The Challenger disaster
A colliery spoil tip collapsed onto a Welsh village, killing 116 children and 28 adults.
The Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated approximately 46,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Canaveral, Florida. This was the first fatal accident involving an American spacecraft while in flight. The mission, designated STS-51-L, was the tenth flight for the orbiter Challenger and the twenty-fifth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The crew was scheduled to deploy a commercial communications satellite and study Halley's Comet, and the mission also carried schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe into space as part of the Teacher in Space Project, which generated unusually high media coverage. Many schools across the United States were watching the launch live. The cause was the failure of O-ring seals in a joint of the right solid rocket booster. Record-low temperatures on the morning of the launch had stiffened the rubber O-rings, reducing their ability to seal. Shortly after liftoff, hot pressurized gas leaked through the joint, burning through the attachment strut connecting the booster to the external tank and then into the tank itself. The resulting structural collapse and booster rotation caused aerodynamic forces to tear the orbiter apart. The crew compartment was recovered from the ocean floor after a three-month search. Several crew members are thought to have survived the initial breakup, but the orbiter had no escape system, and the impact with the ocean was unsurvivable. The disaster halted the Space Shuttle program for 32 months. President Ronald Reagan formed the Rogers Commission, which criticized NASA's organizational culture and decision-making. Test data since 1977 had shown a catastrophic flaw in the O-rings, but neither NASA nor manufacturer Morton Thiokol had addressed it. NASA managers also disregarded engineers' warnings about low-temperature risks. In response, NASA created the Office of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance, and began using expendable launch vehicles for commercial satellites. A new orbiter was approved in 1987, first flying in 1992. Subsequent missions used redesigned boosters and pressurized suits for crews. In February 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry; the Columbia Accident Investigation Board concluded NASA had
- Time
- 21 October 1966
- Location
- Aberfan, Wales
- Fatalities
- 144 (116 children, 28 adults)
- Cause
- Collapse of a colliery spoil tip due to water saturation
Verified Timeline
Quick Facts
- Date
- 1986-01-28
- Time
- 16:39:13 UTC (11:39:13 EST)
- Location
- Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida
- Mapframe-Zoom
- 5
- Cause
- O-ring seal failure in right SRB due to cold weather and wind shear
- Inquiries
- Rogers Commission Report
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
There were seven spoil tips on the hills above Aberfan; Tip 7—the one that slipped onto the village—was started in 1958 and, at the time of the disaster, was 111 feet (34 m) high. In contravention of the NCB's procedures, the tip was partly based on ground from which springs emerged. After three weeks of heavy rain the tip was saturated and approximately 140,000 cubic yards (110,000 m3) of spoil slipped down the side of the hill and onto the Pantglas area of the village. The main building hit was the local junior school, where lessons had just begun; 5 teachers and 109 children were killed. An official inquiry was chaired by Lord Justice Edmund Davies. The report placed the blame squarely on the NCB. The organisation's chairman, Lord Robens, was criticised for making misleading statements and for not providing clarity as to the NCB's knowledge of the presence of water springs on the hillside. Neither the NCB nor any of its employees were prosecuted and the organisation was not fined.
Reader's Guide
The Aberfan Disaster Memorial Fund (ADMF) was established on the day of the disaster. It received nearly 88,000 contributions, totalling £1.75 million. The remaining tips were removed only after a lengthy fight by Aberfan residents against resistance from the NCB and the government on the grounds of cost. The site's clearance was paid for by a government grant and a forced contribution of £150,000 taken from the memorial fund. In 1997 the British government paid back the £150,000 to the ADMF, and in 2007 the Welsh Government donated £1.5 million to the fund and £500,000 to the Aberfan Education Charity as recompense for the money wrongly taken. Many of the village's residents developed medical problems as a result of the disaster, and half the survivors have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder at some time in their lives.
Did You Know?
- The tip that collapsed, Tip 7, was 111 feet (34 m) high and contained 297,000 cubic yards (227,000 m3) of spoil.
- The Aberfan Disaster Memorial Fund received nearly 88,000 contributions, totalling £1.75 million.
- In 2007 the Welsh Government donated £1.5 million to the fund and £500,000 to the Aberfan Education Charity as recompense for money wrongly taken.
- Half the survivors have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder at some time in their lives.
- The presence of springs on the hillside was common knowledge and had been marked on Ordnance Survey and Geological Society maps since 1874.
Common Misconceptions (Editorial)
Some people believe the tip collapse was a sudden, unpredictable event, but the source shows that Tip 7 had shifted slightly in May 1963 and had a more substantial slide in November 1963. The NCB stated that the movement had not been a 'slide', but was instead a 'tailings run'. Additionally, residents had complained to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council about 'Danger from Coal Slurry being tipped at the rear of the Pantglas Schools' between July 1963 and March 1964, and meetings were held in early 1965 where the NCB agreed to take action on clogged pipes and drainage ditches—but no action had been taken by October 1966.
Why It Matters (Editorial)
The Aberfan disaster endures because it was a preventable tragedy where warnings were ignored and institutional failures cost 144 lives, most of them children. The fact that the NCB was blamed by the official inquiry yet neither the organisation nor any of its employees were prosecuted forces ongoing reflection on corporate accountability. The forced contribution of £150,000 from the memorial fund to pay for site clearance—later repaid—adds a layer of injustice that still resonates, making it a perpetual case study in how bureaucratic cost-cutting can override human safety.
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