All language subtitles for Historys Most Shocking S01E03 1080p WEB h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

- Tonight on "History's
Most Shocking,"

are people being
swallowed by whales?

- The kayakers just happened

to be caught up in
a feeding event.

[kayaker screams]

- [Tony] How did a pilot
land his plane on a highway?

- He can't slow down because
he may aerodynamically stall.

- [Tony] What set off

the largest non-nuclear
explosion ever?

- Thousands were displaced.

Buildings crumbled as
if they were paper.

- [Tony] And what
inspired the inventor

who bet his life on
his idea and lost?

- 80 miles an hour isn't a speed

that we can survive when
we touch the ground.

[dramatic music]

- [Tony] Disasters.

- [Broadcast] Oh, the humanity!

- [Tony] Shocking video.

Life or death decisions.

Behind history's caught
on camera moments...

- What to do with
one dead whale.

- [Tony] Are the mysteries
of how and why they happen.

- Some sort of metal fatigue
was most likely at fault.

- It's like a bulldozer.

Very few buildings
can actually withstand

that force of moving water.

- I'm Tony Harris.

[mountain lion roaring]

[bike revving]

Prepare to be shocked.

[dramatic music]

Good evening and welcome to
"History's Most Shocking."

There are plenty of predators
that lurk in the deep,

but we don't usually worry about

being swallowed alive by whales.

Well, maybe we should.

[tense music]

November 2nd, 2020,
Avila Beach, California.

For best friends, Julie
McSorley and Liz Cottriel,

the coastal waters off
California are a great way

to see one of the most
magnificent marine mammals

in its own habitat,
the humpback whale.

- [Liz] Oh my goodness,
you're beautiful. [gasps]

- [Tony] But once Julie and
Liz get out into the bay...

- We're sitting in the
kayak facing the shore,

and all of a sudden,
the silver fish

were jumping into our boat,

so I thought, "This whale's
really, really close.

I wonder where it's
gonna come up next."

- [Tony] Suddenly, Julie
and Liz are engulfed

in the jaws of a whale

[kayaker screams]

and taken underwater.

Take another look in slow
motion at this footage

shot by a nearby kayak.

You can see a large humpback
whale rises out of the ocean,

its mouth wide open,

appearing to swallow
Julie and Liz whole.

- All I felt was the back of
the boat lift up underneath me.

The mouth of the whale
came up on the left

and all I thought was,

"Is this whale gonna drag
us under the water?"

[dramatic music]
[kayaker screams]

- [Tony] Were Julie
and Liz in danger

of being this whale's next meal?

Turns out there are accounts

of whales swallowing
humans in history.

- In 2021, off the
coast of Cape Cod,

lobster diver Michael
Packard claimed

that he ended up in the
mouth of a humpback whale.

He was in there for
less than a minute

before the whale spat him out.

- [Tony] And even if she knew
she wasn't going to be bitten

to death by a ravenous predator
like a great white shark,

Julie knew her life
was still in danger.

[kayaker screaming]

- If that whale had decided
to keep his mouth closed

and drag us under, drowning
was a real possibility.

- After being gobbled
up by a whale,

how the heck do you get out?

And why were these
peaceful kayakers attacked

in the first place?

Let's see what
our experts think.

[tense music]

- Tales of people being
swallowed by whales

have been going for centuries,

but really, it's very unlikely

for this type of situation
to actually happen.

- [Tony] Rare but possible.

In February of 1891, a
man named James Bartley

was allegedly swallowed
by a sperm whale

while whaling near
South America.

15 hours later,
so the story goes,

his shipmates caught the whale

and cut him out of its stomach.

Bartley was alive,

but bleached white by
the whale's stomach acid.

[tense music]

But while a sperm whale
has an esophagus big enough

to swallow a person,
a humpback doesn't.

- Humpback whales are made
to eat really small prey.

They don't even have
teeth, they can't chew.

Because of the size of
the prey that they eat,

their throats are actually
about the size of a human fist.

So while you may end up in
the mouth of this animal,

you're not going
to be eaten by it.

- [Tony] Because of the
humpback's small throat,

it just spit Julie and Liz out.

