The Worst Disasters in History: The disasters in this series seem to come in two varieties. There are those that are unavoidable, unprecedented natural disasters. And then there are those that are frustratingly entirely preventable, if not for the people involved. This is gonna be one that is extremely frustrating. As always, viewer discretion is advised. Although “The Worst Disasters” often involve natural forces, human error can make them even deadlier.
one of The Worst Disasters in 2010
In the summer of 2010, 33 Chilean miners became worldwide sensations while trapped in a tiny cavern, 2,300 feet, or 700 meters below the Earth’s surface. During a subsequent 70-day rescue operation, volunteers from around the world arrived to help. Ironically, one of the most experienced and well-respected of these groups was from South Africa.
one of The Worst Disasters in 2016
Then, in March of 2016, three miners disappeared into a giant sinkhole over the deepest part of the Lily Mine in South Africa. Unlike their Chilean counterparts, the three employees were trapped just 230 feet, or 70 meters below the ground. But even so, their rescue would encounter much more difficulty.
According to statistics, about 15,000 miners die around the world annually, but the actual number may be far higher because accidents often go unreported in less-developed countries. Mine-related deaths have been declining in recent years, but mining is an inherently dangerous business, particularly in places where oversight and regulation are lax.
one of The Worst Disasters in 2022
In 2022, mining employed nearly 500,000 South Africans and made up about 8% of the country’s GDP. However, miners and their families claim that safety often takes a backseat to expediency and profit. As is often the case, most of the Lily Mine is hidden beneath an unremarkable surface.
Below ground, it’s made up of 12 layers of rock, and collectively, they plummet down nearly 660 feet, or 200 meters, below the mine’s west entrance. Detailed maps show that most of the space between the ground and the bottom level is empty, because so much of that ore has already been removed.
So, to prevent cave-ins, a relatively thin pillar of solid rock, known as a crown pillar, was left between the levels. Shortly after starting their shifts on February 5th, 2016, three Lily Mine surface employees were busy working inside a shipping container that had been converted into a lamp room.
Their job was to charge, service, and issue the hand-carried and helmet-mounted lamps that miners took underground every day. The morning started out like most others, but then shortly after 8 am, a portion of the crown pillar below the container, collapsed.
In the fractions of a second that followed, the three miners disappeared into a 230-foot, or 70-meter sinkhole. As it fell, the container was then covered by thousands of tons of boulders and other debris.
When the rock and dust finally began to settle, a total of 75 miners were trapped in different tunnels and sections of the mine. And initially, nobody knew if the men survived or whether the container had been crushed by the weight of the rock on top of it.
Immediately following the collapse, alarms sounded, and emergency protocols went into action. Rescue teams quickly mobilized, and thankfully, the 75 miners elsewhere were rescued and brought to the surface safely within just a few hours. The Worst Disasters often involve natural forces, human error can make them even deadlier.
The rescue then shifted to the three workers trapped in the lamp room, buried under tons of rock and debris. However, as the rescue got underway, it started to be realized just how challenging it would be because of how unstable the ground still was.
Initial assessments confirmed that the crucial crown pillar had collapsed, causing the ground above to cave in. This also led to further ground movements and aftershocks, putting all of the rescuers in danger. Even still, rescue teams used a variety of techniques in their attempt to reach the trapped miners.
Heavy machinery was brought in to remove debris, and advanced drilling equipment was even used to try to establish a stable path to the container. Cameras and listening devices were also used in hopes of making contact with the trapped workers, but no communication was ever established.
As the rescue operation unfolded, the families of the trapped miners gathered at the mine, setting up a vigil and waiting anxiously for any news. Meanwhile, each attempt to stabilize the ground and remove debris seemed to only provoke further collapses, and the safety of the rescue teams continued to be a concern.
And soon enough, the hours turned to days, and then to weeks, and by late February, if the miners were somehow still alive in the container below, their chances of survival were getting dangerously slim.
after weeks of relentless efforts, in late April 2016…
Tragically, after weeks of relentless efforts, in late April 2016, the decision was made to suspend the rescue operations. This decision was heartbreaking for everyone involved, particularly the families of the men who had been swallowed up by the sinkhole.
Unfortunately, the site was deemed too unstable to continue without risking further lives, and the focus shifted towards memorializing the lost miners and providing support for their families. Unfortunately, the investigation into the disaster would then only add to the tragedy and frustration felt by everyone.
When the official report was finally released less than a month later, it revealed that the company had failed to install an effective support system on the roof of level 4. In other words, the crown pillar hadn’t been strong enough to support the weight of the ground above it.
This had then been exacerbated by the many tunnels that had been dug illegally. The report also even showed that there have been a number of similar collapses in the western portion of Lily Mine in the days leading up to the disaster. Because poor safety measures were ignored, “The Worst Disasters” like mining collapses become preventable tragedies.
