This Week in Disaster History 7/14-7/20
Disasters that happened this week in history
Let’s talk disasters that happened this week in history.
July 14
Northwest Orient Airlines flight 1-11 took off from Okinawa, Japan at approximately 1:15 am on July 14, 1960 bound for Manila, Philippines. Partway through the flight, engine No. 2 failed. In an attempt to stop the propeller from continuing to spin, the crew activated a shutoff valve as the temperature was continuing to rise and they wanted to cutoff flow of oil. This caused the propeller to separate from the engine and cut a gash in the side of the airplane. This killed one woman who was sitting in the area where the propeller struck the fuselage. A fire then spread from engine no. 2 to the wing which left the crew to ditch the plane in the Pacific Ocean. The 57 survivors, everyone but the one woman who was hit by the propeller, floated on the right wing of the plane until rescued by the US Navy several hours later.
July 15
At around 7:45 am on July 15, 1888 after several days of earthquakes, Mount Bandai in Japan began a massive phreatic eruption. Eruptions continued for approximately 10 minutes before a massive explosion shot out the north side of the volcano. The pyroclastic flows caused at least 477 deaths and fully buried several villages. It also changed the entire topography of the area and created numerous new lakes.
July 17
At around 9:15 am on July 17, 1918, the RMS Carpathia, the ship that responded to the sinking of the Titanic, was struck by two torpedoes as it traveled from Liverpool to Boston during World War I. It was being used at the time as a troop transport. A German U-Boat, SM U-55, fired a torpedo that struck the port side of the Carpathia followed by a second torpedo that entered the engine room causing the death of 5 crew members. This also rendered the engines of the Carpathia inoperable. The captain then gave the order to abandon ship but stayed aboard to ensure all secret documents were destroyed. He then escaped into a lifeboat. A third torpedo then struck the gunners room which caused a massive explosion and started the full sinking of the ship. 218 of 223 people aboard survived, but the Carpathia, one of the only ships to help the survivors of the Titanic, sank beneath the waves.
July 18
On July 18, 2019, an individual named Shinji Aoba entered the Kyoto Animation Studio front door carrying 11 gallons of gasoline. He proceeded to pour the gasoline over the floor, several people working there, and himself before lighting it on fire. During this time, he shouted multiple phrases claiming the studio had plagiarized from him and yelled “die”. After igniting the fire, he sprinted out the front door fully on fire before collapsing in the street and being captured by police. The subsequent fire in the building blocked the only entrance and trapped many inside. In total, the fire killed 36 workers in the Kyoto Animation Studio with several of the workers found in the stairway attempting to flee to the roof. It was the deadliest fire in Japan since 2001.