- So I was in the
water tumbling around

and because we had life vests
on, I popped out of the water

and then just within
a couple seconds,

my friend Liz popped
right up next to me.

We're good.

[tense music]

- [Tony] But if humans aren't
the humpback's normal food,

why did it try to eat
them in the first place?

Our experts say it
was all about timing.

- You see this silvery,
flashy pattern of fish

in the beginning of the video,

that's what the
whale was going for.

These women were there at the
wrong place at the wrong time.

- [Tony] In fact, humpback
whales are known to feed

by creating what's
called a bubble net.

This involves diving deep
beneath a school of fish

and using bubbles
from their blow holes

to stun and trap fish
near the surface.

- You know, you see a big
silvery school of fish,

you might want to move out
of the way a little bit,

because chances are, there could
be a whale also eyeing them.

[kayaker screams]

- [Tony] So, mystery solved.

By the way, if it happens to you

and the whale doesn't
spit you out right away,

marine biologists
recommend thrashing around

and even biting the whale to
remind it you are not a fish.

As for Julie, this
terrifying experience

hasn't dampened her
love of the ocean.

- I'm not afraid of whales.

They're pretty harmless and
I would do it all over again.

- [Liz] Oh my goodness,
you're beautiful. [gasps]

[tense music]

- Our takeaway, humans
aren't whale food.

But while Julie and Liz
weren't in any real danger

of being swallowed, they
were also fish out of water

in the whale's feeding zone.

So always be careful
and respectful

when you're in an animal's
natural environment.

Now, from the sea to the sky.

When your engine
suddenly sputters out

while driving a car,

you can just pull
over onto the shoulder

and call a tow truck.

But what if the
same thing happens

to the plane you're flying?

[tense music]

July 2022 in North Carolina's
Great Smoky Mountains.

Recently-licensed
pilot Vincent Fraser

is taking his father-in-law

up in his Arrow Commander
100 propeller plane.

- I was pretty much
brand-spanking new.

I just got my license,

had less than a hundred
hours on my belt.

- [Tony] A GoPro is
rolling when it happens.

The plane's engine stalls
out while Vincent flies

at around 5,000 feet over the
treacherous mountain terrain.

His propeller's now just
being blown by the wind.

- If a plane runs out of fuel
or the engine stops working,

it's not going to just
fall out of the sky.

Planes are designed to glide.

So a pilot that
suddenly has no power,

still has a pretty
good option of gliding

to a spot for a safe landing.

- [Tony] But the
clock is ticking.

Vincent must make a
split-second decision

and find a safe place to land.

- We're looking for a road,
we're looking for a lake,

we're looking for a river,

somewhere that we can
put this aircraft down.

- [Tony] 13 seconds into
the crisis, he spots it.

A highway that, though winding,
is at least relatively wide

and not too busy.

- The chances of surviving that

were a lot better than
going in that river.

My father-in-law
is staying calm.

I look at him and I apologize,

and I said, "I'm sorry"
and then, "I love you."

And then he just looked at me
and he said, "I love you too.

I know you can do this,
just get us down safely."

- I have to admit I was holding
my breath during this video.

[suspenseful music]

- Possibly the largest
plane to ever attempt

a highway landing was
Southern Airways flight 242.

On April 4th, 1977, the DC-9
lost thrust in both engines

during a thunderstorm
and tried to set down

on a state route in Georgia.

Unfortunately, the plane crashed

after its left wing
clipped a gas station,

killing 72 people.

So why did Vincent's engine fail

and how did he manage
to land safely?

[tense music]

First things first, what
went wrong with the engine?

- He loses thrust.

There's a problem with the
fuel going into the engine.

Why wasn't fuel coming
into the engine?

What's most common is
either a pilot taking off

with not enough fuel
in the wing tanks,

or if there's water in the fuel,

it could contaminate the fuel.

- [Tony] Many airplanes
primarily use wing fuel tanks

since they can help balance
and stabilize the craft.

Water can get in
through leaks and seals,

poorly fitting fuel caps,
and by condensation,

especially when the
tank isn't full.

So a fueling failure seems to
be the most likely culprit.

But in the moment of crisis,

Vincent has a bigger
question on his mind.

How is he going to land?

And 63 seconds after the
initial engine failure,

as he's approaching the highway,
he notices a big problem.