These should have been giant red flags, and mine management and safety personnel should have known that they were a sign of even worse things to come. But surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, no precautions were ever taken.
The report also found that according to mine safety regulations, the shipping container should have been placed at least 100 meters from the open pit. If so, it wouldn’t have been in such a vulnerable position on the day of the collapse.
But perhaps most surprising and frustrating of all, investigators concluded that the conditions actually should have been safe enough to undertake full-scale search and rescue operations almost immediately after the incident.
some people have suggested that mine operations never even fully stopped while the rescue was underway
So, with that, everyone wanted to know why almost nothing was done. Additionally, how were South African rescue volunteers able to help Chilean miners trapped 700 meters underground, thousands of miles away, but the three local mine employees, just 70 meters down, couldn’t be saved?
The victims’ families ultimately filed suit against the company, but sadly, it doesn’t appear that anyone will ever be held accountable for the tragedy that occurred in the spring of 2016.
From poison gas and shell shock, to mass infantry assaults against fortified machine gun positions, most of us are relatively familiar with the horrors of World War I. And it’s no wonder it’s been described as “the war to end all wars”. When negligence mixes with high-risk environments, “The Worst Disasters” become inevitable.
the war to end all wars
But sometimes, other large-scale tragedies occur during times of war, and when they do, they can be overshadowed by the enormity of the conflict raging around them. On June 28th, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, were killed in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo.
In the chaos that ensued in the following weeks, country after country honored mutual defense pacts that had been signed years before. While some disasters are unavoidable, many of “The Worst Disasters” stem from greed or incompetence.
With Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire on one side, and England, France, Russia, and Japan in the United States on the other, the stage was set for a global conflict like the world had never seen.
In the southern part of Europe, initially, Italy remained neutral despite a mutual defense pact it signed with Austria-Hungary four decades before. Meanwhile, interested in securing a key ally in the Mediterranean, American Britain set out to convince the Italians to join the war on their side.
During secret negotiations, allied representatives promised Italy new territory in an outlying region of the Austrian Alps. This had been a thorn in the Italian side for ages because most of the area’s residents spoke Italian and were of Italian descent.
Italy declared war on Austro-Hungary
When this deal was finalized in the spring of 1915, Italy declared war on Austro-Hungary and entered the conflict on the side of the allies. Following this declaration, Austro-Hungarian forces began a major offensive against Italy on their southern border in the spring of 1916.
Early on, Italian military commanders became concerned that the Austro-Hungarians would continue to advance until they reached large, important northern cities. So to combat this impending invasion, the Italians sent a large force north to confront the invaders in the mountains.
The two opposing armies finally met in late 1916 near Mount Marmolada. This front eventually expanded to cover more than 300 miles, and the brutal multi-year mountain campaign became known as the White War.
Troops on both sides received alpine training, but nothing could have prepared them for the hardships and challenges they were about to endure. If proper regulations had been followed, many of “The Worst Disasters” in history could have been avoided.
With mountains on every side, both armies wanted the highest ground possible because from elevated positions, they’d be able to launch assaults and lob artillery shells down on their exposed enemy. Since human decisions play a role, “The Worst Disasters” often leave lasting anger and unanswered questions.
To do this though, they had to move thousands of men and thousands of tons of weapons and gear up the sheer rocky and ice-covered mountains using a makeshift system of ropes, pulleys, and cables hung from precarious cliffs.
Unsurprisingly, unlike the Western Front, the mountainous terrain between Italy and Austro-Hungary wasn’t suitable for mass infantry assaults. This alone may have saved tens of thousands of lives, but the conditions during the White War couldn’t have been any harsher anyway.
Small infantry battles and heavy artillery barrages were common, but offensive activity was severely limited as the winter conditions worsened. And soon enough, what had once been a war between men became a life and death struggle between men and mother nature.
And to make matters worse, that winter was one of the worst on record. At Mount Marmolada’s peak, the snowpack was said to have been more than 40 feet, or 12 meters deep. Even though technology has advanced, “The Worst Disasters” still occur due to ignored warnings.
In addition, intermittent periods of relatively mild weather had caused a series of thaws and refreezes that partially melted the snow and made the ice even heavier and more unstable than it otherwise would have been.
And to protect themselves from the bitter cold and enemy attacks, soldiers on each side dug extensive trench and tunnel networks through the rock, snow, and ice. When it was all said and done, the Austro-Hungarian troops were dug in at a barracks near the edge of Mount Marmolada.
This position provided plenty of protection from artillery fire, but the barracks was also directly below hundreds of thousands of tons of unstable ice and snow. As the snow continued piling up, the command and troops knew that they were in imminent danger of being wiped off the mountainside by a massive avalanche.
