waiting room and ticket-office for airplane passenger...
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the great inventor of the Zeppelin, died of pneumonia on March 8, 1917 at the age of seventy-eight. Chief of the Naval Airship Division and the
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was lost due to structural failure in the left wing. On take-off, it was reported that a piece of foam insulation surrounding the shuttle fleet's 15-story external fuel tanks fell off of Columbia's tank and struck the shuttle's left wing. Extremely hot gas entered the front of Columbia's left wing just 16 seconds after the orbiter penetrated the hottest part of Earth's atmosphere on re-entry. The shuttle was equipped with hundreds of temperature sensors positioned at strategic locations. The salvaged flight recorded revealed that temperatures started to rise in the left wing leading edge a full minute before any trouble on the shuttle was noted. With a damaged left wing, Columbia started to drag left. The ships' flight control computers fought a losing battle trying to keep Columbia's nose pointed forward.
The Titanic was built to be unsinkable, with 16 watertight compartments to help keep it afloat. Many people called the R.M.S. Titanic “unsinkable”, because of how large it was. To many the Titanic, being the biggest ship, also meant it was the best. Publishers Weekly; 3/19/2012, Vol. 259 Issue 12, p30-32, 3p. The ship was advertised as “unsinkable as reasonably possible,” because of it’s numerous safety features. These features included automatic watertight doors, watertight bulkheads and compartments throughout the ship, the most powerful marconi at sea and the Titanic was so large, that it was thought that anything large enough to damage it would be seen in time. They were wrong. Courier Mail, The (Brisbane). 04/03/2012, p38-38. 1.
A few weeks after the explosion, investigations began. First to explore the tragic scene was the United Stats Naval Court of Inquiry, located in Key West. They discovered that a naval mine caused the explosion. Researchers, Del Peral and De Salas conducted another investigation the same year and collected information given to them by surviving...
On May, 1937 The Hindenburg took of from Frankfurt, Germany. on it's way to New Jersey three days later people saw flames near the rear of the airship. In 37 seconds the whole ship was on fire and the only thing left was it's burnt inside. Nazi germany had made a huge rigid airship called the hindenburg. The hindenburg was an 804 ft long aircraft that could go 80 mph it was made to be filled with helium but it was filled with highly flammable gasses. It was in the process of landing in New jersey when it caught on fire from atmospheric electricity mixing with the gasses that filled the aircraft. It was completely destroyed, 36 of the 97 people on board the aircraft dies in the fire. That was the end of rigid aircraft use. The Hindenburg disaster could have been prevented if Germany was allowed to use helium instead of hydrogen.
The first planes that were made in the 1920’s were made of wood and fabric, but in the 1930’s there was a switch to metal, which allowed the aviation industry to become safer and more equipped for travel. The four main types of planes introduced throughout the decade included the Ford Trimotor, the Douglas DC-3, the Boeing 314 Clipper, and the Armstrong Whitworth. The Ford Trimotor was introduced as one of the first commercial planes in the early 1930’s, nicknamed the Tin Goose due to its appearance. This plane could get to an altitude of about 6,000 feet, but it took awhile and the ride there and back was bumpy. The Douglas DC-4 was introduced at around the same time as the Ford Trimotor, but It was much more successful. Throughout the decade, most passengers flew on this type of plane on their air travels, which could reach a speed of 185 miles per hour. Next, the Boeing 314 Clipper was introduced after the Trimotor and DC-4, and was a very luxurious plane model. It normally consisted of four cabins, bathrooms, and depending on the occasion could contain a bridal suite (Commercial). Finally, the Armstrong Whitworth came in two differe...
flight 19. Flight 19 was a routine training flight in 1945 that mysteriously disappeared until 1992, when
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).