- [Vincent] I was just
skirting over the power lines,

so I knew I had to kind of
hold it, hold it, hold it,

and then push the nose down to
get under those power lines,

'cause up ahead, I could see
another set of power lines.

So I pushed down and
I'm trying to line up

to get under the next
set of power lines.

- [Tony] At a minute,
14 seconds in,

he realizes the power lines
aren't his only obstacle.

- Now there's cars literally
going right underneath me,

and they're probably a
few feet in my propeller.

I'm just trying to
manage this aircraft

in a space that's maybe 10 feet.

- He can't slow down to
land behind those cars

because he may
aerodynamically stall.

Not only that, those
two cars can't see him

because he's behind them,

so he allows the cars
to pass underneath him.

He continues his airspeed
so he doesn't stall.

He flies over those two cars

and then begins to set
down on the highway.

- [Tony] Finally, one minute,
45 seconds into the emergency,

Vincent lands, allowing the
cars to see him and brake.

- [Vincent] I put the wheels
down right at the curb,

and that's when you can hear
that the tire's just squealing.

And so now it's bouncing.
It's very violent.

- [Tony] And he's still
not out of a danger zone.

- [Jeff] There's now
cars heading towards him

on the opposite side
of their highway.

But at least they're facing him

and they can steer
away from him.

The highway suddenly curves,
so he has to use his brakes

and his flight controls to
maintain a landing and curving.

- [Tony] Two minutes and
11 seconds into the ordeal,

Vincent finally comes to
a complete and safe stop.

[thrilling music]

A subsequent investigation
confirms Guzzetti's suspicions.

There was a problem
with the fuel.

- [Tony] Vincent says
it turns out his engine

was burning more fuel per
hour than the standard rate,

so he miscalculated how
much he actually needed.

Then the broken gauge failed
to register this shortage,

so he knows he's
lucky to be alive.

- It was like an
out-of-body experience,

and I know it might sound crazy,

but I felt like I was
outside the aircraft

and I could see
everything so vividly.

It was just a miracle, really.

- Our takeaway,

a bad gauge failed to
indicate the fuel shortage,

but Vincent's decision
not to pull up

and slow down his plane
may have saved his

and his passenger's lives.

Vincent, good flying.

- If you were to take all
of the railroad tracks

in the United States
and lay them into end,

they'd circle the Earth
more than five times.

But not all American railroad
tracks are created equal.

As you'll see, some are
more dangerous than others.

[tense music]

June 25th, 2021, Moody, Texas.

It's just the end of another
typical workday as Amandine Hou

and her brother are closing
up their donut shop.

- We started cleaning, taking
everything into the kitchen,

getting ready to leave,

and that's when my
brother called me.

It just happened so quickly.

- [Recorder] Oh my goodness.

[train horn blaring]

(bleep).

- [Tony] Outside their shop,

cell phone video
captures the moment.

A semi-truck is stranded
on the train tracks

and the timing
couldn't be worse.

[train horn blaring]

- [Recorder] No, he
can't stop, stop!

Oh my gosh, oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

[crashing]

- [Tony] Another camera
on the other side

of the tracks captures
the same moment.

[train horn blaring]

[crashing]

Even more shocking, this
has happened twice before

outside Amandine's shop.

- It was 2018 that we saw
the first train collision

and it was pretty
scary actually,

'cause it was full
of car batteries.

- [Tony] And it's not
just this unlucky spot.

The trucks versus train thing
happens all over the world,

and the winner is the
same almost every time.

- One of the things with
the crossing gates is,

if they're up, then that
would be a malfunction

of the gates when
the train's coming,

and that can lead to
train-vehicle impact.

But the second thing is
that sometimes people try,

'cause no one wants
to wait for a train,

people try to go
around the gates,

and in fact, trying
to go around the gate

will lead to a
terrible train crash.

- According to the Federal
Railroad Administration,

a train strikes a vehicle or
a person every three hours.

With that many crashes,

we have a serious national
problem on our hands.

But apart from figuring out
how this accident happened,

what's even more puzzling is,
why does it keep happening

at this particular crossing?

[tense music]

Today, at most crossings,
sensors typically activate

crossing signals
about 30 seconds

before the train arrives.

So did those sensors fail here?

The evidence is right
there on the video.

- The gates in this video
appear to be working,

because they came
down on the truck

that was already
occupying the crossing.

In fact, it's very rare to have

gates and lights
protection go bad.

- [Tony] Further investigation
reveals the problem

isn't the crossing mechanism,
it's the crossing itself.

- So you've got a truck and
trailer stopped on the tracks.

The front and back
wheels are not in contact

with the road the
way they should be

because there's
something in the middle

that's lifted up or is
preventing that movement.

- [Tony] In this case, the
slope of the road on either side

of the train tracks
leaves trucks vulnerable

to what is known as
high-centering on the tracks.

That's when the trailer
gets caught on high points

between two lower ones

and the wheels no
longer have traction.

- Typically, there's
some sort of signage

to let the truck drivers know

that there's a potential
for low clearance.

- [Tony] In case
you're wondering,

the driver got out
before the collision.

We believe that's him there.

Apparently, he
didn't see the signs

even though they were present.

- So what went wrong
in the Texas case

is that the driver didn't
realize how much clearance

he didn't have to
get over the tracks.

- [Tony] And to keep it
from happening again.

Quimby says there's a fix.

- Most railroads were built
long before the roads,

and therefore the
vehicles on both the roads

and the railroads have changed.

The permanent solution will
be for whoever owns that road

to recontour the
approaches to the track

to make it a little
bit less steep.

[tense music]

- The takeaway, this accident
was caused by high-centering.

We'll check back with Amandine

to see if this continues
to be a problem.

But let's hope whoever owns
the land around the crossing,

railroad, town, or county,
decides to level it out.

Moving on.

When you're in trouble
on the high seas,

the Coast Guard is almost
always able to answer the call.

Most of those
rescues go smoothly.

Others go like this.

[tense music]

February 3rd, 2023,
the Coast Guard

receives a mayday cold
just off the Oregon Coast.

- They send out a couple
of 47-foot motor life boats

to see what's going on,

and when they get there, they
see this boat in distress.

- [Tony] Coast Guard
operations include everything

from medical emergencies to
boat fires and capsized vessels,

covering more than 95,000
miles of US coastline.

- It's a very elite unit.

These are highly, highly
skilled seamen and mariners.

- [Tony] And this rescue
appears to need some help

from some air power.

- This yacht is just tossing
and turning in the seas,

and the seas are so rough
they actually can't rescue

the lone person who's on board.

- [Tony] So the Coast Guard
dispatches a chopper.

One of their rescue
swimmers is lowered down

into the stormy waters and swims
toward the troubled vessel.

But just as he nears the boat,

a massive wall of
water barrels down.

Let's see that again.

Watch how the gigantic
wave slams into the boat,

which tumbles over and
over on top of the crest.

- [Josh] This area is called
the Graveyard of the Pacific.

It goes from Tillamook
Bay in Oregon

to the top of Vancouver
Island in Canada.

But the worst part is where
the Columbia River spills out

into the Pacific.

Where those two currents
of water meet is chaos.

Exactly where this happened.

- [Tony] Will this unlucky
yachtsman even survive?

Or is the Graveyard
of the Pacific

about to claim another victim?

- This guy was about
to be another statistic

when things start to get crazy.

- [Tony] The region
off the Oregon coast

known as the Graveyard
of the Pacific

is living up to its nickname.

As you can see, the man on
this boat is in mortal peril.

The Coast Guard has
arrived to save him,

but right then, a massive
wave flips the boat

like a bathtub toy.

The graveyard of the
Pacific has claimed

more than 2,000 vessels
since the 1700s.

But how dangerous was
this specific situation

and what happened to
the people on board?

[tense music]

First, how bad was
the danger to the boat

when the Coast Guard arrived?

- He got out to sea

and apparently the
engines failed,

which means you lose
control of the craft.

In a situation like
that with no power,

you're completely at
the mercy of the ocean.

The best thing you can
do is call for help

as soon as you can.

- [Tony] Without engine
power and proper steering,

Turner says the boat
couldn't do what it needed to

in this kind of emergency.

- What you want to do is
hit the wave, bow on.

In that particular video,

it's like the worst
possible condition

because he's literally
sideways to a wave,

which means it's going to
crash over and push you over.

[intense music]

- [Tony] But Turner
notes, the man did make

one smart decision in
the heat of the moment,

to abandon ship.

- You can see the sailor
on the back on the deck.

Most ships when they
capsize don't automatically

flip back up the right way.

So if a ship capsizes,
the best you can hope for

is that you don't get
trapped inside the ship.

[tense music]

Fortunately, the rescue
diver was able to ground

and ultimately hoist him
aboard the Jayhawk helicopter.

- [Tony] So the rescuer
and rescuee are safe,

but there's one more question

you may have been
asking earlier.

What was this boat doing
out there to begin with?

- As this story
starts to unfold,

we learn that this is not
exactly a model citizen.

Jericho Wolf Labonte

was actually a
fugitive from the law.

Labonte was apparently wanted
for incidents in Oregon

and also as far away as
Canada, where he was from.

- [Tony] Jericho had
allegedly stolen this yacht,

but unfortunately for him,

he chose one of the worst
possible escape route.

- They call this the
Graveyard of the Pacific

for a reason, because it's
so notoriously dangerous.

[tense music]

- The takeaway, this
capsizing was caused

by the yacht's vulnerable
position relative to the waves.

After the incident, Jericho
Labonte was dried off,

taken into custody,
and among other things,

was formally charged
with first-degree theft

and second-degree
criminal mischief.

The yacht, on the other
hand, became another casualty

of the Graveyard of the Pacific.

Now, let's turn up the heat.

Any animal, including
humans, will do anything

to escape being burned alive.

Here, that fear becomes a
reality, and when it happens,

some deep-seated
survival instincts kick.

[tense music]

March 25th, 2014.
Houston, Texas.

At 12:38, firefighter Brad
Hawthorne and his crew

pull up to a burning
apartment complex

still under construction.

The clock's already ticking.

[tense music]

- You got minutes to try to
get this thing under control.

- [Tony] The firefighters learn

that construction supervisor
Curtis Reissig is trapped

after trying to put out
a small fire on the roof.

Within four and a half minutes,

they've raised
their aerial ladder,

- Started heading up the ladder,
looking for the guy on the roof.

There was fire everywhere
down the whole roof line.

- [Tony] Then, five minutes
into the operation...

[firefighter whistles]

- [Tony] the driver at
the bottom of the ladder,

who's wearing video glasses,

spots Curtis on a
top floor balcony.

[tense music]

- We started to move the
ladder towards the balcony.

Our aerial ladder
wasn't extended enough

to reach him on the fifth
floor, so I was on the very tip.

- [Tony] Meanwhile, an
office worker in a building

across the street
captures footage of Curtis

that goes viral because
of what happens next.

- [Recorder] He
can't get out, OMG.

- [Tony] As the flames get
closer, our experts say

the temperatures are
already life-threatening.

- The heat coming off of there
had to have been incredible,

probably 5-600 degrees at least.

- [Tony] At about 118
degrees Fahrenheit,

human skin begins to
sustain first-degree burns.

So six minutes in, Curtis
has to make a risky decision.

- [Recorder] Oh God,
oh God, oh God, oh God.

Oh my God.
[others screaming]

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

[people clamoring]

- Time is running out for our
imperiled construction worker.

Fire will kill you, of course,
and jumping from one balcony

to another is also
exceedingly dangerous.

But how did this
fire spread so fast

and how could Curtis possibly
manage to get out alive?

[tense music]

First, how he got out.

At six minutes and 15
seconds in, Curtis jumps.

- [Recorder] Oh no. Oh no.

Oh!
[people exclaiming]

- [Tony] And luckily,
he sticks the landing.

- As he was swinging, his
hands kind of pulled off

and he just had
to let go and land

and just go turn to
Jell-O, if you will,

so he wouldn't fall backwards.

- [Tony] Yet, the
ladder to safety

is still dozens of feet away.

- [Recorder] They
need to get him.

- They made a point
to go above the victim

and bring the ladder
down as opposed to going

below the victim and
raising the ladder up.

That's important because
when someone is panicked

and scared, they might just
jump down on the ladder,

and you don't want
them to do that.