However, a request to relocate to a safer location further down the mountain was denied by high command. More snow then fell the following week in a series of storms, and eventually, all communication was lost with the outside.
As this continued, these stranded soldiers were also in serious danger of running out of supplies like food, fuel, and ammunition. Unless accountability is enforced, “The Worst Disasters” will keep repeating in different forms.
Then, just before sunrise on the morning of Wednesday, December 13th, 1916, more than 330 exhausted soldiers were abruptly woken from their sleep when a massive sheet of ice, snow, and rock broke away from the slope above them and slammed into their barracks.
In just a few seconds, the structure crumbled, and nearly all of the men were totally buried. Then, when the snow finally stopped, the full scope of the disaster was realized. As history shows, “The Worst Disasters” often expose systemic failures and corruption.
Those who’d been away from the barracks at the time immediately rushed to dig out anyone they could find, and they managed to pull a few dozen soldiers and officers to safety, but 270 were still missing and presumed dead. This effort then continued throughout the day in unthinkable conditions.
Rescuers fought through everything from frostbite and snow blindness, to secondary avalanches and rockslides, but despite their heroic efforts, no more survivors were found after the first few hours. Then, later that day, Italian forces nearby suffered a similar fate when they were also blindsided by yet another massive avalanche.
2,300 soldiers and civilians have died
All told, nearly 2,300 soldiers and civilians on both sides may have died in avalanches on Wednesday, December 13th, 1916. Many of the bodies weren’t recovered until the following spring, but hundreds more were never found. That was just the beginning, unfortunately.
Nobody knows exactly how many avalanches there were on and around Mount Marmolada in the winter of 1916. It’s also unclear just how many soldiers and civilians were killed by avalanches, but historical data suggests that the number may be as high as 10,000.
Many of these avalanches were undoubtedly caused by exceptionally heavy snowfall and the periodic thaws and refreezes that made the snow far heavier than normal, but the weather alone wasn’t solely to blame.
The constant digging, tunneling, and blasting through solid rock almost certainly had a destabilizing effect, as did the artillery and mortar shells that regularly exploded in the vicinity where most of the avalanches occurred.
Some sources even claim that guns on both sides intentionally aim their weapons at the masses of snow and ice above enemy positions with the intent of causing avalanches. Whatever the case, the winter of 1916 and the location of that particular battle line came together to make a perfect storm.
the war ended nearly two years later
By the time the war ended nearly two years later, both sides may have collectively racked up nearly 180,000 casualties in the mountain campaign alone. Before another tragedy happens, we must learn from “The Worst Disasters” of the past.
Of those, it’s estimated that as many as one-third may not have been killed by the enemy, but instead by avalanches, landslides, exposure, frostbite, illness, falls, and other non-combat-related accidents.
And incredibly, even today, mountaineers, hikers, and others in the area regularly find gear left behind by soldiers from both sides. And today, White Friday is considered the deadliest series of avalanches in recorded history.
Arthur Alan Holland, better known as “Bud”, was born in Suffolk, Virginia on September 7th, 1947. As an aviation enthusiast from an early age, he enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps while attending University of North Carolina.
After graduating and additional training, he received a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force Reserve when he was just 23 years old. Later, Bud married and had two daughters, and began racking up flight hours and experience in his favorite plane, the B-52.
The B-52
The B-52 Strat of or tresses, as they’re known, entered service in 1955, and since then, they’ve become one of the most iconic and long-lived aircraft of all-time.
Featuring eight engines, swept wings, and stretching nearly 160 feet, or 48 meters from nose to tail, they are immense long-range bombers that are capable of taking off at weights approaching 500,000 pounds.
The latest variants have top speeds of over 600 miles an hour, but they can also be unforgiving aircraft to fly, especially when pushed past their limits. Yet, as Bud’s career progressed, he increasingly did things in B-52s that were dangerous, reckless, and near fatal.
The first known of these incidents was in 1991, when he made an unauthorized pass over his daughter’s softball game. At just 2,500 feet, he threw the huge airplane into a circular 65-degree bank that one witness later described as a death spiral.
During the maneuver, the B-52 plummeted nearly 1,000 feet before Bud managed to regain control and return to base. Surprisingly, no formal action was taken for this, but the crew never forgot the harrowing experience that nearly cost them their lives.
In mid-May of that same year, Bud violated more safety regulations during an aerial demonstration flight in which he flew directly over civilian spectators well below the minimum established altitude. But again, there were no repercussions for his actions.
Similar incidents continued to pile up, and the lack of intervention by superiors emboldened Bud to not only continue his behavior, but to actually up the ante whenever possible.
Finally, after another similar incident at the Fairchild Airshow in Washington State in May of 1991, he was warned by a senior base officer that he’d be grounded if he didn’t clear up his act.
