A Brief History On June 2, 2023, a passenger train slammed into a stopped freight train, derailing cars into the path of another passenger train creating a deadly three train wreck that cost 296 lives and injured another 1,200 people. Known as “The Odisha Train Collision” in Eastern India, the wreck was the worst train disaster since the 2004 “Tsunami Train Wreck” in Sri Lanka. Digging Deeper The 2004 train disaster in Sri Lanka happened when a tsunami generated by the Indian Ocean earthquake of 2004 engulfed a coastal train, killing at least 1700 passengers, the biggest death toll of…
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A Brief History On May 31, 2003, Air France retired their Concorde supersonic jet airliners after a career that started in 1976. Air France had a fleet of seven of the fast jets, while British Airways also fielded a fleet of seven. An additional six of the so called SSTs were made for non-commercial users. Digging Deeper The first supersonic airliner, the Concorde was costly to operate and to fly on. The only competition ever created was the Russian Tu-144, jokingly called the “Concordski.” The Russian version of supersonic airliner lasted from 1975 to 1978, although cargo versions remained in…
A Brief History On May 27, 1975, a bus carrying 45 elderly women crashed in North Yorkshire, England at Dibble’s Bridge, resulting in the driver and 32 passengers killed and the other 13 occupants injured. The accident was the worst motor vehicle accident in British history by number of fatalities. Digging Deeper The bus, called a coach in England, was a 1967 Bedford VAM5 taking the ladies on a day trip. The driver was a substitute, and apparently the recently changed brakes had an issue that resulted in the bus being unable to slow down going downhill, causing the vehicle…
A Brief History On May 26, 2002, Interstate highway I-40 in Oklahoma was the scene of a disaster when barges towed on the Arkansas River struck a support pier on a bridge, crashing it to the water and killing 14 people. Another 11 people were injured in the wreck. Digging Deeper The captain of the towboat pulling the barges suffered a fainting spell, leading to the accident. Eight passenger cars and three semi-trucks fell into the water. Some other major Interstate highway disasters include: A church bus on I-71 in Kentucky was struck head on by a drunk driver in…
A Brief History On May 25, 2001, American mountain climber, adventurer, author, and speaker, Erik Weihenmayer, became the first blind person to reach the top of Mt. Everest in Nepal. A year later, he added to his collection of fantastic feats by becoming the 150th person to scale each of the “Seven Summits,” the tallest mountain on each of the continents. Digging Deeper Weihenmayer suffered from a degenerative eye disease as a child, resulting in his vision loss by his teen years. A high school wrestler, he also began rock climbing, graduated from Boston College, and became a teacher while…