- [Tony] Finally, six
minutes and 45 seconds

into the operation,
the ladder arrives

and Curtis reaches over.

- [Recorder] Hell yes.

Oh, thank Jesus. Thank you, God.

- [Tony] If you watch
the reflections

in the office window, you
can see workers turning away

and walking back
to their cubicles.

They think it's all over, but
both men are still in danger.

- [Tony] And seven minutes
and 10 seconds in...

- [Recorder] Oh no, oh my God!

- [Tony] Part of the building's
fifth floor collapses.

Curtis escapes with some minor
burns to his face and hands.

- [Recorder] They got him.

- [Tony] Soon after,
the investigation began

into how the fire started.

- It's believed that it was a
welding issue where it sparked

and because the building
wasn't completed,

a lot of the material
is very flammable.

[tense music]

The reason it's
traveling so fast

is because the wind is so great.

Oxygen is what the fire needs,

and when the wind is blowing,

along with all the other
flammable material,

it will continue to engulf
everything in its path.

- In a situation like this
where the building is open,

high winds can make the fire
grow from something small

and manageable, to out of
control like this very quickly.

[intense music]

- [Tony] One thing's for sure.

The hoses may have been shut off
after the fire was extinguished,

but Curtis' gratitude
continues to flow.

- We've invited him to the
station a couple times.

I mean, he's probably
one of the few

that I've ever really kept
up since a fire like that.

[tense music]

- The takeaway, the quick
thinking and heroic actions

of both Curtis and
the firefighters

saved the construction
supervisor's life.

As for what started the blaze,

while that welding theory
seems logical to our experts,

the exact cause has
never been determined.

- Beirut
is home to a bustling port,

one of the busiest in the
Eastern Mediterranean.

It receives more than
2,000 ships every year.

But unfortunately, this
commercial shipping hub

is now best known
for something tragic.

[tense music]

August 4th, 2020.

It is a peaceful summer
afternoon in Beirut, Lebanon.

People are shooting video
all around the city.

A young couple is taking wedding
pictures in Saifi Village

in the city's central district.

Meanwhile, another
couple is jet-skiing

out in Saint George Bay.

And in the suburb of Hazmieh,
tour guide Karim Sokhn

is working at his bike shop.

At 5:45 PM, a fire breaks
out in a warehouse

in the port of Beirut.

As thick smoke
billows into the sky,

these people start recording.

And then, without warning,
just after six...

[recorder shouting]
[explosions booming]

[glass shattering]
[explosions booming]

A huge explosion
rocks the entire city.

- [Tony] Take another look.

That initial white cloud
is called a condensation,

or Wilson cloud.

It's produced when a
shockwave condenses

the water vapor and humid air.

What's left behind
when it dissipates

is a giant red and orange cloud.

[explosion booming]

- [Tony] Rumors
begin to circulate

that the explosion was
the of a missile attack.

Is that what really happened,
or was it something else?

[explosion booming]

One study found the explosion
to be the equivalent

of 1.1 kilotons of TNT.

That's enough to
destroy a city block.

We asked our experts
to get to the bottom

of this terrifying situation.

[tense music]

First, let's dispense with
the conspiracy theories.

The missile rumors were false.

- We have satellite power
that we could have seen

a drone or a missile
go into that area,

and we would see if
something was coming in.

- [Tony] Instead, Hickey
says all the evidence

points directly to a well-known

and dangerous
explosive substance.

- In November of 2013, we
have a Russian ship carrying

approximately 2,700 metric
tons of ammonium nitrate,

and they dock in
the Beirut area.

They can't pay their
fee for docking,

so they're ordered
to unload their ship.

- [Tony] They unload that
cargo into a warehouse.

Ammonium nitrate is a
chemical typically used

in fertilizers, and under
certain circumstances,

it becomes explosive.

[explosion booming]

And this is not the first
time this has happened.

In April 1947, 2,300 tons of
ammonium nitrate fertilizer

that was loaded onto a
French cargo ship exploded

and set off a huge
chain reaction of fires

and even a tidal wave in the
port of Texas City, Texas.

[tense music]

- That bag of ammonium nitrate
can literally sit there

all day long unless something
is being introduced into it.

And what was being
introduced to it

was heat, shock, and friction.

