Montparnasse derailment, Paris; ca. 1895
“This incredible photo of the wreck at Gare Montparnasse in Paris shows a very dramatic scene of a train that has crashed through the wall and partially tumbled to the street. The cause? Both mechanical failure and human error. The train was late, so the driver had it pull into the station at a high speed. It had two different types of braking systems: handbrakes and an air brake known as a Westinghouse brake. The conductor realised that the train was going too fast and applied the Westinghouse brake, however it didn’t work. He then waited too long to use the handbrakes, which weren’t sufficient due to the weight and speed of the train. The locomotive crashed through a wall and the first few cars fell towards the street below. Amazingly, only a few passengers and train employees were injured, though one pedestrian on the road below was killed.”
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 Going Down over San Diego after Colliding with Another Plane, 1978.
Reading the transcript of this, the last thing said was “Ma, I love ya” by an unknown person (probably the captain). That almost brought me to tears.
144 dead including 2 in the Cessna, 7 on the ground (2 children). With a reported impact speed of 300 mph, the Boeing 727 crashed into the North Park residential neighborhood of San Diego, CA.
Kind of a heartbreaking photo, knowing the outcome and reading the radio transcripts.
Photos of the plane in the air were taken by photographer Hans Wendt who was attending a press event. (A local news cameraman captured the fall of the Cessna on film, but I could not locate the footage.)
*Not only did no one survive, nobody made it intact.
“The accident was notable for the carnage it created. Only a few of the bodies were found recognizable and intact. First responders on the scene found pieces of bodies scattered throughout the area, including on rooftops and against trees, and gore splattered on walls.” (Source)
I hope to be remembered for my atrocities! 