On May 30, 1889 the South Fork Dam, which maintained a pleasure lake for wealthy Pittsburgh industrialists and their families, failed due to very heavy rains and poor maintenance by the dam's owners. The burst dam sent a wall of water and debris, 40 feet high and half a mile wide, 14 miles downstream to the bustling industrial city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. More than 2000 people lost their lives in the disaster. This documentary tells the story, and tells us that the disaster was easily avoidable.
The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the lives of astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew, with the failed journey turning into a thrilling saga of heroism. Drifting more than 200,000 miles from Earth, the astronauts work furiously with the ground crew to avert tragedy.
Apollo 13
1995
7
Torn by personal guilt, Italian General Umberto Nobile reminisces about his 1928 failed Arctic expedition aboard the airship Italia.
Красная палатка
1969
6
In November 2017, a devastating earthquake hit western Iran. It took only 13 seconds to lose everything. This is a fleeting observation of the days after the disaster.
13 seconds
2018
0
THE DEVIL'S FIRE is an original documentary from WSKG Public Television and filmmaker Brian Frey. Utilizing never-before-seen photographs and investigative archival material, the film tells the story behind the Binghamton Clothing Company's charismatic owner, Reed B. Freeman, and the young immigrant workers trapped in the deadly blaze that hot Tuesday in July of 1913.
The Devil’s Fire
2021
0
British Steam Railway Disasters is the definitive DVD collection of newsreel reports covering no fewer than 55 incidents from the steam era between 1913 and 1967 Also included is a specially made 15 minute analysis of the greatest tragedy of all - the multiple crash at Harrow And Wealdstone in 1952 which features much rare footage including previously unseen film rushes. Throughout, British Steam Railway Disasters investigates the common causes of railway accidents with a view to the lessons learnt from :- Driver Error, Excessive Speed, Poor Visibility In Fog, Signals Passed At Danger, Signalling Errors, Road Vehicle Collisions, Equipment Failure, Rolling Stock Instability and Track Defects.
British Steam Railway Disasters 1913-1967
2010
8
The De Havilland Comet was the world's first passenger jet airliner. But less than two years into service, two aircraft blew up in mid-air, killing all aboard. PM Winston Churchill ordered an assemblage of experts to discover what went wrong - in the process, inventing many of the air crash investigation techniques still used today.
Comet: A Great British Air Disaster
2013
0
When the MV Sewol ferry sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives, most of them schoolchildren. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities.
부재의 기억
2018
7
The largest man-made disaster of the 20th century, now largely lost to history. A journey through the early history of Los Angeles and the city's water needs. Ever-growing demand led to larger and larger projects, and eventually to tragedy. The history of the tragedy, the role of William Mulholland in the disaster and the city's water development, and how the lessons of the tragedy reflect on our current infrastructure needs today.
Forgotten Tragedy: The Story of the St. Francis Dam
2018
6
The film is a documentary on the day April 17, 2013, when West, a small farm community in Texas was changed forever by a devastating explosion.
The Day West Shook Texas
2015
0
Three years in the making in conjunction with the BBC. Using never seen before home movies, photos and eye witness accounts - this is the inside story of the world's biggest motorsport disaster.
Deadliest Crash: The Le Mans 1955 Disaster
2010
7
Colonel Franz Ritter, a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, is assigned to the great Hindenburg airship as its chief of security. As he races against the clock to uncover a possible saboteur aboard the doomed zeppelin he finds that any of the passengers and crew could be the culprit.
The Hindenburg
1975
6
Thirty-six years after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in Soviet Ukraine, newly uncovered archival footage and recorded interviews with those who were present paint an emotional and gripping portrait of the extent and gravity of the disaster and the lengths to which the Soviet government went to cover up the incident, including the soldiers sent in to “liquidate” the damage. Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes is the full, unvarnished true story of what happened in one of the least understood tragedies of the twentieth century.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes
2022
7
On the 19th of November 2010, the Pike River mine exploded with 31 men trapped inside. In the immediate confusion that followed no one knew what had happened. Within hours two men would manage a heroic escape but 29 remained unaccounted for. Over five days the men’s families and loved ones waited, hoping they would come out alive. Then two further explosions sealed the men’s fate. However, the fuse that would eventually snuff out so many lives was lit decades before. Set in the drama of the five days between the three explosions, Pike River reveals the tragic back story of the mine where pressure for profits would eventually contribute to the deaths of 29 men. Featuring interviews with the Pike River families and scripted drama to depict key events.
Pike River
2016
0
The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.
A Night to Remember
1958
7
The Ashtabula train disaster and bridge collapse was the worst train disaster of the 19th century, claiming the lives of 97 people. The engineering and structural failures that caused the collapse of a bridge that stood for over a decade, also took down the most luxurious train of the day, “The Pacific Express #5.” The accident happened in Ashtabula, Ohio on December 29, 1876 during a raging blizzard, sending the luxury train crashing 70-feet into a river gorge and costing the lives of 97 people. The disaster shocked the nation, yet it’s a story that’s been lost in the pages of history. In a strange twist of fate and intrigue, the bridge disaster also became the backdrop to the still unsolved murder of Charles Collins, the railroad’s chief engineer. It also contributed to the eventual suicide of millionaire Amasa Stone, the president of the railroad and the designer and builder of the bridge.
Engineering Tragedy: The Ashtabula Train Disaster
2022
10
In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events.
ジョバンニの島
2014
7
March 27, 1977. At 2:00 in the afternoon, a thick fog rolled into the usually quiet Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. On the runway sat two fully loaded jumbo airliners. An explosion at a nearby airport had redirected air traffic to the undermanned airfield at Tenerife. Within three hours 583 people would be dead. This film reconstructs the moments leading up to the tragedy.
Tenerife
2005
7
Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes follows the story of the Space Shuttle Challenger and its crew, specifically Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian to be launched into space. The events of the days leading up to the disaster are detailed in this unique film, which uses no narration and no interviews. Instead the story is told solely with reports of journalists covering the story, extensive recordings from the NASA team, and interviews with McAuliffe and others who were part of this one-of-a-kind mission. Using rarely seen images and audio recordings, this show takes viewers behind the scenes of this compelling and historic story in a way never before seen.
The Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes
2016
7
Ben Fogle spends a week living inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, gaining privileged access to the doomed Control Room 4 where the disaster first began to unfold.
Inside Chernobyl with Ben Fogle
2021
7
The film explores the background and build-up to this final flight to disaster. Using dramatic reconstruction, archive footage and exclusive interviews with leading historians and engineering experts, the special delves into the political and scientific events that led up to the catastrophe.
Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies
2007
7