- [Tony] And Hickey knows
just where that extreme heat,

shock, and friction originated.

- What we hear early
on are loud pops,

[distant popping]

and I would say that those
are fireworks going off.

- [Tony] A former port
worker says fireworks

were being stored in
the same warehouse

as the ammonium nitrate.

And if that wasn't bad enough,

this warehouse also contained
the jugs of kerosene, oil,

and five miles of blast fuses
used in mining operations.

Something sparked it.

[tense music]

This initial fire and smoke
is what people were filming

when the flames hit
the ammonium nitrate

and ignited the blast.

Potentially the largest

non-nuclear
explosion in history.

[explosion booming]

The force was enough
to knock people over.

- When sufficient
energy is imparted

to molecules of the
atmosphere from a shockwave,

even though we're talking
about gas in motion,

it can feel on your body
as if you're being tackled

by a full-bodied
football player.

[explosion booming]
[glass shattering]

- [Tony] Ultimately,

the explosion killed
more than 200 people,

injured well over 6,000,

and caused billions
of dollars of damage.

- The takeaway, the Beirut
port explosion was caused

by careless storage
of ammonium nitrate.

Yet more than three years
later, no one responsible

for the negligence has
been brought to justice.

- Now, it's time for
our throwback segment.

And in this case,
way back to 1912.

The age of aviation is in its
infancy, and over in Paris,

one daring man was hoping his
own dreams could take flight.

Suffice it to say, things
didn't go as planned.

[tense music]

February 4th, 1912,
Paris, France.

Tailor-turned-inventor
Franz Reichelt arrives

at the 1,024-foot
tall Eiffel Tower

to put his new low-altitude,
wearable parachute suit

to the test.

Reichelt stands on a ledge
about 200 feet in the air,

spreads his arms,

and looks over his suit
for any riffs or tears.

Then, he turns and places
his foot over the ledge,

peering down at
the ground below.

After a long hesitation, his
breath visible in the cold air,

Reichelt jumps, his parachute
flapping behind him.

[tense music]

- Mr. Reichelt was born
in Austria in 1878.

He moved to Paris
in his adult life

and became a well-known tailor.

And with the dawn
of the airplane,

he looks to the
skies as the future.

As airplanes continue to
fly, airplanes also crashed.

And pilots needed to leap
out of their airplanes

while they were crashing,

but the parachutes of
the day were not equipped

to handle these
low-altitude jumps,

and a lot of these pilots
would end up dying.

- [Tony] Reichelt
becomes obsessed

with finding a solution,

so he starts testing
prototypes on dummies,

but with minimal success.

- Reichelt was
under the impression

that if he could jump
from someplace higher,

the chute would deploy.

So he begins petitioning the
Paris police, and they say,

"Yep, you could throw a
dummy off the Eiffel Tower."

- [Tony] Reichelt ignores that
stipulation about the dummy

and instead decides to test
his invention on himself.

- [MJ] And much like the
dummies in his previous tests,

his parachute suit did
not work properly,

and unfortunately, he
perished as a result.

- Nobody can say for
certain why Franz Reichelt

was in such a rush to test
his invention on himself.

Some say he was racing to beat
the expiration of his patent,

or that he was desperate
to win prize money

promised for the first
successful safety parachute.

Whatever his motivation,
we're still left asking

why didn't his device work?

[tense music]

First, an important distinction.

This wasn't a parachute.

Reichelt had actually
created something closer

to a wingsuit.

- The way wingsuits work
is what you're trying to do

is create enough surface
area to convert the air speed

that you build when
you jump off the cliff

into forward flight.

- [Tony] Even with
modern wingsuits,

there's still a huge
component of risk.

Some sources estimate

that one in 500 wingsuit base
jumps result in a casualty.

But what specifically went
wrong with Reichelt's design?

- Franz is jumping
from about 200 feet.

I wouldn't even consider
opening the most modern wingsuit

I own at the height
that he's jumping from.

I think Franz is hoping
his suit will slow him down

like a parachute would.

Unfortunately, his design
was not only not big enough,

but was not secure enough
to maintain its shape

and create enough
drag to slow him down.

- [Tony] Still, despite
the misguided attempt,

Shapiro can
understand and respect

what motivates
men like Reichelt.

- For me, the idea of being
able to jump off a cliff

and fly away using my arms,

it's more like
flying in my dreams.

But in this case, although
I commend his bravery,

the intention was good, but
the execution not so good.

[tense music]

- Our takeaway, Franz Reichelt's
design wasn't aerodynamic,

and his jump off the
Eiffel Tower was too low

to give his device
enough time to open.

Would it have worked
if he had jumped

from a higher altitude?

That, we may never know.

And maybe that's a good thing.

- Bridge
technology dates back

to 4,000 BC in ancient Babylon.

But a recent tragedy
in India is proof

that we still have
plenty to learn.

[tense music]

It's just after 6:30 PM
on October 30th, 2022

in the city of Morbi
in Gujarat, India.

Scores of people are
celebrating the last night

of the Diwali holiday on a
cable suspension footbridge

known as the Jhulto
Pul, or hanging bridge,

which stretches
more than 750 feet

across the Machchhu River.

The revelers are chatting,
swaying back and forth,

and taking photos when
suddenly, disaster strikes.

[metal rattling]
[people screaming]

[intense music]

Eyewitnesses say the aftermath
of the event is pure chaos.

- [Tony] This isn't the first
time a bridge has collapsed.

It brings to mind
the deadly incident

on a much larger suspension
bridge in December 1967.

It happened here in the US.

- The Silver Bridge which
spans over the Ohio River

had a cracked bar,

which eventually caused
the bridge to collapse.

Unfortunately, 46 people
perished in this event.

- [Tony] The Silver
Bridge tragedy led to

federal regulations and an
increased emphasis on safety,

which endures to this day.

But while that bridge
disaster could be ascribed

to simple neglect,

this collapse in India
is more of a puzzle.

Although the bridge in Morbi
was about 140 years old,

it had just been
renovated and reopened.

- It's shocking to know

that the Jhulto Pul Bridge
collapsed only five days

after the repair was
done to the bridge.

[metal rattling]
[people screaming]

[splashing]
[tense music]

- This bridge was
originally constructed

during the British
colonization of India.

The local king built it to
connect two of his palaces.

When this tragedy occurred,

the bridge had
just reopened early

after months of maintenance.

So how and why did a bridge

that was just fixed
suddenly collapse?

[tense music]

First, let's go back to basics.

Just how is a suspension
bridge supposed to work?

- Suspension bridges have
primarily three components.

There is the super structure,

which in this case includes
the towers, the bridge deck,

and then the suspension
cables that attach

to the towers down
to the bridge deck.

Underneath the super
structure is the substructure,

which are the columns
which support it,

and then transfer the load
down to the third component,

which is the foundation.

[metal rattling]

- [Tony] So what went
wrong in this case?

Didn't the recent renovation
make the bridge stronger?

- The team found that there
was old suspension cables

that were welded to
new suspension cables.

And afterwards, there
was no load testing

prior to reopening the bridge.

And then there was
cable corrosion

on the upstream
side of the bridge.

22 were already corroded
and likely broken

before the remaining
27 wires snapped.

[metal rattling]
[people screaming]

- [Tony] These problems
were compounded

by careless oversight and
old-fashioned overloading.

- At the time of the collapse,

there were about 300
people on a bridge

that was only designed to
really carry 100 to 150 people.

- [Tony] At least 135
people died or went missing,

while around 180 survivors
were rescued from the river.

It could have been much worse.

- The bridge is 50
feet above the water.

When you take an average adult

and let them drop
50 feet in the air,

their body's traveling
about 38 miles per hour

when they hit the water.

As they enter into the water,

they are vulnerable to really
potentially fatal injuries.

- [Tony] And even those
who survive the fall

had to survive the water.

- [Lisa] A lot of the
people who did not survive

were the young kids
and the elderly.

And I would guess that a number
of people probably drowned

because they couldn't swim.

[tense music]

- The takeaway, the Jhulto
Pul Bridge was overloaded

and its cables were
improperly repaired.

Nine people were arrested on
charges of culpable homicide.

And as of 2024, the bridge
has not been rebuilt.

And that's our show for tonight.

Thank you so much for watching
and stay safe out there.