Great Disasters

Social, political and geological factors combined to create disaster on an almost unbelievable scale. The 2010 Haiti earthquake killed at least 100,000, and displaced millions.Drawing on eyewitness accounts, official reports and contemporary news reports, I'll tell the full story of the worst disaster the 21st century has so far seen.Visit www.greatdisasters.co.uk for the full transcript and more. Check out the Great Disasters Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - let me know what you think of the show.Support the show

With an experienced driver in the engine, the Flying Scotsman service was steaming along at full speed on its way to London when suddenly, it left the rails. 28 people were killed in the mangled wreckage. The question was, why?Drawing on official reports and contemporary accounts, I'll tell the full story of what went wrong.Visit www.greatdisasters.co.uk for the full transcript and more. Check out the Great Disasters Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - let me know what you think of the show.Support the show

This episode looks at a disaster which struck close to my home - the Morecambe Bay cocklepicking disaster. A large group of Chinese immigrant labourers were sent out onto the sands to collect cockles, but they didn't know just how dangerous the tide can be.Drawing on official reports and witness accounts, I'll tell the full story of what went wrong.Visit www.greatdisasters.co.uk for the full transcript and more. Thanks to Tim Liardet for permission to include part of his poem, Priest Skear.Check out the Great Disasters Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - let me know what you think of the show.Support the show

In this episode, I'm looking at the case of the de Havilland Comet - the first commercial jet airliner. Three crashes within short succession in the 1950's hinted at a deadly flaw in the plane's design, but it would take pioneering investigative techniques to reveal it.Drawing on official reports and contemporary accounts, I'll tell the full story of what went wrong.Visit www.greatdisasters.co.uk for the full transcript and more.Check out the Great Disasters Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - let me know what you think of the show.Support the show

In this episode of Great Disasters, I'll be looking at the Piper Alpha explosion; the deadliest off-shore oil rig disaster to date.There were more than two hundred men aboard Piper Alpha that summer night, 120 miles out in the midst of the North Sea. When the platform they called home exploded, they were thrown into a battle for survival between the flames and the waves.Drawing on official reports and the accounts of witnesses and survivors, I'll tell the full story of what went wrong.Visit www.greatdisasters.co.uk for the full transcript and more.Check out the Great Disasters Podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - let me know what you think of the show.Support the show

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the world's most prestigious motor races. Established in 1923, it challenges both man and machine to compete at the very edge of their ability. In 1955, that challenge led to catastrophe.Support the show

With America lagging behind the Soviet Union in the space race, JFK made a promise to reach the moon. Three men paid the price on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Support the show

An ordinary summer's day in Italy was disturbed by the sudden appearance of a white cloud. The cloud was vapour that had been released by a local chemical plant, and Seveso would forever be known for its impact.Support the show

British weather in January doesn't tend to be very pleasant, if we're honest about it. However, sometimes it moves far beyond the realms of "slightly miserable" and into a completely different category - deadly.Support the show

It started with some abandoned equipment and two scavengers looking for scrap metal. The stuff they found inside looked so pretty, with its magical blue glow, that people passed it around and wore it like carnival glitter. They didn't know that it was deadly.Support the show

On a cold night in February, hundreds of people packed into The Station nightclub to see the band Great White playing. It would be a night none of them would forget - but the band didn't even finish their first song.Support the show

Mining has never been a job to take lightly. With the weight of the world above their heads, and only the lights they took underground with them, the miners of Monongah worked in dirty, cramped spaces for the Fairmont Coal Company. They trusted their bosses when they said the mine was safe.Support the show

In this episode, I'm looking at one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in history. It measures a 7 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index - dwarfing more famous events like Vesuvius in 79 AD (a 5), Krakatoa in 1883 (a 6) and Pinatubo in 1991 (another 6). This was an eruption so huge that its effects were felt all around the world.Support the show

There was a common quip that American troops in the Second World War were "oversexed, overpaid and over here", but they put their lives on the line just like every other nation involved. So how could around seven hundred of them be killed in one event and then forgotten?Support the show

The allure of the tallest mountain in the world drew hundreds of people to the slopes of Mount Everest. Even though they were prepared for a risky journey, they did not expect the disaster which befell them - and the country who welcomed them.Support the show

For the thousands of fans who flocked to Hillsborough Stadium for the FA Cup semi-final in 1989, it was supposed to be an enjoyable afternoon on the terraces. A series of errors turned it into a day of unforgettable tragedy.Support the show

Shortly after five am on the 18th April 1906, San Francisco was rudely awoken by a major earthquake. It was only the first part of a double tragedy; fire then swept through the city leaving only destruction in its wake.Support the show

The flu pandemic of 1918 was not like other outbreaks of influenza. It attacked the young and healthy, not just the infirm, and swept the globe to create a deadly outbreak of unprecedented proportions. It was called the Spanish Flu, and even in the wake of the Great War which preceded it, it was terrifying.Support the show

Air France Flight 358 was a transatlantic journey from France to Canada with over three hundred people on board. When it careened off the end of the runway on landing and caught fire, creating a huge blaze that burned for two hours, everyone feared the worst. But the worst didn't come; everyone on board got out alive.Support the show

The sinking of the Titanic is probably one of the best known disasters in the world, but even over a century later it still holds a fascination for many. The people of Belfast are still proud of her, and people all around the world still flock to see the remnants and souvenirs which have been brought to the surface.Support the show