However, neither the intervention nor Bud’s infractions were documented, and in March 1994, he committed another egregious violation while commanding a B-52 on a training mission, at the Yakima bombing range.
During the exercise, the crew was accompanied by a photographer who documented how bombs were dropped from aircraft. But despite an established minimum altitude of 500 feet, Bud flew the B-52 just 30 feet over a rocky ridgeline on first pass, and the plane cleared it by just three feet on a subsequent pass.
After the flight, the photographer was clearly shaken, and the crew vowed to never fly with Bud again. The copilot later testified that he even had to yank back on the controls and yelled for Bud to climb to prevent the aircraft from crashing to the ground.
In response, Bud apparently simply laughed and called him a slang term for a part of the female anatomy. Following the incident, the squadron commander reported what had happened and recommended that Bud be removed from flying duty, but the colonel only gave Bud a verbal warning.
From that point on, there was noticeable tension between Bud and the colonel. Yet surprisingly, Bud was selected as a command pilot for the Fairchild Airshow’s B-52 demonstration just a few months later.
On the morning of June 24th, 1994
On the morning of June 24th, 1994, Bud and his crew began preparations for the airshow that was scheduled to kick off later that afternoon. The weather was clear, and the preflight inspection revealed no mechanical issues.
In addition to Bud as the lead pilot, the crew included the colonel as the copilot, 46-year-old safety observer, Colonel Robert Wolfe, and a navigator radar operator.
Their flight plan included a challenging but relatively routine series of low altitude passes, turns, and banks, as well as a dramatic touch-and-go landing on Runway 23.
This flight would also be Colonel Wolfe’s last, and as was the tradition, he’d be greeted on the tarmac after the show by family members and colleagues who’d douse him with water as a send off.
At approximately 2 pm, while the families of the crewmen looked on from the spectator gallery, the B-52 took off and completed the flight’s preliminary elements without incident. After each catastrophe, people wonder how “The Worst Disasters” were allowed to happen.
However, when Bud was preparing for the touch-and-go on runway 23, he was notified by the tower that a tanker had just landed and he’d have to circle around and make another pass.
At this point, he was already flying at 250 feet, so he initiated a 360-degree left turn, but he also had to alter his course to avoid a small portion of closed airspace. When the aircraft was three-quarters of the way through the turn at approximately 2:16 pm, its wings bent past 90 degrees.
This meant that instead of being parallel to the ground, it was in the vertical position, perpendicular to the ground. In other words, the huge aircraft was flying on its side.
Just a few seconds later, the nose pitched down, the left wingtip clipped a powerline, and the aircraft slammed into the ground and burst into a fireball just a few hundred yards away from stunned onlookers.
No one on the ground was injured or killed, but everyone on board died instantly, including Colonel Wolfe, whose family was waiting just a few hundred feet away. The Air Force launched two investigations immediately after the incident.
The first was headed by the Chief of Safety, while the second was conducted by the Accident Investigation Board. Though their findings differed slightly, they both agreed on the main cause of the crash and how the situation unfolded after the first touch-and-go was called off.
In particular, Bud’s personality and the previous behavior that had gone unchecked, were primary factors. It was also determined that the B-52’s airspeed was approximately 182 knots, or just 209 miles per hour, when it entered the final turn sequence.
Crucially, airplane wings create less and less lift as they transition from a horizontal to a vertical position. And by the time they reached 90 degrees, they were essentially producing no lift at all. Aircraft can remain in the air in scenarios like this if the power is increased sufficiently to offset the loss of lift.
The B-52’s flight recording system, or black box, also did show that either Bud or the colonel attempted to make a number of corrections and increase power shortly before the crash. So that future generations are safer, we must study “The Worst Disasters” and their root causes.
However, the power wasn’t increased soon enough because unlike piston engines that have almost immediate throttle response, the B-52’s turbofan engines can take up to eight seconds to respond to throttle inputs.
As a result
the aircraft speed dropped to about 145 knots, or just 167 miles an hour. So, with insufficient power or lift just a few hundred feet over the ground, Bud Holland had placed himself, his crew, and the aircraft under his command in a totally unrecoverable situation.
During an Air Force court martial hearing in mid-May of 1995, Bud’s commanding officer pleaded guilty to two counts of dereliction of duty for not addressing his troubling behavior when he had the chance.
However, once again, punishment only included a written reprimand and the forfeiture of 7,500 dollars of salary. The Air Force also never revealed whether anyone else in the chain of command received any disciplinary action.
At the time of his death, Bud Holland had served in the Air Force for more than two decades, and on that fateful day in the summer of 1994, he was only a few months away from retirement. Maybe the only consolation to the disaster is that it happened far enough away from the crowd of onlookers gathered at the airfield that day. you can read more about The Worst Disasters In History here. you can watch more about The Worst Disasters In History here: